COSMO SOUR, our 4.3% cranberry, orange and lime sour UnBarred Brewery collab, based on the oh-so-popular cocktail, is released this week.
Our connection with Jordan, founder and head brewer of UnBarred, goes back to 2016 when Brighton’s Bison Beer cycled up from Brighton to Bristol. The team visited numerous brewery taprooms along the way, in order to raise awareness as they tried to save a seafront pub from the hands of Burger King. At the end of their trip, here with us in Bristol, we did a collaboration beer, Ryed With Us, to celebrate the journey. Jordan, head brewer at Two Tribes at the time, was their ‘proxy’ brewer. (You can read about it here: https://goodchemistrybrewing.co.uk/2016/10/15/bisontobristol/)
After that Bob & I (Kelly) kept in touch with Jordan, following UnBarred’s progress from his shed to their current site right in the heart of Brighton. With my brother living in the city we’ve always tried to drop in to the taproom with some of our own beers whenever we’ve been down.
We’ve wanted to set this collaboration brew up for a good few years too, since UnBarred were settled into their new home. In 2019 we were just tooooo busy, and didn’t have the time it needed to dedicate to really thinking about and working together on what we wanted to do.
We continued talking in early 2020 and started discussing ideas and dates to get it in the brew schedule. Then of course the rest of 2020 happened…
So here we finally are in 2022! And the collaboration has finally taken place with a beautiful cranberry, orange and lime sour right in time for summer sunshine and good times!
Unfortunately covid struck again and Jordan wasn’t able to make it up here for our UnBarred Tap Takeover at The Good Measure or the actual brew the following day, but we kept in touch remotely with photos and phone calls, and subsequently through the beer’s fermentation we’ve been sending progress reports back to Brighton!
(Photos: youthful Bob and Jordan at the mashtun in 2016, and Bob with the malt with Jordan photoshopped in as he was sadly unable to be here in person!)
Jordan says “Bob and I first brewed together in 2016 and hit it off straight away. Since then, I’ve been head brewer for a couple of breweries and finally brought UnBarred to full scale in Brighton.
“Many ideas have been thrown back and forth to create something from our passion for great beer and creativity. We settled on something that encapsulates this with a beer version of the classic cosmopolitan cocktail.
“I love going to Bristol and hanging out with Bob and Kelly. We are so much alike. I’m gutted I was unable to be there in person for the brew day but will make up for it on the return brew. We’ve used many skill sets and tricks to dial in this beautiful beer, full of fun and sessionability.”
COSMO SOUR launches at our taproom and The Good Measure next Friday 29th April, and will be pouring all through the East Bristol Brewery Trail on Sat 30th and Sun 1st.
Then it launches at the UnBarred taproom in central Brighton on Wednesday 4th May. They’ll also have cans for sale, and will be getting the beer out to all their (and our!) favourite Brighton venues!
As Jordan says, we’re looking forward to the return leg collab later in the year, and with a Tap Takeover and Meet The Brewer of our own down on the sunny South Coast.
You can pre-order your Cosmo Sour, on its own or with Kokomo Weekday, from our webshop here: https://shop.goodchemistrybrewing.co.uk/collections/cosmo-sour
We’re packaging it this week, so it’ll come straight off the canning line and go out to you guys first! There’s only a limited amount available as we’ve split the beer with UnBarred, so make sure to get in quick.
Cheers!
