UK Champion Homebrewer’s Beer to go on sale in Bundobust bars
A ‘New England White IPA’ by the UK’s Champion homebrewer is set to go on sale across all five Bundobust bars following a collaboration with Bundobust Brewery in Manchester.
The beer was named best in the UK at the prestigious SIBA Homebrew Beer Awards 2024, a competition judged by professional brewers and experienced beer judges from the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA).
The competition was this year run in association with award-winning brewery and Indian street food aficionado’s Bundobust, yeast specialists Lallemand Brewing and The Malt Miller, to challenge homebrewers to brew the UK’s best tasting wheat beer. It was Matthew Durant’s ‘New England White IPA’ that wowed judges, combining the smooth drinkability of wheat beer with the stone-fruit and tropical hop flavours of a hazy New England IPA.
Matthew Durant, Champion Homebrewer commented,“I wanted something that packed a little bit of a punch but was drinkable, with the yeast bringing some of those soft banana flavours. For me as a homebrewer to go from 19 litre batches to then come here today and brew on the big kit has been a little bit daunting at first, but Dan’s been fantastic in explaining everything to me and I’m really looking forward to tasting the final product. To be able to see the beer in all the Bundobust restaurants, really looking forward to that – will be a proud moment.”
Now in its second year after launching in 2023, the SIBA Homebrew Beer Awards this year challenged homebrewers to brew using Lallemand’s hugely versatile ‘Wit’ yeast and a minimum of 25% wheat in the recipe. Apart from that it was up to the homebrewers’ imaginations – with various styles including Belgian Wit, American Wheat, German Hefeweizen, and White IPA all entered in 2024.
Neil Walker from SIBA helps run the competition and joined the brew day, he says the quality of homebrewing in the UK has never been better, “This competition is testament to how high the quality of homebrewing in the UK has become, with really talented homebrewers such as Matthew pushing boundaries and brewing incredibly good beers such has his delicious White IPA. It was a pleasure to join the brew day and see his recipe brewed on a commercial scale, something that every winner of the SIBA Homebrew Beer Awards gets to experience.”
Scaling the recipe from homebrew size to a full commercial brew kit was overseen by Dan Hocking, Bundobust Head Brewer, who enjoyed having Matt join the brewing team for the day, “It was really nice to have a completely new perspective and explain what you spend all of your time doing, and then to have another creative mind come at it aswell … We’ll be putting Matt’s beer into all the Bundobust restaurants in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Liverpool – and we’re hoping to get a keg of it sent to one of Matt’s locals aswell, so he can show off his beer to all his buddies.”
Alix Blease of Lallemand also attended the brew day and had some technical advice for other budding homebrewers looking to recreate the recipe, “His [Matt’s] beer is more towards a White IPA in style, so he’s used the yeast to exemplify some of the banana flavours from it. You can do this yourself by making sure you’re adding plenty of nutrients, fermenting with no head pressure, as well as reducing your mash temperature and increasing your fermentation temperature – you should be to exemplify a lot more of those banana and clove ester characteristics.”
The OG Indian Street Food & Craft Beer bar, Bundobust has been bringing Too Much Spicy to Leeds Since 2014 by combining modern Indian sharing spreads inspired by Gujarat & beyond, with an unbeatable selection of craft beers from around the world as well as their own award-winning Bundobust Brewery beers. Now in Manchester (Piccadilly and Oxford Road), Liverpool, and Birmingham, each venue has its own distinct character ranging from beer hall to modern taproom to cosy pub, all with Bundo’s signature casual, lively vibe and service.
The SIBA Homebrew Beer Awards 2025 will open for entries later this year and is only open to SIBA Homebrewer Members. For more information on SIBA Homebrewer Membership visit www.siba.co.uk/homebrewer
