The Good Stuff - Treboom Brewery: Banging The Drum

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http://goodfoodgoodbeer.files.wordpr...rkle.gif?w=604The first time I heard *about Treboom was (somewhay aptly, given the music connection) in the office of Revolutions Brewing, taking a break (Tea, Pork Pie, Mini Babybel) from brewing a beer with them. They’d been doing some beer swaps, and Treboom’s pumpclip stood out on a table strewn with them.
“Ah…Treboom…” said Andy Helm as I eyed the clip, conspiratorially. “Good beer. Really good, actually. Check ‘em out.”
So – not one to ignore advice from brewers – I duly did. It took a while (I was to later find out that Treboom’s beers generally don’t last long on the bar) but I soon became acquainted with Yorkshire Sparkle; a crisp, super-pale-ale that begs for a sun-drenched beer garden, a packet of Salted Crisps, and excellent conversation. Too late to include in Great Yorkshire Beer, Treboom joined the likes of Hop Studio, Hand-Drawn Monkey,*Collingham and Brass Castle in breweries (well, HDM is kind of a brewery) really gaining a cult following in Yorkshire of late. When Jon Chappell (York Tap) and I put our heads together to decide what we were going to put on the bar for the book launch, Yorkshire Sparkle wasone of the first non-book-included beers on the list.
I finally managed to have a natter with John Lewis at the launch. As is often the case, Treboom is a labour of love between one couple – John and his wife, Jane Blackman. “We set up (Treboom) because I lost my funding as a research scientist at the*University of York, working on Prostate Cancer.” says John. “We had always*wanted to do something together and, as* I had been a homebrewer, a*microbrewery seemed the obvious choice as is quite scientific!”
They started in early 2012, making beer in Cask for pubs within a 30 mile radius of York. A little investment and a grant from DEFRA later, and Treboom’s beer is enjoying a charmed life in the myriad pubs of York and surrounding areas. “Things are going very well – people are enjoying our beer. Yorkshire*Sparkle is our best seller and won silver at the York CAMRA Beer Festival*last year, and Baron Saturday also came top in a York Battle of the*Breweries.’
It’s not all classic styles of beer though. John firmly ascribes to the tried-and-tested method of using seasonals to supplement the core range with something a little different.*”Yes, we’ve made some interesting seasonals including a green*hopped beer called First Draft and a Wheat Beer using Bog Mrytle from*the North Yorkshire Moors.” Bog Myrtle, eh? That’s one to try.
Next week Treboom are throwing open their doors for their first Brewery Beats festival. With a connection to drumming (a Treboom is a drumming term), Jon and Jane have assembled drummers from all over the world to come and provide entertainment to guests while they in turn get to know the brewery.
“Two groups of*drummers came to us independently because they had seen the logo – one of*them actually practices in Shipton where we are based. They suggested*doing something together and Brewery Beats is the result. We have*Japanese Drummers, African Drummers, Egyptian Dancers and a band called*The Eclectic Sparks playing.”
http://goodfoodgoodbeer.files.wordpr...300&h=266But wait – there’s more. “Jane is a ceramicist and so we*decided to invite some artists along too.* There will be 12 artists here in total with work ranging from painting, printmaking,*ceramics, photography and jewellery”.
Food is taken care of, too. John explains.*”The festival really combines all our interests into one package -art, food,*music and beer!* Harrogate Preserves will be there – they use our*Kettle Drum Best Bitter in their chutney – Haxby Baker produces artisan*bread and is going to use our beer to make some bread. Butterfly*Chocolates are going to use our porter (Baron Saturday) to make some*truffles. We’re very excited about it – and there’s going to be a*cheesemonger so, along with our beer, there will be the makings of a Ploughman’s!”
The festival’s completeness sums of what I’ve learned about Treboom in a short space of time; a brewery that clearly wants to be of a community; one spoke of a great wheel that encompasses more than beer. “The event is really to introduce people to Treboom and show them what we*are about and where our interests lie.* We want to make good quality*beer and do interesting things along the way rather than become a beer*factory.”
That’s an admirable cause, indeed.
You can get full details of the festival here. You can also read Gavin Aitcheson’s excellent profile of Treboom over at York Press*here.

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