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GLLJTEN FORPtJI{ISHMENT

Disillusioned with the City finance industry, lobert Wicks used redundancymoney to set up his own brewery, as SophieAtherton reports

"Life without beer would be hell" ishow the conversation starts when I get

to \iTesterham brewery Kent, close to theSurrey border. It's part of the answer to thequestion ofwhy founder and head brewer

Robert \7icks (opposite) decided to make

his core range of bottled beers gluten-fiee.

It may seem obvious that a beer.free lifeisn't much fun, but it hit home for Robert

after a conversation with a conractorwho put logo transfers on the brewery's

vehicles. "He told me he'd been througha real health crisis and it tumed out he

was coeliac. He said to me, 'l can get a

gluten-fiee pizza any day of the week, I canget gluten.free fish and chips on a Mondayfrom a shop where they do gluten.fiee fora day when they change the oiI, but rhe

fi one thing I really miss is beer."'

i Soon after, Robert read an article about5 a gluten-free US brewery called Omission

{ and decided to visit ir in Portland to find

fl out how it did rhings. He discovered thatE barley altematives, Iike sorghum, quinoa

and millet, weren't the only answer whenit came to gluten-free brewing. Omissionbrewery made its beer with the fourtraditional ingredients - water, barley,

hops and yeast - but used a naturallyoccurring enzyme known as clarex tode-glutenise the beer.

Soon after, Roben set about brewingsome experimental batches of his own and

then sent them away to be tested to see ifthey were gluten.free. The lab results were

good. He had succeeded in brewing beer

that was even more gluten.free than theofficial standard of less than 20 parts per

million, but the lab also found the rwo

control batches, brewed without theenzyme, were already gluten-free. So whyuse an expensive enryme on something

that doesn't seem to need it?

"We spent quite a lot of time talkingto DSM, which makes the enzyme. Itdiscovered the brewing process removes

protein from the beer and generally

removes gluten from the beer. Howeveq

when they [test] those [untreated] beers

that don't trigger the ELISA test - whichis the antibody test for gluten - they do

produce small fragments of protein thatcould still cause a reaction in some

people," explains Robert, adding, "\(/henyou're dealing with people's health issues,

you can't afford to cut any comers."

Hence Westerham brewery's investmentin gluten.free brewing: from buying theenzyme, at around f800 per bottle, and

paying for independent testing to certifiibeer is gluten-free (around f,75 per test) tofees for using Coeliac UK's crossed-grain

symbol, and further time and money onhazard analysis and critical control points

to ensure no cross-contamination occurs.

Proof that ifs a worthwhile investmentcomes when you taste Westerham

brewery's gluten-free offering. They are

every bit as delicious as the previous,

original versions - because they are

essentially the same beers. Three [€

'The lab results were good. He had succeeded in brewing beer thatwas even more gluten-free than the official standard of less than 20 parts per million'

20 BIER AUTUMN 2017

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examples from the range: Viceroy IPA(5 per cent ABV) is a bottle-conditionecl,lip-smacking joy with proper Britishhoppiness, juicy malts and shades oforange marmalade and apricot; non-

bottle-conditioned Double Stout (5.1 per

cent) is a black delight cornbining flavours

of rich chocolate and dark plummy fruitsleading to a roasty-bitter linish; and HopRocket IPA (5.5 per cent) - althoughBritish-hopped delinitely errs rowards

the craftier side of things.

Sadly, although Bohemian Rhapsody

lager (5 per cent) is available on draught

in keg, gluten-free cask beer still isn't onthe menu. I asked Robert why not.

"lt's the risk of cross-contamination.

Itt too easy for the landlord, when he's

busy, to go down the cellar and just put abit of hot water down the line. Is he [then]going to test the line to check there's

no cross-contamination? We're just notprepared to [risk] it," he explains. I wonder

how draught beer in keg is any less risky.

"lt says on the lahel that it should go

thror,rgh a dedicated gluten-free-beer line.

We provide our own branded font; ittslightly out of our hands, but they have a

responsibility to their customers that they

dc'rn't cross-contaminate [a] product they

know to be gluten-free."

The fact that Westerham hasn't exactlyshouted about the gluten-free status of itsbottled beer might make it seem like it\ a

bit late to the party, but it was actually one

,,f the first Brirish ale hrewers t( ) arrive.

