Intervista a… First Chop!

La parole “gluten-free” o “vegan” molto spesso fanno pensare alla mancanza di qualcosa, ad un prodotto che non è come dovrebbe essere. Ancor di più se stiamo parlando di birra, questa viene snobbata e considerata “diversa”.

E se vi dicessimo che esistono birre con queste caratteristiche, ma che non perdono nulla in qualità, ingredienti e gusto?

È il caso di First Chop, birrificio di Manchester che ha definito nella sua mission la volontà di produrre birre per tutti, senza rinunciare ai pregi e alle qualità di un’ottima birra artigianale.

Nato nel 2012 e cresciuto esponenzialmente negli ultimi anni, First Chop si è imposto come una realtà ben definita nel panorama brassicolo britannico ed europeo, identificandosi come uno dei maggiori esponenti del gluten free e vegan.

Abbiamo provato alcune delle loro creazioni, tra cui POP (Citrus IPA), APE (Grapefruit IPA) e POD (Vanilla Stout).

Incuriositi dall’assaggio, abbiamo voluto approfondire la storia e conoscere le persone dietro a queste birre.

Per questo abbiamo contattato ed intervistato Rik Garner il proprietario di First Chop Brewing Arm, che ci ha parlato del suo birrificio e del suo progetto.

Hi Rik, how and when was your brewery/project born?

First Chop was originally born out of a bar and restaurant of the same name that I established in North Manchester. Originally I borrowed use of a local micro brewery but within 6 months the demand for my beer meant we had to find our own home and First Chop Brewing Arm was born.

What is the origin of your brewery name?

I was looking for a name I though would be timeless. I started off with a completely different name and a few beers, bounced around for a while and woke up the next morning with the words First Chop scribbled on a piece of paper.

How would you describe your brewery?

We try to make modern classics. Let the quality ingredients we source shine through. We all work hard, enjoy what we do and go home at the end of the day knackered with big smiles on our faces.

Your beers are almost all gluten free and vegan. What was the reason for this choice?

Simple really, first and foremost we believe in the quality and flavour of our beer and want as many people as possible to enjoy it. There is no reason why great beer shouldn’t be vegan or gluten free. Our beer is brewed no differently to other traditionally produced beers but with added stringent testing procedures we can certificate our beer as gluten free.

What connection do you have with raw materials (hops, barley, water, etc..) and with your territory (especially Manchester)?

Manchester is not generally renowned as a great producer of Barley or Hops so we concentrate on getting the best quality ingredients from elsewhere. That’s not to say Manchester is not at the heart of everything we do. As a local lad and with a deep passion for the music, culture, food and drink of the area I like to think we have imbued First Chop with the best of the scene here. As an added bonus we have legendary Mancunian illustrator Stan Chow producing beautiful artwork across the range.

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d75975.84027505093!2d-2.4413063876409855!3d53.48195195587727!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x487bb1dc1da4aca1%3A0xa4713aa0eaa96cd4!2sFirst%20Chop%20Brewing%20Arm!5e0!3m2!1sit!2sit!4v1598270243444!5m2!1sit!2sit&w=600&h=450]

What beers do you produce and which school do you inspire the most?

We have a line that evolves depending on our passions and also feedback from you guys. Some of our favourites are POD – our oatmeal stout with hints of vanilla and chocolate. AVA – A Mancunian take on a continental golden ale. And a recent edition, YES, which is our anytime IPA. It’s ultra low alcohol at 0.5% but still packed full of flavour.

Have you ever made some collaborations with other big breweries?

We did a colab back in 2018 with Ale Browar in Poland and a few years back with Heavy Industry, a great brewery from Wales. I’d love to do more colabs actually but recently we’ve been so busy making our own beer we haven’t found time. If you’re reading this and you do want to do a colab with us – hit me up!

Why should a beer consumer choose your beers?

We are very passionate about our product. For us it is all about the quality and our flavours and offering something unique in the beer scene.

—————————————–

Ringraziamo Rik per la disponibilità ed il tempo a noi dedicato. È stato un piacere conoscere l’ideatore di un progetto di successo europeo, sperando che tramite la nostra intervista queste parole possano ispirare altri birrai nel mondo a creare birre gluten free.

Per saperne di più scriveteci un commento a questo articolo o contattateci tramite il nostro form Contatti, saremo lieti di mettervi in contatto con loro.

Seguite First Chop su Instagram https://www.instagram.com/firstchop/ per tutte le novità e visitate il loro sito per maggiori informazioni sul loro birrificio http://www.firstchop.co.uk/