Latest news with #PaleAle
Scottish Sun
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Shoppers spot iconic 90s beer returning to UK supermarket shelves as they scramble to fill trolleys
Do you remember the beverage? HOPS TO IT Shoppers spot iconic 90s beer returning to UK supermarket shelves as they scramble to fill trolleys Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A POPULAR 90s beer is returning to supermarket shelves around the UK after being axed from stores nearly 30 years ago. Double Diamond beers are making a comeback after they were removed from UK supermarket shelves in 2003. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 DD Double diamond was first brewed in 1876 in Burton Upon Trent Credit: Alamy 2 They are available again for purchase from stores in packs of four at £5.75 Credit: Getty Around 790 Tesco stores around the country are now stocking what was once one of Britain's most popular beers. In a post shared to the Allsopp's Beer instagram, the brand announced the return of the Double Diamond after its hiatus, which generated great response from fans. One user wrote: "It's a classic brand. "Great to see it back." Another commented: "My old man mentioned Double Diamond before, so definitely need to try." In reflection of the beer's well-known slogan from the 90s, a third person added: "Double Diamond works wonders, works wonders, so drink one today." The beers reached sales of 50 million at their peak in popularity in the 90s, after first being brewed in 1876. The brand, owned by Allsopp's Brewery, is a vegan and gluten-free beer, that was know for its bright red and yellow label. It is an Indian Pale Ale that fizzled out in 2000s before eventually collapsing from the market in 2003. The Double Diamond beer did make return to pubs last year, and saw a growth in popularity to the point of success where it could be again sold at the supermarket. Britain's best beer ranked Re-founder of Allsopp & Sons, Jamie Allsopp, said: "Double Diamond is our A-list star. "This sessionable Pale Ale is the next iteration of Double Diamond and we hope will find a place in the affections of new drinkers, as well as those that haven't tasted it in 30 years." It is currently available at 12 pubs around the UK, with plans for expansion to more locations soon. They are being sold in packs of four 440ml bottles at Tesco, for £5.75 or £5 with a Tesco Clubcard.
Time Out
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Mother Sippy: Pienaar & Son
Welcome to Mother Sippy, where we shine a light on the talented winemakers, brewers, distillers and mixologists that make sure the Mother City never goes thirsty! From new wine releases to taprooms pouring perfect pints, Mother Sippy is your guide to all that's good and great in Cape Town's world of drinks. There is no shortage of craft breweries and taprooms in Cape Town, and from Woodstock to Noordhoek, you are never far from a pint of Pale Ale. Wine? Urban cellars are dotted about, with Duncan Savage perhaps being the most notable, and there are even a handful of gin distilleries to visit if you look closely enough. But whisky? Nope, there's only one place in the city distilling and ageing uisge beatha in the heart of Cape Town. You'll find Pienaar & Son in Maker's Landing, the incubator hub in the V&A Waterfront, close to Time Out Market Cape Town. And it's not hard to miss, with its gleaming column still and racks of oak barrels hinting at the creativity within. Pienaar & Son first made a name for itself when the craft gin revolution was kicking off, and their duo of signature gins – Empire, all lemon and cucumber, and Orient, a nod to the spice trade around the Cape of Good Hope – remain hugely popular with gin aficionados and mixologists alike. But it's whiskey where Pienaar & Son truly stands out, as the Mother City's sole whisky distillery. Their Tiny Batch whiskies blend hand-crafted creativity with a touch of cheeky street sass. Time Out Cape Town sat down with Andre Pienaar to discover more about this hand-crafted collection of Cape-inspired spirits. Pour us a tale. How did Pienaar & Son get started? The journey began around 2013 or 2014. I was composing music for film and advertising, but I began to feel burnt out. At the time, everyone was brewing beer in their garages, and I had studied chemistry and biochemistry. My dad is a chemical engineer who specialises in potable alcohol stills. I bought a small 20-litre stove with the idea of making gin and moonshine on the weekends. It kind of scratched every part of my brain: technical, flavour, branding. It was such a creative endeavour. The timing was good and we'd just started to see the start of craft gin. So in 2015, he designed and built our stills. He built the still; I'm the chef. We got our licenses in 2016 and have been in business ever since. In 2020, we moved to Makers Landing, and we grew from doing gin to vodka, and later whiskey – though, of course, whiskey needs to age. Talk us through the distillery at Maker's Landing... We use a continuous column still, the same one we use for making vodka. Both are 100% corn fermentations, but of course vodka is distilled to a high percentage to strip out flavour; the whiskey is distilled to a sweet spot that lets in some propanols and butanols for a peppery, biscuity profile. Because we built the still, we can pick a strength – a flavour profile – and draw that consistently. From the still, it goes into the barrels… anything special? We import new American oak barrels. They're expensive, but worth it. Our whiskey, apart from being made outside the US, would technically qualify as bourbon. We aim to fill 10 to 12 225-litre barrels a year, and we usually release single-barrel batches. How long do you age your whisky for? Regulations say three years, and with our first batch, I was happy with how it tasted then. But by the time I had sourced the bottles and designed labels, it was around three years and nine months. So, I figured we'd just wait four years. Now, we're on a four-year cycle. We do keep some barrels back for longer maturation – partly for curiosity, partly for quality. But there's always a balancing act with cash flow and the evaporation loss. We might release a six-year-old later this year. We use two char levels in our barrels – a medium char and a heavy char – and release both simultaneously, as separate batches. What's the flavour in the glass? The heavy char is your classic profile of maple, vanilla, chocolate – a sweet, rich bourbon vibe. The medium char is more grassy, lighter, with a coconut sweetness. It's more intellectual, I guess – the kind of whiskey you sip and think about. Your packaging is great… why is it so important? Tiny Batch is a bit of a stab at these giant distilleries releasing 'small batch' whiskies, and because we're small, we need to stand out. Our whiskey bottle is actually an olive oil bottle, but I just love the shape of it. I take a lot of branding inspiration from the cosmetics world. I think high-end craft spirits and perfume have a lot in common. Do you have other spirits on the horizon? We've done some one-offs – a bourbon-style blend with rye and malt, and I'm chatting to barrel suppliers about orange liqueur barrels. So yes, we're always playing around with stuff, but whiskey is our core. Can the public stop in for a tasting? We're open seven days a week for collections. Tastings happen from Friday to Sunday, and every Sunday we run a gin school where you can distil your own bottle. Bookings are via the website.
