Peerless Brewing Company is an independent

microbrewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

based in

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

on the

Wirral Peninsula The Wirral Peninsula (), known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpo ...

, producing cask brewed beers by combining traditional techniques and fine ingredients with a modern tang. The stainless-steel brew-plant is capable of brewing both

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

s and

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

s. The Brewery brew about 3000 pints per batch. A gas-fired boiler provides the super-heated steam for the brewing process. The

fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...

and conditioning tanks are all individually temperature controlled. In early 2011 funding support from

Wirral Council Wirral Council, or Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, is the Local government in England, local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan borough council, metropolitan district council with Bo ...

and help from

Barclays Bank Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

and the

Manufacturing Advisory Service The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) is a former government agency in England and Scotland. History It was founded by the Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI, which became Department for ...

(MAS) provided £25,000 of capital which was invested in 220 new ale

casks A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids ...

and cask washing equipment to support its production capacity and allow it to break into the national wholesale market.

History

The Brewery based in Pool Street, was the first brewery in Birkenhead since the closure of The Birkenhead Brewery, which operated from the mid 19th century until the late 1960s.

2009 -

Following restructuring of the business, the brewery was renamed Peerless Brewing Company, with former Betwixt director Steve Briscoe taking over as managing director and Head Brewer joined by his wife Rose as a director. Two new employees were also recruited to strengthen brewing and distribution Steve came up with the name 'Peerless' whilst having a beer with friends. The inspiration for the name came from The Birkenhead Brewery's strapline which was 'Peerless Ales and Stout'. In January 2013 Peerless unveiled a new logo and pump clip design.

Beers

Main Ales

*Full Whack a strong pale ale. The name is derived from the days when sailors would demand full rations. 6.0% ABV. *Hilbre Gold is a hoppy golden ale named after the small

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

at the mouth of the Dee estuary. 4.5% ABV. *Jinja Ninja brewed with root ginger, chillies and lemons. 4.0% ABV. *Oatmeal Stout a smooth full bodied stout. 5.0% ABV. *Paxtons Peculiar this peculiar copper coloured blend is part dark mild and part blond ale. 4.1% ABV. *Peerless Pale this pale and hoppy brew coincided with the launch of Peerless’ new logo and pump clip design. 3.8% ABV. *Red Rocks is a strong, ruby ale named after the famous sandstone point in Hoylake on the Wirral. 5.0% ABV. *Storr is a pale and hoppy cask

pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery. History ...

. The name 'Storr' is derived from the old Norse word meaning great or strong. 4.8% ABV. *Triple Blond is a unique combination of three types of malt and three types of hop. 4% ABV. *Viking Gold pale golden ale derived from

Chinook Chinook may refer to: Chinook peoples The name derives from a settlement of Indigenous people in Oregon and Washington State. * Chinookan peoples, several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest ** Chinook Indian Nation, an organiza ...

and

Goldings This is a list of varieties of hop (''Humulus lupulus''). As there are male and female plants, the flowers (cones) of the female plant are fertilized by the pollen of the male flowers with the result that the female flowers form seeds. These se ...

hops with citrus grapefruit and hop aroma. 4.6% ABV.

Other/Seasonal Ales

*All American a hoppy

IPA IPA commonly refers to: * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation ** International Phonetic Association, the organization behind the alphabet * India pale ale, a style of beer * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA ...

brewed with American hops. 5.2% ABV. *All In The Balance celebrating 10 years of the Brass Balance (

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim ...

) In Birkenhead. 6.0% ABV. *Crystal Maze a seasonal ruby ale. Bitter tasting with a hint of fruit. 4.4% ABV. *Dark Arts a deep, dark beer with flavours of coffee and chocolate. 4% ABV. *Dark Cascade a dry hopped version of Dark Arts using

Cascade Cascade, or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science * Air shower (physics), a cascade (particle shower) of subatomic particles and ionized nuclei ** Particle shower, a cascade of secondary particles produced as the result of a high ...

