Description
It was a real honour to be invited to take part by the Beernomicon folks alongside the likes of Chapter, Donzoko, Full Circle and Rivington and we put a lot of time into the planning stage of this beer. Yuriy and his team at Deanston were up for it and – fuelled by cinnamon bun power – the idea became a recipe, which we brewed at the start of the year.
The obvious thing would’ve been to brew a big ol’ pastry stout, throw a ton of cinnamon buns into the kettle and wallow in a sticky, sugary spicy mess. And that would’ve probably been delicious, and maybe we’ll do that one day. But we wanted this to be a beer that slips down a bit more easily, that’s drunk by the glassful and that maybe leads to another glassful. A brown ale with added cinnamon bun. The grist is from a Belgian brown ale recipe (and maybe we’ll do that one day too) with plenty of Munich malt to provide the requisite bread-iness. We added soft brown sugar, a pinch of nutmeg and, of course, plenty of cinnamon which we sourced from the same supplier as Deanston – and this proved to be the key to the beer. Supermarket cinnamon doesn’t smell of much; this cinnamon filled the whole brewery with the exact cinnamon smell that’s synonymous the bakery, before the packet was even opened.
The result is just what we were after; a sessionable, moreish, harmonious blend of brown ale and cinnamon bun that combines the best of both elements. It’s fair to say it’s a departure from our usual style but we love it, Yuiry and the Deanston gang love it and we hope you love it too. And yes, it pairs really nicely with a well made cinnamon bun.
4.8% / 440ml
