This beer should be f***ing good!

June 2, 2008: Dougal Sharp, owner of and head brewer at Innis & Gunn, has been working with Gordon Ramsay to create a one-off beer for the diners at the F Word restaurant. Dougal was seen on the programme this week and will appear again towards the end of the series.

Channel 4’s F Word has never followed the brewing process, so this is a highly significant move from one of Britain’s most influential chefs. The programmes, televised from May to July, will see Dougal and Gordon brewing a special beer in Gordon’s London home before ageing it in wooden barrels and finally transferring the beer to bottle.

Dougal said: "Gordon seemed to like beers that weren’t too bitter, but
which were complex, with a creamy smooth flavour. So we have brewed a beer very like our own Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer, and we have matured it in the same oak barrels that we use — American white oak barrels, specially selected for the depth of flavour that lies deep within the grain of the oak. It’s a revolutionary take on a traditional process which we first pioneered in 2002.

“We tasted the soft, honeyed flavours of Maris Otter pale ale barley malt, and some lighter flavoured wheat malt. We also nosed a variety of different hops before choosing the delicate, orange-flavoured English Goldings hops,
from Kent, and the lime-scented Styrian Goldings, from Slovenia.

“Tasting the raw ingredients and sampling the beer throughout each of these stages of the brewing process was a new experience for Gordon and he now has a multi-layered picture of beer.

“Beer is embraced more and more as a positive addition to restaurant drinks lists as it offers at least as much potential for great food matching as wines. Beer is Britain’s national drink and we should be proud of it.”