for a light, citrus finish. 4% ABV. *Dog Leg an amber ale with malty flavours. 3.8% ABV. *Down Under brewed with hops from Australia and New Zealand 3.6% ABV. *Fugglehop a dry hopped version of Dark Arts using Fuggles for a light, floral finish. 4% ABV. *Galaxy IPA brewed with

galaxy A galaxy is a Physical system, system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', ...

hops. 4.8% ABV *Hop Nob with an initial bitterness tempered by citrus notes from the use of Cascade hops. 3.9% ABV. Peerless Ales Various

*Hop Tide a seasonal golden IPA. hoppy bitterness with hints of orange. 5.0% ABV. *Ingimund 902 a seasonal Pale Ale. Named after Ingimundr, the first Viking to conquer Wirral in 902. 4.3% ABV. *Jack Frost Blonde very pale blonde winter beer spiced with cardamom and coriander. 4.1% ABV. *Kiwi Gold brewed with hops from Australia and New Zealand 4.7% ABV. *Lone Rider an American Pale Ale brewed exclusively with American hops, Galena, Summit and Cascade. 4.0% ABV. *Port Sunlight Seasonal malty amber ale with a hint of citrus from cascade hops. 3.7% ABV. *Red Rockin’ Robin a deep red colour winter beer which combines

Port Wine Port wine (, ; ), or simply port, is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often served with dessert wine, ...

, cloves and nutmeg. 5.0% ABV. *Santa's Sat Nav 4.8% ABV. *Skyline an amber session ale with a hint of spice. 3.8% ABV. *Solid Gold 5.4% ABV *Uncle Sam made with crystal wheat malt and American hops. 4.5% ABV *Watchmaker 4.4% ABV. *Whiteout a pale winter ale brewed with pale malt combined with American

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

and

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

hops. 3.8% ABV. *Winter Wallop a strong Christmas ale. infused with

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

, Cinnamon and Sultanas. 6.0% ABV. *Winter Witch 3.9% ABV. *Winter Whack 6.0% ABV. *World Cup Blonde a light blond ale made with English Fuggles, East Kent Goldings and American Cascade hops. 4.0% ABV.

Achievements/Awards

SIBA (

Society of Independent Brewers The Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (formerly the Small Independent Brewers Association, or SIBA) is an organisation representing the interests of independent breweries in the UK. Founded in 1980, it was intended to fight the pu ...

) North West Regional Beer Competition 2013 The competition – held at the SIBA Great North West Beer Festival, Staveley – more than 200 ales over 9 categories were judged by a panel of experts which includes SIBA members, CAMRA experts and national food and drink journalists.. *'Peerless Pale' achieved gold in the Standard Bitters category. *'Jinja Ninja' collected silver in the Specialty Bottled Beers category. SIBA North Region Competition 2012 The competition – held at the SIBA Great Northern Beer Festival in Manchester – judged a total of 265 cask and 122 bottled beers across 13 categories. *'All American IPA' achieved silver in the Strong Bitters section. *'Storr' claimed silver in the Bottled Bitters category. *'Jinja Ninja' collected silver for Bottled Speciality Beers and bronze in the Speciality Beers cask class. International Beer Challenge 2012 *After winning gold at the SIBA Awards 2011. SIBA put forward 'Jinja Ninja' for the International Beer Challenge 2012 where the ale achieved Bronze in the Speciality Beer category.

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, real cider, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founde ...

Liverpool Beer Festival 2012 *'Storr' emerged victorious as the ‘best beer’ in a challenge for Merseyside's nine real ale brewers at the famous Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) Liverpool Beer Festival.* With beers judged by 70 ‘laymen’, Storr took the title well ahead of the closest runners-up by several points. SIBA Awards 2011 *'Jinja Ninja' achieved gold in its class of speciality bottled ales before being hailed as Champion Bottled Beer of the North *In the golden ales category - 'Hilbre Gold' took first place while sister brew 'Viking Gold' won silver. SIBA Awards 2010 *'Full Whack' achieved the silver award in the strong ales category

References

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External links

Official Peerless Brewing Company WebsiteCampaign for Real Ale WebsiteSociety of Independent Brewers WebsiteInternational Beer Challenge Website
Breweries in England British companies established in 2009 Food and drink companies established in 2009 2009 establishments in England Companies based in Wirral