Japanese knotweed, oak leaves and pumpkins

Many brewers use wild hops but Perivale Brewery take the idea of foraging to a different level. CAMRA’s London Tasting Panel went along to meet them. This is a small, three barrel brewery based in former farm buildings in the unique setting of the southern end of the Horsenden Hill Nature Reserve. Situated alongside artisan coffee, bakery and craft shops, the brewery occupies two compact units that take some creativity to operate!

Welcome to Perivale!

The brewery was set by Mike Siddell and two friends, Christian Perrins and Mike Petricevic, almost six years ago. They are an eclectic trio. Mike S is a New Zealander and musician who started home brewing on a canal boat after being an intern with London Fields. This probably explains Mike’s ability to brew in small places. Christian is also a musician and Mike P, who also hails from New Zealand, works in marketing.

For Mike S, brewing was a sideline to his music but now it is the other way around. It remains a small business but Mike now has help from ‘Disco’ Dave, who assists part time, and he says he is learning all the time. There is no sales function but they have some committed customers, including the Dodo micropub in Hanwell with whom they produced a popular collaboration beer called Veri Dodo Black. However, Dave said, “Mike gets a stream of enquiries but they are mostly from East London and that is difficult as we don’t have a van. That is probably the next step. We also need a larger conditioning tank.”

That does not mean that the brewery has not grown. Perivale started with two 33 gallon fermenters in the building that is now the bakery. They expanded last year, adding four additional three-barrel fermenters. They also crowd funded last year to install covered tents for their seating area and to purchase a booth (open Saturday and Sunday) that has ten taps selling their beers plus soda, which they make themselves, and wine. “Customers were asking for wine particularly on a Sunday to accompany the popular Sunday roasts served up by the bakery”, Dave explained.

Perivale produce mostly keg beer with the odd cask on request. They have bottled some beer but, as Dave added, “We have been testing cans as they are easier for distribution.” It has to be the smallest canning line ever seen, with just two heads. Dave continued, “We don’t have a core beer range as yet but Veri Pale, which was one of Mike’s initial beers that he devised when on his canal boat, is popular. It originally contained honey but this was dropped because of the difficulty in getting the honey. Mike is well known for his experimentation. It can be a bit of a gamble but it usually works out.”

The canning line

A lot of the flavourings are herbal, such as lemon verbena, tomato, Japanese Knotweed and oak leaves. The latter was used in a beer for this year’s Ealing Beer Festival with some of the leaves actually coming from an oak tree in Walpole Park. As with the Veri Pale, many of the other beers start with the prefix ‘Veri’ (“to rhyme with Peri” said Dave). These include Veri Hazy, Veri Zesty, Veri Crisp and Veri Brek; the latter being their oatmeal stout. One exception to this rule is the Pumpkin Hefeweissen, which contains roasted pumpkins.

Going forward, Dave expects that, as they expand, more staff will be needed. They currently have ten but not all at one time. The summer months are clearly the busiest and, with such a stunning environment, this is not surprising; a perfect country walk and beer combination!

Perivale Brewery is about a ten minute walk from Perivale tube station (Central Line). You can find out more about the brewery at www.perivale.beer. For the London Tasting Panel’s tasting notes on the beers tasted, go to the brewery section on the London CAMRA website. You will also be able to try their beer at this year’s Pig’s Ear Beer Festival. The tap room is open on Saturdays and Sunday from 12pm to 8pm.
Christine Cryne