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Luke Wilson of Braybrooke Beer Co. talks us through the fine art of proper lager

Interview by Will Halbert
Photography by Theresa Undine

You can’t beat a good lager. That is, of course, if you can find one. While the craft beer explosion we’ve witnessed over the last couple of years has furnished fans of the fermented fizzy stuff with a plethora of porters and pales, the hop-bomb, go-big-or-go-home approach hasn’t been kind on the ol’ lager.

That’s what makes Braybrooke so (literally and metaphorically) refreshing; they specialise in lager. Really good, award-winning lager. With a solid core range and a host of collaborative brews under its belt, Braybrooke Beer Co. is a dab hand at a do-one-thing-well approach to brewing.

We sit down with Co-founder, Luke Wilson, to discuss what sets their brews apart.

What’s the inspiration and philosophy behind Braybrooke? What made you decide to focus predominantly on lager?
My business partners, Cam and Nick, and myself decided to create a brewery a few years ago.  Cam and I co-own a restaurant in Soho, London called 10 Greek Street and Nick is an old friend who owns a beer distribution company called Biercraft.

We had talked for a long time about starting another business together and we all agreed that we would love to establish an independent, UK-based lager brewery.  With this in mind, we took a trip to Germany to visit our friend, Stephan Michel, who owns Mahrs Brau brewery in Bamberg, which has been making amazing lagers and other beers since 1670.  As we had only gone over for advice, we were delighted when Stephan said he wanted to be involved in the company, providing brewing advice and access to the best lager ingredients.

I was brought up in the village of Braybrooke, near Market Harborough, Leicestershire and we were able to renovate an old grain barn that provided the location for the brewery. We then hired our very skilled Head Brewer, Mario Canestrelli, who had previously worked at Orbit Beers and Howling Hops Brewery in London. Our aim was, and is, to produce some of the best lagers in the UK, that could rival the wonderful examples we are so fond of from Europe, especially Germany.

What makes a good lager, in your eyes? How do you guys define a ‘proper’ lager?
The lager we like to produce is unfiltered and unpasteurised fresh lager, naturally carbonated. It’s crisp and refreshing but with character, body, and depth of flavour that can be enjoyed on its own or with food.

People tend to think that lager is just, well, lager. But there’s a wide scope of difference. Can you talk us through your different expressions?
We have three core lagers: Keller Lager, our flagship beer is an amber lager with malt-driven richness but still crisp and refreshing. Our Helles Lager is a benchmark pale lager style. Our Session Lager is a mini-pilsner; light in alcohol but not in flavour. We are always brewing specials, too. So we’ve made New Zealand Pilsners, Maibocks, Black Lagers, Cold Brew Lagers, Harvest Festbier and Smoked Lagers.

Can you talk us through your own process a little?
We are a German-inspired lager brewery and so use malt from Bamberg, hops directly from a farm in Tettnang, and yeast from Augsburg. They’re all brewed with local British water that has gone through reverse osmosis to make it perfect for lager brewing. We ferment and then cold store our beers in horizontal tanks for a minimum of 4 weeks before release. We bottle and keg the beers on site. In short, we do the entire process ourselves.

What’s in store for Braybrooke in 2021? Any more collaborations being brewed up?
Our plans for 2021 are to continue to brew our core range and to include a few specials along the way. We’ve got three single-hopped Pilsners and a Dunkel in the works, and we’re also going to release a beer spirit that will be distilled for us from our beer. 

Collab-wise, we have done one with Thornbridge brewery in Derbyshire, available in the next few weeks, plus a re-release of a Vienna Lager that we brewed together with Donzoko Brewing Company from Hartlepool.  We will also be brewing a beer for Third Man Records, who are opening a record store in London later in the year. 

As well as being listed in some of our favourite pubs, bars and restaurants, such as Carters, our beers are also now available for delivery nationwide through our website.

And finally, any personal favourite beer pairings you guys are fond of?
Keller Lager and roast pork is great!

Check out the full range of Braybrooke’s brews here.