Yes folks, this coming Sunday, 6th May from 12 noon. The Rake will be doing 3 one-off special beers from the world renowned Brooklyn Brewery! Even more special is that two of them are cask conditioned!

The two cask beers are :

Brown Ale, a 5.6% Brown Ale, made with UK, US and Belgian Malts & Wilamette, American Fuggle and Cascade hops.

Blast!, a 9% Double IPA that’s made using a combination of nine different hops from America and English hops. Warning, this IPA is nearly as big as the Signature that Garrett left on our Wall a few weeks ago!

The keg beer is Sorachi Ace, a 7.6% single hop farmhouse Saison made with two row German pilsener Malt and Oregon grown Sorachi Ace hops.

Remember, we open at 12 noon and the beers will be on until then, it’s first come first serve and when it’s gone, it’s gone!

See you Sunday

Glyn.

Now as the better educated amongst you will know, some of the earliest brewing records were found in places like Babylon, Mesopotamia and Egypt and indeed the Sumarians used to export ale as far away as Egypt.  Not far away in todays scheme of things but in those days it was a ‘bit of a trek’.

I ignored the initial email and cursed my laptops security for not sending the email straight to the junk mail box. End of that I thought and went back to my steadily growing pile of work.

A week or so later i got another email from the same person, there seemed to be a bit more urgency in the tone of the writing and so I actually read the content. Now comes the exciting bit so make sure you’re paying attention.

The content of the email was more than a little bit extraordinary. Apparently during the recent political turbulence in the area an underground brewery had been discovered and it was in use! The reason they were getting in contact with us was because they wanted some funding for their brewery so they would be able to export beers as soon as possible.

I took the email to Mike and Rich and they of course were intially as sceptical as me but once  I persuaded them to contact the Egyptians they got a bit more excited.  Here is where it gets really exciting though, the Egyptians head brewer had decided before they got in touch with us that this was never a worthwhile cause and left the brewery in the hands of complete amatuers.

So, anyone seen Eddie Baines recently? I haven’t. That’d be because instead of leaving the company we sent him over to Egypt to train the brewers over there at the Sphinx brewery. Yes I made this story up as a cover because too many people were asking questions as to where he was and we wanted to keep the news quiet for as long as possible.!

He’s taken a couple of pictures of the site for us and as you can see the brewery is very much subterranean. 

Ed, is apparently having the time of his life out in Egypt, and why not, they love a ginge over there!

So, look out for the beer on the bar in The Rake and Tap East in the next couple of months and we may even be auctioning some old bottles at the cage which were found in the underground brewery just before Eddie got there. We don’t want to rush this as we believe it’s got huge long term potential and needs to be dealt with as carefully as possible!

More info will be available as and when it comes in now so watch this space!

What the title really means is that tonight, here at The Rake, Londons Amatuer Brewing community is being well and truly celebrated in the form of Tom Greasley.

Having won the London and the South East Craft Beer Competition, Greasley has collaborated with the popular Kernel Brewery in Bermondsey to produce a 6% Red IPA.

We have the awesome pleasure of launching the beer right here at The Rake from 6.30pm this evening, so if your weekend wasn’t long enough, come on down to the bar this evening and help us drink two 30 Litre Key kegs.

Tom Greasley and Evin O’Riordan will both be here this evening so you can ask them as many questions as you like about the winning brew!

See you in the bar later!

Glyn

STOP THE BEER DUTY ESCALATOR PETITION! – Sign it now and pass it on!

If we get 100,000 signatures we get parliamentary debate on the subject.

I look forward to a big increase in signatures soon!

Glyn

Couple of last minute changes for you.

Kite Gorslas has been replaced by Vale of Glamorgan Grog Y Vog.

Otley mOtley replaced by Otley Croeso.
Otley Oxymoron replaved by Otley 05 Gold.

So add those to your list if you need them and we’ll be updating the list accordingly.

cheers!

Glyn

for the 4th year running now we are delighted to announce The Rake’s Welsh Beer Festival.

Thursday 1st – Sunday 4th March!

As usual we’ve been lucky enough to get The Otley Brewing Company to collect the beers for us and the selection this year will whip you up into a frothy, hoppy lather!

