Beery Christmas Jour 7 : Thornbridge Shining Tor

The history of Thornbridge

The origins

If you know Thornbridge Brewery, the three words Innovation, Passion and Knowledge should speak to you. Founded in 2005, this English brewery is considered one of the most respected in the world of craft beer, for the quality and diversity of its brews. In the early days, the beers were fermented and drawn directly from traditional wooden casks and their bottled range of beers were based on the best cask recipes. In addition to traditional brewing methods, they strive to innovate by using original ingredients or concocting new recipes. As you can imagine, Thornbridge Brewery's lineup of craft beers is diverse, offering Stout, IPA, DIPA, Barleywine and many more, all brewed with the same finesse. 

Technology

But while it remains a traditional brewery, it is not afraid to introduce a little technology into its environment, quite the contrary. All of this is going to be found in the bottling line, with a system that ensures oxygen is unable to get into the beers to prevent oxidation. To make sure everything is perfect, the brewery also spends a full week checking samples of each batch through a forced aging process, because when you have orders from as far away as Dubai and Australia, you want to make sure your product will arrive in perfect condition. By making sure to install rigor and passion into the design of its beers, Thornbridge continues to win awards around the world like with its Jaipur, a caramel malt-based IPA with notes of tropical hops and pineapple. 

The Setup

Now that you know a little more about their beers, take a look at where it all happens! Heading to Bakewell, in the heart of England's beautiful Peak District, a wonderful place surrounded by some of England's most beautiful scenery. The brewery itself was once located on the historic estate of Thornbridge Hall, a 17th century manor house set in rolling parkland. Over time and due to the popularity of its beers, Thornbridge moved to Bakewell to larger, more modern premises, allowing it to reveal its full potential. Thanks to all this, here it is again this year in our tenth edition of Beery Christmas. 

THORNBRIDGE - SHINING TOR

You'd recognize the design of the British brewery Thornbridge from afar! Its new beer Shining Tor is no exception to the rule and appears under the features of a 44cl aluminum can, which is a good sign for the preservation of the aroma! The can has a lot of qualities, that's why this process is widely developed all over the world, while France is still a bit behind...

At first sight, we can see that it is a Hazy Session IPA style and when it is written "session" when talking about a style, it means that it is a light beer, unlike the qualifier "imperial" or "double". Hazy refers to a color that will be cloudy, due to the use of wheat whose proteins remain in suspension. This phenomenon is also found in white beers, brewed with a very large amount of wheat, between 20 and 70% of the overall composition of a beer. Here, Shining Tor is brewed with barley malt and wheat, as well as American hops Amarillo, Mosaic and Azacca, known for their powerful aroma. Of course, when it comes to IPA style, bitterness is never far away either, but let the most frightened palates be reassured, here the bitter notes are controlled, balanced. It is a dosage between malts and hops that Thornbridge makes in order to have the perfect beer and it is rather successful.

Behind its veiled straw yellow color and its airy white foam, approach your nose to discover aromas of mango, pineapple, citrus fruits like lemon and guava. On the palate, there are flavors of citrus, orange, intense tropical fruits like guava, mango and pineapple, for plenty of sweetness and lightness. Rather watery in terms of texture, it is a beer that is easily tasted, suitable for all palates, whose bitterness will put a kick to the whole and awaken the taste buds. The brewery advises a tasting at a temperature between 5 and 8°C, with a burger and spicy falafels.

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