New tipple based on wild hops from garden

It gives a whole new twist to the term 'home brew'. A Chiswick couple who discovered hops growing wild in their garden have had them turned into a special limited edition beer, courtesy of their local brewery.

David and Penny Barltrop, who live in Church Street, a stone's throw from Fuller's Griffin Brewery, were surprised to find the hops growing in their garden.

To celebrate their discovery, Fuller's have produced a beer named after their street, 'Church Street Chiswick" - see label below.

“The hop plants were already growing in the garden when we moved in, and they re-seed every year,” said Penny, “We got chatting to the brewers at a tasting event and we decided to work on something together.

“I'm really looking forward to drinking our specially created beer, and it’s great to have our street’s name on it too!”

The couple moved to Chiswick 23 years ago. Hops, one of the four main ingredients of beer, along with malted barley, yeast and water, are climbing plants which can grow up to 20 feet high. In brewing it is the hops that give the beer aroma, flavour and bitterness.

With the Church Street hops, Fuller’s brewing team used a process called late hopping to add the ingredients into drinkers’ favourite Chiswick Bitter.

Derek Prentice, brewing manager at Fuller’s explains: “What we do is take the hop flowers and add them to the brewing process during maturation, so that all of the flavours from this unique find come out as the beer develops.”

There were only enough hops for one barrel of Church Street Chiswick, and this special-edition beer will be in the Mawson Arms, next to the brewery, from 5pm on this Tuesday 15th November, for a limited time only.

November 10, 2011