Here is the list of Breweries and the beers we’re getting from them…

Bragdy’r Nant – Mwnci Nel, 5.5% 

Brecon Brewery – Pale Beacons, 3.9%

Brecon Brewery – Wandering Beacons, 5%

Brecon Brewery – Bright Beacons, 4.5%

Bullmastiff – Son of a Bitch, 6%

Conway – St Davids Ale, 4.2%

Conway – Scrumdown, 4%

Great Orme – Cambrian, 3.8%

Heart of Wales – Welsh Black, 4.4%

Kite Brewery – Gorslas, 4%

Montys Brewery – Manjana, 3.9%

Montys Brewery – Mojo, 3.8%

Neath Brewery – 6 Hop Nations, abv tbc

Otley Brewing Co – O4 ColumbO, 4%

Otley Brewing Co – O6 Porter, 6.6%

Otley Brewing Co – Oxymoron, 5.5%

Otley Brewing Co – mOtley Brew, 7.5%

Otley Brewing Co – O-Garden, 4.8%

Purple Moose – Glaslyn, 4.2%

Purple Moose – Snowdonia, 3.6%

Sandstone – Edge, 3.8%

Sandstone – Post Mistress, 4.4%

Sandstone – Obsidian, 5%

Tiny Rebel – Fubar, 4.4%

Tiny Rebel – Urban IPA, 5.5%

Waen – Blackberry Stout, 3.8%

So there it is folks, 26 casks from 14 Breweries, we wanted more but alas we’ll have to do with this exciting lot again! Have to say, if you haven’t tried the Motley yet, WHY NOT!?

There will be bottles from Otley, Untapped and Purple Moose available at the Utobeer Cage and Tap East will have a cask of mOtley brew and one of the final batch of O8 on the bar that weekend so be sure to visit both bars!

iechyd da!

Some of you may very well remember our Cumbrian Beer Festival earlier in the year, which featured some choice brews from some of Cumbria’s finest. Hawkshead were of course well represented, and I’m happy to tell you that they will once again be returning to The Rake for an exciting meet the brewer event on Monday 14th November.

The beers on offer will include their Brodies Prime, Cumbrian Five Hop (aka Citrillo), Red, NZPA, and their kegged Lakeland Lager.

The shenanigans will ensue from 6pm that night, so make sure you come along – not only to enjoy some of the best from Cumbria, but meet the brewers themselves and hear what they have to say about their beers – not one to be missed!

First of all, the head brewers from Windsor & Eton will be in attendance from 6pm on Monday 12th September to meet, greet and wax lyrical about their excellent new pilsner, called Republika. This rather tasty 4.8% brew was launched at The Rake very recently, and if you missed it the first time round, fear not, because we will be the only venue in central London lucky enough to have two kegs available on the aforementioned date. Cask beer from Windsor & Eton will be available too, so make sure you don’t miss out!

Hot on the heels of this is another mouth-watering night – Project Venus Reloaded. Some of you may recall the original Project Venus at The Rake, and the brewsters – female brewers – are back to administer another dose of girl brewing power. The action kicks off at The Rake on Monday 19th September from 6pm, and will feature some of the UK & Ireland’s premier brewsters, including Oldershaw, Offbeat, Brentwood, Waen, and of course, Brewsters. They have all come together to brew Venus Rouge, a 4.2% red ale made with chinook, summit, and New Zealand cascade hops. Not one to miss!

Look forward to seeing you for these events!

This August Bank Holiday weekend (Friday 26th – Monday 29th) The Rake will be celebrating the best beers that Cornwall has to offer. As usual, the festival bar will be out on the decking with 12 beers as well as the three on hand pump inside. With the help of St Austell’s head brewer, Roger Ryman we have sourced some beers that are rarely seen in London and we’re sure you’re going to enjoy them.

Here’s the list :

St Austells

Smugglers Grand, 11.5% abv, Barley Wine aged in Whisky Casks.

Big Smoke, 5.6% abv, Smoked Porter brewed especially for The Rake.

Proper Black, 6% abv, The St Austells Black IPA.

Proper Job, 5,5% abv, IPA, rarely seen on cask in London.

Big Job South Seas Colonnial IPA, 8% abv, A double IPA, powerfully hopped with Tasmanian and New Zealand hops.

