Thursday, 1 October 2009

A New Beer For The Conservation of The Long eared Owl

Here it is and I do know its been a wait for all those volunteers that helped with the last 2 Long-eared Owl surveys. The latest news from Fred Domellof Director of Cotleigh Brewery is that Long eared Owl Beer will join the likes of Barn Owl bitter (named by me) Tawny and Snowy Owl ale. There is talk of a possible PR launch day with yours truly doing a tasting :) being accompanied by Otus the captive bred Long-eared Owl (hooo's tee total) Otus also features here on the pump clip label, picture taken by me.

I have been working with Cotleigh Brewery since the 80s, so before I became full time Hawk and Owl Trust Conservation Officer. Its a great partnership and an interesting way of highlighting the conservation effort in much wider circles. Imagine this, you are in a pub and some berk suddenly gets up and starts talking about Owl conservation. Actually its proved very popular and led to many farmers and other landowners creating great wildlife habitat that we may have never reached. Cotleigh Brewery brew real ales and they are very good indeed, don't take it from me try it for yourself the Brewery website is http://www.cotleighbrewery.com/ and you can now purchase Barn Owl Bitter in the bottle which includes my phone number on the bottle, from the likes of Asda and Tesco's. Fred also told me today that if you are Hawk and Owl Trust member and going to the members weekend from the 15th to the 17th of October then he will be delivering the first batch of Long-eared Owl Beer for the Saturday social evening and Fred himself will do a quick introduction, with once again yours truly doing the first tasting :)

There is more very exciting news to come on Long-eared Owls but this is a great start from Cotleigh Brewery thanks to Fred and gang in Wiveliscombe this is the brewery's 30th and this is also the Hawk and Owl Trust's 40th, if you are a member of the Hawk and Owl Trust and need more information on the members weekend conference go to http://www.hawkandowl.org/

If the boys from Sweden are reading this, then you should be proud, as Fred is from your country, now how about Owl beers in Sweden? You have 10 species, come on boys!

Lastly here is a copy of Fred's tasting notes.

LONG EARED OWL PREMIUM ALE - DARK COPPER COLOUR
ABV 4.9 %
A rich and bright darker copper coloured ale. Full flavoured with a rich floral aroma from first gold hops. Smooth on the palate with a long lasting bitter sweet finish.

Ingredients: Pale, Crystal and Chocolate Malt; Goldings, Fuggles, Northern Brewery and First Gold hops.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the picture of the long-eared, hopefully see you at the conference for an ale or 2.

Chris Sperring said...

Thanks for comment on the picture Otus is the star, guess you are a Hawk and Owl Trust member so please look me up during the weekend. Its a packed programme and the Saturday evening sounds fun might even bring the guitar down for that, now with the new Long-eared Owl beer as well hopefully informative and fun.

Fred said...

As I am in Sweden (Goteborg) waiting for a flight back to blimey, I thought that it was worth letting you know that our range of "Owl and Hawk" beers have been featured in some pubs around Svenska land. Stockholm, Malmo, and Norrkoping. Slowly but surely we will introduce a bottle range into the Monopoly for our Owl enthusisasts. Just have to win the tender to supply - not easy but as we vikings, we never give up! Hej da and Skal.

Chris Sperring said...

Hi Fred and all the way from the wildlife paradise of Sweden. I have just had a meeting with Quantock rangers re Long-eared Owl surveys 2010, I told them about the new Long-eared owl beer, and I think you might find them all camped outside the brewery when you get back to Wiveliscombe. News is spreading fast about the new beer. Hopefully see you on the Saturday night of the Hawk and Owl Trust conference.