GAVIN AITCHISON has a masterclass in hops from an American master brewer.

MIKE Hall is seriously knowledgeable about beer. That much is clear within seconds. No sooner have we met than he is bigging it up, captivating me with his enthusiasm, bamboozling me with scientific terminology, and rattling off the names of hops as if they are his kids.

It’s no surprise. Mike is a qualified Master Brewer and a senior member of the International Brewers’ Guild.

He has been brewing professionally for 25 years across five countries, has helped set up or improve more than 50 breweries around the world, and has taught some of the industry’s greatest practitioners, including Sam Calagione at the renowned Dogfish Head. Suffice to say, he knows his stuff.

What’s perhaps surprising, though, is where Mike is now using that knowledge. Not at some huge international conglomerate but right here on our doorstep, at one of the most exciting and likable micro-breweries in Yorkshire.

Since last year, he has been flying over every three months from his own brewery, North Peak in Michigan, to work with Cropton in the North York Moors on a range of innovative beers, at the request of pub chain owners Mitchell and Butlers.

It is, says Mike, a “cross-pollenation” programme: “We’re doing American style beers, here in Britain.”

The first creation, a wheat IPA called Vicious, went down a storm with the public, and that was followed by Majestic, a lager brewed with lime leaves instead of hops to give a distinctive flavour.

A cherry porter and a black IPA, using malted wheat instead of barley, are planned for later in the year, but right now the team has just completed its third collaboration – a summery ale called Wanderer, with seven additions of hops and a strong flavour that belies its low ABV of 3.5 per cent.

It’s an interesting beer and aptly named, as the project is also serving as something of a homecoming for Mike, 46. Although he grew up in North America, he was born in London to a Liverpudlian father and a Yorkshire mother, and had a grandfather who had played football for Bradford City, before his family emigrated when he was three.

He gained a degree in fine art sculpture, but his perfectionist zeal for brewing shows his true calling. He rails against sloppiness, demands precision and works relentlessly to ensure results, often spending hours drinking “hop teas” to get an idea of how new beers may develop.

Even when he’s off-duty and in the bar with friends, he says, he’s unable to drink a beer without subconsciously deconstructing it to work out how it has been created.

All of which means that, when he tells me that the Wanderer’s seven hop additions (one every ten minutes) are the key to its multi-faceted flavour, I’m inclined to believe him. The two doses of the British variety Summit will give “a lemon-rind bitterness”, he says; the two lots of Herkules, another British hop, will add a blast of grapefruit; the two additions of Riwaka, from New Zealand, will create a peppery spicy kick; and then the bag of Slovenian Bobek to cap it off will give a soft, floral finish.

And if, per chance, you wonder quite how I know about all those hops, then I’ll tell you: it’s because I poured them in myself. Having turned up expecting a routine interview, I instead found myself in the enviable position of being Mike Hall’s brewery assistant for a cherished few hours, clearing out the mash tun, preparing the yeast and – best of all – adding the glorious hops to the beer.

I’ve no doubt Mike has taught better students. But that won’t stop me smiling smugly as I introduce friends to my beer.

Wanderer should go on sale next week in Mitchell and Butler pubs. In York, look out for it in The Old White Swan and The Cross Keys in Goodramgate, Harkers in St Helen’s Square, The Dormouse at Clifton, The Fox and Roman in Tadcaster Road and The Punch Bowl in Stonegate.

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