Black Magic!
GOLD MEDAL WINNER – SIBA EAST BEER COMPETITION SEPTEMBER 2022!
Oakham Lead Brewer Ed Sharman is a great lover of dark beers, Hawse Buckler being a personal favourite, so winning this category was particularly special.
“We’re legendary for our pale ales,” Ed said. “and I wanted to show that we can make fantastic beers in a range of styles. So I’m glad that my journey to the dark side hit the spot for the SIBA judges!”
Originally intended to be Oakham’s 4.5% ABV seasonal offering for October 2020, the pandemic meant that Black Magic was adapted into a 5% cask aged beer with unfiltered cans and kegs also produced.
Well received back in late 2020 despite the lockdowns, Ed brought Black Magic back this year as a cask aged beer with a revised recipe to emphasise the chocolate notes. He removed the lactose, changed the type of chocolate used and tweaked the malt and hop line-up to bring the recipe into balance.
Black Magic is aged in the cask for at least 3 months to allow the flavours to develop and to give a smooth mouthfeel.
Flavoured with Cocoa and hopped with Centennial, Citra, Chinook and Amarillo on top of a complex base of no less than 8 different malts.
A sumptuous cask aged chocolate porter, robust and rich, dark and decadent and supernaturally smooth.