Admirals Ale, 5% abv, An Amber ale, brewed uniquely with Cornish Gold malt.

Black Prince, 4% abv, a dark mild with toffee notes.

Sharps

Abbey Red, 8% abv, A Belgian style red ale, aged for 18 months.

Spontaneously Fermented Blonde, 7.4% abv, A sour blonde beer, refermented with Cornish microflora, aged for three years.

Keltek

Magik, 4% abv, nicely balanced best bitter .

King, 5.1% abv, Pale bitter with a lingering finish.

Driftwood Spars

Red Mission, 4% abv, a red ale brewed to support the Cornish Air Ambulance service.

Dek, 3.8% abv, Cornish for Ten, Dek was brewed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the brewery.

Skinners

Porthleven, 4.8% abv, One of the palest, fruitiest, zingiest and exciting beers you are ever likely to taste.

Coastal Brewery

Hop Monster, 3.8% abv, Thirst quenching session ale with citrus notes.

Penzance Brewing Company

Trink, 5.2% abv, Crisp, fruity and dry, brewed with Citra hops.

Scilly Stout, 7.1% abv, Clever name, clever beer! An exceedingly smooth and roasty stout.

Potion No.9, 4% abv, Light, golden and hoppy session bitter.

Atlantic Brewery (all organic)

Atlantic Red, 4.2% abv, Rich malt and marmalade make for a bittersweet finish.

Atlantic Blue, 4.8% abv, Cornish Porter with hints of Chocolate and coffee rounded off by a smooth smokiness.

Fistral, 5.2% abv, Beach blonde with a little wheat, citrus notes throughout.

See you there!

As I’m sure you’re all aware it’s the week of The Great British Beer Festival held by CAMRA. To complement their hugely successful festival The Rake will be extending it’s cask range to 13 this week.

Monday to Wednesday we will have the following beers on the bar.

Otley – Motley Brew, 7.5% abv – a Double IPA brewed by Rake Manager, Glyn Roberts.

Oakham - Untouchable 9% abv – An Imperial IPA brewed especially to help celebrate The Rake’s 5th Birthday.

Waen – Tidy Pint, 4% abv- A deliciously drinkable session ale from the Powys based brewery.

Freedom – 1010 Pilsner, 5% abv – A Pilsner brewed in October 2010 that has been left to mature for 10 months – Kegged.

Kernel – Pale Ale with Centennial, 10% abv – the 100th brew from The Kernel Brewery and the only keg in existence.

Stone - 12th Anniversary, 9.2% abv – a bitter chocolate oatmeal stout that we have been ageing for 3 years now.

Thornbridge, St Petersburg, 7.7% abv – an imperial russian stout with hints of chicory, bitter coffee, and dark chocolate.

These will be complemented with our usual range of randomly occurring beers.

We’ll also have our Festival bar open all week with the following beers on gravity…

Otley - UtObeer, 4% abv – An American hopped red ale brewed by Rake Manager, Glyn Roberts to help celebrate The Rake’s 5th birthday.

Oakham – Green Devil, 6% abv – Oakham’s IPA, dangerously drinkable for a 6% beer!

Summer Wine – 7 C’s of Rye, 7% abv – RyePA anyone?

Summer Wine – Nerotype Herkules, 6% abv – Awesome Black IPA from a brewery that isn’t afraid to use hops!

Summer Wine - Kahuna, 6% abv – Another IPA released for #IPA day!

Summer Wine - Diablo, 6% abv – A devil of an IPA!

Waen – First of the Summer Waen, 3.9% abv – New session beer from Waen, definitely tick or rate worthy!

Waen - Janners Pride, 4.6% abv – Best bitter with hints of whisky and ginger!

Waen - Festival Gold, 4.2% abv – Same recipe as Waen’s Landmark but with a lower abv, it’s dry hopped with Goldings to give it extra aroma and flavour.

Waen - Blackberry Stout, 3.8% – Rich and dark with a dry hoppy finish, absolutely awesome beer!

***ALSO NEW***

To help mark our 5th Birthday we have these stylish T-Shirts that you can buy at the bar.

Comes in sizes S, M, L, XL

Only £15.00