Reflections on 2021

Another year has gone by and at The Krafty Braumeister we are looking back on the best year in our short history. Despite all the difficulties caused by the pandemic, we more than doubled our sales and won awards for our premium quality beers brewed using traditional German brewing techniques.

Our most decorated beer is our Dunkelweizen (dark wheat beer), Schwarz & Weiss. Not only did it win a Silver Medal at the London Beer Competition in April 2021, but it also won 3-Stars at the Great Taste Awards organised by the British Guild of Fine Food. If that was not enough, within the same competition it was nominated for the Golden Fork of East Anglia. There we were at a prestigious ceremony in Harrogate in Yorkshire as one of only three nominees. We were very excited about the nomination and even though we did not receive it in the end, the trip up North was well worthwhile. It was the best opportunity to gain more contacts in the industry, meet media representatives and make new friends. Without a doubt, it raised attention for our small enterprise. We participated in cheese pairing presentations and our award-winning beer received features in print and radio media in Suffolk and London, most recently nationwide on Simon Mayo’s afternoon Greatest Hits Radio show.

The Great Taste Award judges found flowery words to describe the taste of 3-star Schwarz & Weiss, the best beer in the competition:

A beautifully complex nose, with cherries and smokiness, coffee and light florals. Perfectly balanced, with a delicious texture. The flavour keeps evolving on the palate bringing forward raisins and cinnamon. The finish is light and very pleasant.

We love the mousse and slightly cloudy appearance, and the nose is enthralling with its medley of smoke, banana, caramel, bread notes. Everything on the nose comes through on the palate and those flavours ebb away nicely to leave an excellent finish. Banana loaf in a glass

We found that the beer had a very traditional, attractive nose. We thought that the beer reflected the style really well – notes of warm banana bread and spice. The palate was deep and complex with plenty of flavour and warmth.

Pours, darkly and with a spiced nose with lots of softness and a bready body. A well-crafted beer with a smooth malty finish with heaps of fruitcake and cloves. Refreshing.

This is a rich brown coloured beer with a good retained head and a slight haze. Aromas of fig, raisin, and spiced fruit on the nose. Great conditioning. It presents flavours of baked apple and raisin pudding with a strong fruity finish with notes of banana sweetness.

 An apt colour, good head and bright effervescence convey notes of sauerkraut and toffee on the nose, toffeed banana on the palate, and a bright, lifted lactic acidity on the finish. Entirely uncloying, despite its rounded sweetness and richness – quite brilliant!

We got the end of the bottle with this on a re-judge so it was quite murky, but we did not mark it down for this. Indeed, despite being the dregs it displayed beautiful aromas of banana, toffee, dried fruits and spices, which carried on into the flavour to join plentiful notes of fruit, spice, chocolate and caramel over a smoky background. We want to be sitting next to a roaring fire in Bavaria when we drink this.

To add to our decorations, our altbier (German brown ale) Hoppediz was also awarded a Silver Medal at the London Beer Competition 2021. Here are the judges’ comments:

Rich and full bodied with caramel and biscuit aromas giving way to grassy and woody hops on the palate. Balanced combination of spicy notes and sweet flavours.

To complete the successful year, our Munich Helles lager Blondie and our Golden Ale won Bronze Medals at the Global Beer Masters 2021, organised by industry magazine The Drinks Business.

Encouraged by these great receptions, we invested in our brewing equipment. With a larger brew kettle and new pressure tanks for fermentation, we are now ready to grow our business even further and get more delicious beer out of the brewery.

We promise to continue working hard to keep the quality of our beers at top level, so that you can enjoy the best German beers brewed in the UK. And remember, we brew with Suffolk malts to make our beers a local product.

We would like to wish you all a very prosperous 2022 and hope to share a pint with you either at the brewery, on a Saturday at Wapping Docklands Market in London, or at a beer festival!

Cheers & Prost,

Uli