Introducing DUALITY BREW CO

Ben Pearson and Brendan Hampsey (known as Duality Brew Co) saw off all-comers to become the winners of our 7th birthday home brewing competition (in collaboration with The Malt Miller), taking home the prize of brewing their winning recipe with us and launching it at a venue of their choice. Their winning West Coast IPA recipe was scaled up and duly named Fresh Start Fever. We caught up with Ben and Brendan to find out more about Duality ahead of its commercial launch this coming Saturday 13th April at their local bar, The Old Shoe in Sheffield where the beer will be pouring from 1pm!

What inspired you to take the leap into home brewing?

“Thornbridge’s Jaipur served as a pivotal moment for us, reshaping our entire perspective on beer. It unveiled a world beyond mass-produced brews and ignited a quest for quality craft beer. From then on, our drinking habits completely changed. Our journey began with exploring diverse venues offering independent beer and frequenting local bottle shops. As our passion grew, so did our curiosity - a thirst for knowledge! We wanted to dissect it all. To look into how a good beer is made and unravel the intricacies of brewing while rather stupidly and naively thinking ‘it can’t be that hard’. This eagerness led to a humble attempt at crafting a Punk IPA clone on a stovetop, and the rest is history.”

Which styles are your favourite to brew and drink?

“While our hearts lean towards crafting and savouring New England IPAs (sorry Andy), we have never confined ourselves to just one style. Our brewing adventures have spanned from big, silly stouts to refreshingly low ABV fruit-infused brews. Nonetheless, this year, we’ve found ourselves particularly enamoured with the classic allure of West Coast beers – where we have seemingly hit our stride!”

How did you approach brewing your winning entry and what does winning the competition mean to you?

“Being big fans of Elusive for a long time and looking at the brief, we were instantly drawn to the idea of brewing a West Coast Pale Ale. We’d had success in 2023 of brewing West Coast beers by layering in classic ‘C hops’ through the boil, incorporating contemporary hops in the dry hopping. With Strata being included in the entry, it was a no brainer for us to use the entirety of it in the dry hop. We complemented it with Idaho 7 to infuse tangerine notes. For the malt bill, we did toy with the idea of going with a single malt approach, but felt we’d need a bit more complexity to stand out in the judging. So, we used a combination of Lager and Best Ale malt, adding a touch of Munich and dextrin for colour and body. Luckily, despite us pushing it right up to the entry deadline, the beer was great. Winning this competition holds immense significance for us. While we’ve received positive feedback in the past, much of it came from friends and family who naturally enjoy free beer! So, winning such a highly respected competition really did confirm for us the kind words people had said about our beers.”

Tell us about Duality! Any future plans going forward from this initial commercial release?

“Duality, a name coined up during a (not so sober) trip to Indy Man Beer Con. Turning the hobby to something professional had been on our minds for a few years, but we’d always thought that, if it was to happen at all, it would be a few years down the line. However, winning this competition has really enabled us to speed up the process with the aim to capitalise on the momentum from the collaboration release. It’s going to be slow and steady for us, brewing small batches of hop forward beers and see where it takes us. But, even if nothing else does ever come of it, then we really are lucky to have had this experience. Everyone at Elusive have been amazing to us, and you’ll never beat that fact that we sat and had a Russian River beer with Andy Parker!”

Fresh Start Fever is absolutely fantastic and you’ll be able to taste it at venues around the country in cask, keg and can. Cans will be available to order on our webshop from Friday 12th April. Grab some and check out what Duality Brew Co are all about!