Featured Beer Blogger: KELLY RYAN
DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:
The Beer Blogger Interview Series
Curious what goes on in the minds of your favorite beer bloggers? Well, The Beer Wench is and she has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer bloggers that she can — from all over the world. Are you a beer blogger? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!
INTRODUCING: KELLY RYAN
AUTHOR OF: THORNBRIDGE BREWERS’ BLOG
Beer Blogger Interview
Full name: Kelly Patrick Ryan
Twitter handle: @thornbridgekel
Name of blog: Thornbridge Brewers’ Blog (imaginative isn’t it…)
Current location: Bakewell, Derbyshire, UK
Background “Snapshot”
1. Where did you grow up?
In a small seaside town called Oakura in Taranaki, New Zealand
2. What sports if any did you play growing up, through college and beyond?
Lots of rugby, rugby and more rugby, some badminton, boxing, loads of swimming, bodysurfing, bodyboarding and surfing, kung fu and a dabble in a few other martial arts, rock-climbing, athletics, snowboarding. Man, I feel lazy nowadays!!!
3. How old were you when you had your first beer?
I would always have a sip of Dad’s when growing up, but I remember the first time I had a few beers was when I was 14
4. If you can recall, what is the story of your first beer? Where did you have it? What style and brand was it?
That first time I really drank a few brews was at my Dad’s 40th. It was a big celebration with lots of family, family friends and my parents friends and we were allowed a couple of cans each. All of my mates and cousins sat around in one of the bedrooms, proudly supping this fizzy yellow stuff feeling pretty cool. From memory it tasted rubbish! But later on it became one of my favourite beers while growing up, DB Export Gold. I ended up working for the brewery after I finished university, but with the discovery of great flavoured craft brews, I don’t drink it anymore!!!
5. Where, if applicable, did you go to college? What did you study? What additional activities, organizations, sports did you partake in during college?
I went to college at Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand where I did my first degree in Microbiology and then went on to do an Honours degree in Food Science as well. It was with this degree that I did some postgraduate papers in Flavour Chemistry and Fermentation Science and this got me hooked!
I played loads of rugby at college, at one stage I played for three teams in one day! I also (weirdly enough for a Kiwi) played Australian Football for a season, which was fun as well as dabbling in rockclimbing and some martial arts. Often a few beers would lead to drunken sparring and fat lips the next day… idiots! I also did a bit of surfing and lots of tramping (that’s hiking to you guys) and it was here that I first went snowboarding, which I still love! Would also pull out the guitar every now and then and play it badly at parties. We’re pretty loud singers after a few jars in NZ though… luckily that drowned out the guitar playing!
I was also President of the University Embroidery Club (or maybe I just made that up as I realised my activities were lacking in the craft area…)
Craft Beer Epiphany
Every craft beer enthusiast has at least one pinnacle craft beer experience that completely changes ones perspective on beer. I refer to this mind-blowing moment as a “craft beer epiphany.”
1. What was your first craft beer epiphany? Recall as many details about it as you can:
There were a couple really. Firstly, Dunedin, where I went to college has a great craft brewery called Emersons. I remember going into a tiny little bar in North Dunedin where they had a beer called Bookbinder on handpull. I’d read a little about British cask ale at this stage and had a loose understanding about “warm, flat” beer, but was blown away by its complexity, the rich malt character, the subtle hop, the shher drinkability. It was fantastic! From there I went on to try the incredible Emersons Pilsener, a benchmark in the style for me and a showcase of great NZ hops. There was no holding me back!
Around a similar time, I also remember a practical class we were doing with my lecturer, the Late Professor Jean-Pierre Dufour, who was a legend in Brewing Education and was originally from Leuven in Belgium. We sat down with a bunch of different Belgian beers and I can still see the bottles lined up. They were Duvel, Chimay White, Chimay Red and Chimay Blue. I can still taste my first sip of Duvel, crisp, clean yeast notes, all cloves and peardrops and subtle yet firm goodness. It was so different than anything I’d tried before. The same can be said of the rich, figgy, dried fruit-filled Chimay Red. It was definitely a “There’s a party in my mouth” moment.
2. Have you have additional craft beer epiphanies since the first? Detail as many of them as you wish:
I’ve had far too many! Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Odell’s IPA, Orval, Odell’s St. Lupulin Ale, Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, Stone Ruination, Marble Pint, Marble Dobber, Dark Star Hophead, Epic Armageddon, 8 Wired Hopwired, Fyne Avalanche, my first Lambic, all of the Thornbridge beers… (did I write that??)
Beer Blog Background
1. How long have you been writing your beer blog?
Just over a year… still a blog baby.
2. What inspired you to start writing your blog?
Being a brewer and a beer lover, I really wanted to let people know what was behind the beers we did and (if they could be bothered) thought they might want to hear what type of beers I drink, what my thoughts on them were and maybe even provide a little insight to the day and the life of a brewery guy…
3. Why did you chose the name of your blog?
The actual web address for my blog is BEEREVOLUTION. I think that the UK brewing industry is on the verge of a beer revolution, we’re seeing what is happening in the US, in places like Italy and NZ and Australia and we’re slowly starting to react. We’re teetering on the verge of doing some great stuff over here and about time too!! I also find the whole cask conditioning and bottle refermentation stuff interesting… the whole beer in evolution thing… it’s always changing from the moment the beer was born. I like that.
