F what? Friends of FFF
Apr 20, 2026
What's Up? I had a week out last week, so a lot of this week has been playing catch up. Graham wasn't around last week either, we had a man off ill the week before and of course with Easter it was a short week and a busy one - everyone working their tails off. The conclusion? - we're a touch behind on our brew schedule and have empty vessels which should be full! The flip side of this is of course a really good thing as means our beer is being very well received and folks are drinking a lot of it!
On that subject this data just shows what folks have been drinking and is a bit skewed by a couple of things (I didn't include Comfortably Numb (3.5x the amount of Moondance as is highly dependent on a dedicated order) and also yes, we ran out of Lady Eleanor even faster than predicted so the numbers for that are understated. Will be brewing it again very soon, maybe as early as the week after next. Definitely my favourite beer of the year by miles. These numbers also don't include kegs etc... but all the same they tell a really interesting story of what is working in trade these past few weeks and the transition to warmer weather.
What's On?
OK... just quickly on this one - my first take on the Apache Rose Peacock (if you read back my emails) was that it was well made but not for me. Younger folks loved it. I quite liked it but it would have been last choice for me out of our existing beers. For me it had too much by way of blackcurrant notes. However... two weeks in cask, and there is still a nudge towards ribena, but the finish is dry and nutty. It is shaping up nicely and selling fast (thank goodness we made a fair bit of it). Of all our beers on at the moment not yet a top 3 for me (Pride, Black Velvet, Moondance this week!) - but moved to mid-pack. This week's sales of it suggest that others are loving it though - yesterday it was around 50% of our deliveries!
If you want to be truly different - we have a wide selection (but limited stock) of beer from Milton Brewery in Cambridge - we love working with these guys - they make terrific beer and their customers love ours (esp Moondance!) and many of ours love theirs. Try some?
What's About?
You know when new parents are so excited about having a kid they don't think on the initials order?... you know... Samuel Andrew David BLOKE, that type of thing... We might have done the same with our little May Bank Holiday Beer Festival we are doing celebrating local INDEPENDENT breweries... Friends of FFF. Or the F-OFFF festival! Doh'!
A few things here:
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It is Bank holiday 2nd May
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If you want to come let me know and we will give you free tickets - mind you they are only a fiver and include the first drink - but free for you!
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We have Surrey Hills, Flacks, Queen Inn, Maverick, Steamtown, Ten Tun Tap, Flower Pots, Bowmans, Langham, Alfred's and Tilford all bringing some beer
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These guys are good people, make good beer (different to ours) and are NOT our competition. 85% of the market is tied to the big 4 or 5 companies strangling landlords and making for the most part pretty shoddy beer (IMO)
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If you want some of the stickers to add to pump clips to show that in our beer you are supporting Indie Beer, let me know - every study been done so far has shown this to be broadly helpful to sales and quality perception
On this subject of supporting our local friends - the excellent Mark from Tilford Brewery was pushed out of his premises a few weeks back and has found sanctuary with us for the moment - working with us and brewing on our 5bbl kit to keep Tildford's brand and beers going. Different style beer to us, but in terms of a person to be around here, he's the same as the best in that he shares the values of the folks we value most integrity, commitment and creativity. He even asked us if he could tell folks he was brewing here... the joke is that the answer doesn't sound like it should - the "FoFFF" - which means "yes" as he is a Friend of Triple fff!
Wish you a cracking weekend and hope we can bring you some beer next week.
Xen
P.S. Good to hear the government saying "don't panic" on fuel - though that usually brings about folks panicked as anything... shows how much we trust the numpties in Westminster! Anyway, make your own calls on that viz a viz fuel - but one thing that might be worth just making sure you are high on your supplier's list for CO2 supplies as with previous energy crises there have occasionally been shortages. Just a friendly call might pay dividends if the middle eastern madness persists.
Go well and be an FoFFF!
