Tag: Basement

April 2026 Meet-up

A new month, a new meet-up and we are back at a club favourite Basement Beer!

This time joined by a very special guest, the club’s founder and former leader Matt is over from Belfast, a long time coming, but a very pleasant surprise. Straight into Basement’s delicious Westie, it was like no time had passed since we had all been together.

After working our way through the tap list, it was time to open our bottles and share what everyone had brought along. No special theme or challenge this month, just bring whatever you want to share, show off, or just get rid off.

Brewer	Beer	ABV
	Best Bitter	4.0%
Paul	German Pils	4.6%
Rob	Hazy IPA with Dolcita (HBC1019)	4.3%
Pete	Home Grown Hopped Saison	6.8%
🥇Rowan🥇	Mixed Ferm Saison UK National BOS Winner	6.6%
Pete	Schwartzbier	4.9%
	Porter	5.0%

Hmm, I didn’t make a note of all the brewers🙄 Will update as it comes to me

A fine evening, and a great chance to catchup with Matt, and stumble up to the Hare on the Hill for the after party, where Pete insisted on sharing a bottle of Burning Sky.

Best if we don’t remember what Jack said

Another fine, messy evening had by all, taking the following Friday off was very much recommended!

Join us next month at Unwin’s Brewery, 28th May for the showcase of challenge #29, all welcome.

7 May 2026

Collab 28 – How dark is your basement?

For the first challenge of the year we were at basement to show off the dark beers the entrants had brewed, with the showcase being judged by Ben the Head Brewer and Owner of Basement Beer.

The Challenge

Entrants were tasked with brewing a dark beer of any style, with an emphasis on it being commercially viable to brew and sell. Ben had agreed to judge the beers, with the winner getting a brewday at Basement and their beer being sold by Basement. Ben had also offered to time it with a canning run, so the beer would also make it into cans and potentially out to trade if there was enough available.

The Showcase

Its safe to say that our brewers certainly have a taste for dark beers, with an excellent range of brews on show. Naturally the club favourite style of Black IPA featured prominently amongst a strong range of beer styles. We had everything from Stouts to a Weizenbock.

Here’s the full list of Beers and their Brewers.

Brewer	Name	Style
Luiz & Stan	Sputnik	Stout
Paul	Hop Telescope	Schwarzbier
Rob	Jaipur Noir	Black IPA
Ian	Raiders of the Lost Dark	Czech Dark Lager
Luiz & Stan	Ursa Major	Black IPA
Ian	The Dirty Secret	Premium London Porter
Pete	Black Basement IPA	Black IPA
Matt	Forever Batman	Black IPA
Will	Uther The Weiss Bringer	Weizenbock
Tom	Black as your Hat	Imperial Stout
Luiz & Stan	Black Hole	Stout

Ben took extensive notes on the beers as the individual brewers presented them, along with an explanation of the origins of the beer and the recipe. He’s going to take some time to deliberate and choose a winner, so watch this space for details of the winner and their brewday!

27 February 2026