Greene King recently launched

gluten-free versions of Old Speckled Hen(5 per cent) and IPA (1.6 per cent, bothnon-bottle-conditioned ). Edinburgh-based

Bellfield has been working on plans to

become the UK's only dedicated fullygluten-free brewery since 2014, but at thetime of writing, its website says most of itsbeers are still contract-brewed. BrewDog's

Vagabond (4.5 per cent, non-borrle-

conclitioned), an American-hopped pale

WESTERHAM I profile

ale, is also trm()ng the increasing nr.rmber

of free-frr>m beers. All join a UK market

for free-from foocl and drink, which rvzrs

expected to be worth !531m last year,

with a third of British people said to be

buying such products in a six-rnonthperiotl - according to leading rntrrket

analysts Mintel.Regardless ,,[ increaseJ ch,,ice,

\Testerham's gluten-free beers are still the

best I've sampled. Which is perhaps nosurprise given they are the brainchild of a

man who decided to start a brewery, whichhe eventually opened in 2004, because

of how things had soured in the linanceindustry he used tc'r work in.

"l'd been working in the City for 16

ye:rrs, rnainly overseas in Tbkyo :rnd New

York, [then] came back to London and

started to get pretty disillusionecl. The Citythat I joined in 1985 was not the City thatI left. It had gone from being'my word is

my bond' to 'anything goes' and the erhics

ofthe business had become corrupted. !g

'Sadly, although Bohemian Rhapsody lager is available on draughtin keg, gluten-free cask beer still isn't on the menu'

AUTUMN2OITBEER 23

I didn't want to be contaminated withthat any [,rnger," says Rohert, going on to

explain how redundancy pay helped hirn

to start a new business. With a degree

in biochemistry from the University ofOxford already under his belt, he hacl

plenty of skills to put towards becoming

a brewer, and he soon gained a reputation

as a producer ofhighly regarded beers.

Just over a decade after openingWesterham, and in common with many

British brewers, Robert would take

inspiration from the US. Not just when

it came to gluten-free beer, but also withrespect to a new brewery site. A "1950s

cowshed with an asbestos roof'was where

he revived a 350-year history of brewing

in and around Westerham after a break

of nearly 40 years, but the new building

brings that heritage to the 'craft' beer era.

A 3O-barrel brewhouse includes a new

mash tun and special tanks to store water

frorn a borehole, which cost around

t26,000 to create, but means a private

supply of water almost identical to the

water at the old breB,ery. With its taproom

anrl shrrp, the new site is reminiscent rlfmany American'craft' breweries, which

enable drinkers to enjoy fresh beer made inthe same place they're drinking it. Robert

has taken things a step further by installing

two copper tanks behind the bar from

which brewery-fresh lager will be served,

European sryle. Half the building is clad

in local oak frorn Westerham Wood, while

the other half retains a more industrial

look. The taproom and shop are small, but

sizeable outside space allows beer-hall-style

tables to be set up for Friday and Saturday

evenings of'craft heer and street food'.

It's pizza (including gluten-free options)

on Fridays and burgers c-rn Saturdays.

Robert reckons 90 per cent of the

taproom's customers live in south London.

"For them, this is the countryside and they

want to come and experience that as well

as the mproom vibe." Despite the gentle

WESTERHAM lprofile

roar of the nearby M25, it's still a green

and pleasant location, evocative ()f the

importance of food ancl drir-rk provenauce.

Next d,ror is part ofthe Squerryes Estate,

including a vineyard anrl wnre-tasting

room, and there's a pop-u1. stall selling

local produce, such as vegetables and

preserves, right outside the brewery's ol1ice

door. It lits perfectly with rvhat seems to

be the Westerham brewery brand.

"My view is all hand-made, artisan-

produced beer, made with loving care and

attention, is'craft beer'. I don't recognise

the dispense difference between one beer

and another. It's about intent, it's about

your love for the ingredients [and] it's

about not cutting comers," says Robert.

It's obvious rhis has been his philosophy

all along, long before beer drinkers,

brewers and bloggers began to worry about

the definition of'craft' beer. I'r,e no doubt

he'll stick to it and thatt the reason

Westerham makes beers you shoulc{ seek

out and has a taproom that's worth a visit.

"My view is all hand-made, artisan-produced beer, made with loving care and attention,is'craft bee/.1 don't recognise the dispense difference between one beer and another/'

AUTUMN 20]7 BEER 25