Since 1870 we’ve lived and breathed malting. With this passion and expertise, and by combining traditional and modern techniques, we create an impressive range of malted and non-malted products, including several unique and exclusive barley malts.
There is nothing more we love than talking to brewers and distillers so if you have any questions, or would like to arrange a call with a member of our team, please feel free to get in touch – we would love to hear from you!
Here at Crisp Malt, we think there’s more to collaboration than providing ace malts to brewers and distillers – crucial as that is!
We want long-term, meaningful relationships with customers. That means listening to needs; sharing information; offering advice; and providing technical support. And sometimes, it means throwing Nigel in at the deep end.
Nigel Gibbons is one of our trusty technical sales managers. Not so long ago, he received an invitation for Crisp to get involved in a collab with a Kent brewer. He wasn’t the only fish in the sea: the invitation also went to David Hughes of Yakima Chief Hops.
The brewery in question was Time & Tide Brewing, which sits in Deal on the stunning coast of East Kent. The brewery was started in 2013 by Sam Weller, Paul and Kerry Campling. Its creation was, as Sam says, “fuelled by our passion for beer, sense of fun and inability to sit still!
Sam goes on, “We all love juicy, hoppy IPAs and get excited about new flavours, experimental brews and progressive approaches to brewing. We have a core range of beers that can be enjoyed time and again – but we also relish the chance to use a bit of alchemy with new releases. Our invitation to Crisp and Yakima Chief was to partner up with one of these explorations into our favourite beer style.”
It is Chaucer who is quoted as saying, “time and tide wait for no man.” It is Sam Weller who is quoted as saying, “Time & Tide Brewing waited for two men. It was for our collaborative brew. We needed them both on the same day. And it was worth the wait.”
Those two men were Crisp’s Nigel and Yakima Chief’s David. Discussions about IPAs, flavour profiles and ingredients took place with the brewers at Time & Tide Brewing before the brew day. Then early in October, off went Nigel and David to Kent to be thrown in at the deep end. In other words, to do some hard physical labour.
The team decided on a Double IPA, with the aim of creating a terrific swell of flavours in a strong, audacious pale ale.
The resulting Rising Tide DIPA is not, as Ruben Gil of Yakima Chief Hops says, “just any Double IPA. It is a full-bodied 8% abv DIPA that cleverly manages to showcase both the malt and the hops. Quite the achievement considering how powerful the hop characteristics are. Rising Tide is bold, full of flavour, and, well, unforgettable.
“Everyone lucky enough to try this special beer can expect an intense aroma and a smooth, rich finish. Pure magic, I’d say.”
Sam agrees. He’s equally as enthusiastic about the beer – and about having had Nigel take over some of the work in the brewery!
“The relationships we have with our suppliers are massively important to us. We’re interested in what they are up to, as it might offer us new insights and opportunities. So we invite them in as often as possible.
“We love the innovation going on at Yakima Chief Hops,” he says, “and in this brew, we wanted to shine a light on their amazing KRUSH™ Hyperboost™ hop extract. It has been 17 years in development and was released commercially only this year. So it gave an ideal opportunity for our brewers Will and Dianne – with the help of our friends from Yakima Chief and Crisp Malt – to produce something really special.
“The KRUSH™ Hyperboost™ hop extract gives Rising Tide DIPA ripples of orange, mango and guava flavours, as well as mixed berry and peach notes. That’s a whole lot of enjoyment in one mouthful!
Sam goes on, “Crisp’s superb Extra Pale Maris Otter, which has a subtle malt-bread sweetness and bold grainy aromas, is the base malt. It behaves perfectly in the mash tun and provides the lovely smooth body for the beer. The recipe also uses their Naked Malted Oats, Chit Malt and Torrefied Wheat.
“The combination of these quality ingredients – and Nigel’s digging out of the spent grain(!) – results in a bold and beautifully balanced beer, which we’re proud to be serving at the Rising Tide Craft Beer Festival at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge.”
Nigel says, “Time & Tide is a fantastic independent brewery. They produce brilliant beers. The branding, by artist Greg Stobbs, is weird and wacky and characterful. And the team care passionately about what they do, always choosing the best quality ingredients and following best practice in the brewhouse.
“It was great to be asked to roll my sleeves up and help with the production. The Crisp ethos is to listen to customers and to get as involved as they want us to be. In this case it was hands on as well as recipe development, but often it’s for problem solving and advice on future-proofing.”
Rising Tide DIPA launches at the Rising Tide Craft Beer Festival at Canterbury Cathedral Lodge in November 2024.
“This beer alone would make a trip to the Festival worthwhile,” says Nigel. “Hats off to Time & Tide Brewing not just for the superb DIPA, but also for creating and running this terrific event, which brings in a great array of brewers to a fascinating historic setting. All fine examples of positive collaborations.”
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