I also thought that maybe one day there could be a bit of a bee revolution and they’d all come back to Earth from wherever they’ve disappeared to, overthrow Humankind with their incredible hive mentality superconscious and it’d be honey beers all the way.
4. What are you personal goals for your blog? What do you hope to achieve with it?
Education, education, education! I love beer and I love brewing and I love the whole fantastic world that is continuously developing around them both. The blog gives me a chance to let people what’s happening with regard to our brewery, what we do when we create a new beer, the thought processes involved, the reasons and the challenges. It also gives me a chance to write a bit about great beers I try or brewers I meet or breweries or pubs that I visit. I just want to tell people about beer! How exciting it is, how well it goes with food, how much effort and passion goes into its production., everything!
5. What is one of the coolest things that happened to you as a result of being a beer blogger?
Things such as meeting my brewing superstars… guys like Sam Calagione, Mitch Steel and Greg Koch, Doug Odell, Bill Covaleski, Steve Grossman, Agostino Arioli, Garrett Oliver… It’s always awesome to shake hands with the guys who make the beer that you love. (Though I could argue that I’ve met those guys from being a brewer, not a blogger!).
It’s always really cool when people tell me that they like my blog (I’m usually just surprised that anyone even reads it!)
6. What are you top 3 favorite beer blogs/beer websites?
Mark Dredge’s great Pencil and Spoon, Pete Brown’s Beer Blog and I’m quite partial to a bit of The Brewing Network too!
Beer Talk
1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?
Sours, IPAs, Impy Stouts
2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?
Odells, Dogfish Head, De Molen
3. If you could work with or for any one brewery, which one would it be and why?
Firstly, it would be Thornbridge, but since I already work here, will have to say Sierra Nevada. Love their ethos regarding the environment, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is always good, their Celebration and Torpedo brews rock, Steve Grossman is awesome and I’m sure his brother is too!!!
4. Are you a homebrewer? If yes, what is the most unique and interesting beer recipes you’ve brewed as a homebrewer?
I’m not a homebrewer, but a craft brewer! The most fun recipes I’ve developed include a Strawberry and Pink Peppercorn Stout, an organic cacao nib and mandarin peel mild and a raspberry-infused porter.
5. Do you have any beer certifications (BJCP, Cicerone, Siebel, American Brewers Guild)?? If so, what are they?
I’ve done one of the Diploma of Brewing papers for the Institute of Brewers and Distillers as well as Post-graduate papers when at college on Flavour Chemistry and Fermentation Science but apart from that, nothing formal.
6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?
Maredsous 10 with Rabbit Leg and a cider and wholegrain mustard sauce. A little black pudding mash and some lovely caramelised roast parsnip and sweet potato as well. Yum! Saying that though, Thornbridge Lord Marples goes exceedingly well with Millionaires Shortbread (shortbread with gooey caramel iced with chocolate).
The Personal Side
1. What is your current day job?
Brewery Manager at Thornbridge Brewery in Derbyshire, UK
2. If you could change your career at this very moment, without any restrictions on what you could do, what would you want to do and why?
Probably go back to solely being a brewer again, far less paperwork or perusing health and safety documentation!
3. Are you married? Children?
Girlfriend, Catherine for 9 years. No rugrats.
4. Outside of beer and writing, what are some of your other hobbies? There are other hobbies??
Like reading, like hiking and the outdoors. Love foraging for wild foods. Enjoy snowboarding and watching rugby (as well as playing when the job lets me).
Off The Beaten Path
1. If you were a style of beer, what style would be an why?
Would have to be an IPA. My colour changes from pale to golden (all based on whether I’ve had a UK or NZ summer!!), I often smell like hops… the joys of weighing them out in a brewery. Every now and then I can get a little bitter, though this is often counteracted by my sweet mouthfeel, hehehe
2. You were caught smuggling beer illegally, which has now been made punishable by death. Right before you are sent to the executioner, you are offered one last beer. What beer would you chose and why?
Bloody hell, that’s a tough one. Right now, I’d have to say Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron. The smell alone of that beer would make me forgot about impending doom. In fact, I’d drink most of it, then save the residual to soak the black hood in so I’d at least depart this life with the smell of heaven in my nostrils.
3. If I contracted you to brew a beer (or design a beer recipe) called “The Beer Wench” — what style would you chose and what, if any, extra ingredients would you add?
Hmmm, probably an intensely hopped porter. A bit of malty sweetness and the massive complexity of speciality malts, then a big old almost Black IPA hop hit… some big bitterness and then lovely smoothness in the finish. Nostrils filled with hints of citrus and berry fruit and tropical fruits the whole time.
4. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Probably the same as when I was a kid… to be quick enough to flick the light switch and be under the covers in my bed before the light went out.
5. What is one of the craziest things you have ever done and lived to tell the story?
About minus 6 weeks old, decided my umbilical cord was a scarf, got a bit tangled, but made it through okay. Though I don’t think my lungs worked that well. Hardcore.
6. What are your thoughts on bacon? Intensively farmed?
Get it away from me!!! Locally reared and smoked… one of the great things in life.
SPECIAL THANKS TO KELLY FOR AN AWESOME INTERVIEW!
CHEERS!
