New In Gorgeous Brewery

All About Gorgeous Brewery, London

Based in the heart of Highgate, Gorgeous Brewery is family owned and family run. They are fiercely independent and always have been.
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Following in the footsteps of their grandmother, Marion, who was born and raised in a London pub. She taught her family to work hard and that at the end of the day there’s nothing better than getting your hands on a gorgeous pint.
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Gorgeous are a small brewery, with little automation so a whole lot of care and hard work goes into everything we make. All of their beers apart from the real ales are unfined and unfiltered, which means they are vegan, retain a natural haze and even more flavour.

Q: Who are you/what do you do?
A: We’re Gorgeous Brewery. A family run independent brewery based in the heart of Highgate, London. Launched by brother sister duo Rob and Sam, Gorgeous Brewery has a small, tight-knit team who all share a passion for creating an eclectic, deliciously drinkable range with an emphasis on hand-crafted quality. The brewery works with little automation, so a whole lot of care and hard work goes into everything we make.

Q: What was the inspiration for starting the brewery?  
A: We come from a publican background. Our Grandmother was born and raised in a south London pub, and she made sure to share her love and knowledge of all things beer, then Rob followed her into the pub world. So we’ve always had a passion for beer, and a good understanding of what people enjoy. When we took over The Bull in Highgate, where we met our head brewer, we decided we had the ingredients for something great and decided to go for it. So we built the brewery and beer garden behind the pub.

The beers take inspiration from traditional ales to very new-world styles, there is always a focus on flavour, drinkability. We wanted to brew beers that fit within established styles, but don’t compromise on flavour as well as giving ourselves the freedom to experiment.
We’re also very passionate about cask beer and it was important to us that this be a core part of the Gorgeous Brewery range.

Q: Where do you see, or hope to see, the brewery in 5 years’ time?  
A:  We hope to see the brewery grow, to see more people around the country sitting back and relaxing with a Gorgeous pint. We hope to experiment with recipes and new beers, while making sure we retain our pedantic focus on quality.

Q: Are there any other breweries which have influenced Gorgeous Brewery?  
A: We’re always tasting and trying new things, influences come from all over. To name a few, there are breweries like Garage Project, Yeastie Boys and 8 Wired. As well as the big places like Fuller’s with their focus on consistently good traditional ales and Burning Sky for their excellent beers and wild ales. Basically influences come from all over and we’re always looking for something new to inspire us.

Q: The craft beer movement seems to be going from strength to strength. Why do you think brewing been such a great success in recent years?  
A: We think a large part of it is down to the passion and creativity in the craft beer world. There is always something new and interesting to taste as well as consistently great flavoured beers. There is so much to try that people will always find something that suits their taste. Pair that with how supportive and engaging the craft beer community is, and how keen everyone is to share their passions, it seems to be a recipe for success.

Q: What do you see as the latest beer styles to look out for in 2019? 
A:  We’ve recently brewed a bone dry, fruity Brut IPA in collaboration with CRATE Brewery and I would expect to see more of that style. I expect that we will also see more amazing wild-fermented ales being released by UK brewers as the beers they’re currently aging in barrels and foeders mature enough to be packaged. Also, expect to see a whole lot more milkshake IPAs and pastry stouts.

Q: Many breweries are experimenting with adding unusual flavours to their beers. Are there any you think work well together and are there any you would like to try? 
A: A lot of breweries are adding whacky ingredients to their brews. Some of the combinations I have enjoyed recently have involved insane amounts of fruit purees and lactose. It might be fun to attempt something like that, but the brewing process needs to be extremely carefully monitored to prevent the packaging of a beer which is not fully fermented out. Nobody likes bottle bombs or fobbing kegs! We do love to experiment and hope to find some exciting new combos this year. Keep an eye out.

Looking ahead, what new stuff can we expect from Gorgeous Brewery?  
A: We’re about to launch our summer beer, a passion fruit Hefeweizen called Gutentag that we’re very excited about. In general, consistency is key for us, keeping up the quality of our core range, as well exploring some interesting new brews that we’re planning to bring out soon.

Q: What is the best part of your job?
A: There are a lot of great things about the day to day of a brewery, from the amazing people we work with, to the brewing, experimenting and tasting. But nothing beats the excitement we feel when we pop in somewhere and see people ordering and enjoying a Gorgeous Brewery pint.

Q: If you have to pick (we know, tough choice!) which would be your top three beers in the whole world?
A: This is an incredibly tough choice. Obviously tempted to pick all of our own, but other than us, we’ll go with:
Yeastie Boys  – Gunnamatta – Earl Grey IPA
8 Wired Brewing – Hopwired – NZ IPA
Lost & Grounded – Keller Pils 

Q: You are stuck on a desert island, what three things are you taking with you? 
A: Beer, each other, and a boat to get off when we’ve had enough of each other and run out of beer.

We would like to thank Gorgeous Brewery and if you want try for yourself then they are available to buy online here.