Tanisha Five Minutes with Faram – Bewdley Brewery

Patrick Whittle 

It’s time for our latest Five Minutes with Faram. You join me, Paddy at Bewdley Brewery, where I catch up with Brewer Tanisha. We talk about all things beer, beer development, and even can design.

Just to start us off with our Five Minutes with Faram segment, if you could just introduce yourself and what brewery will come

Tanisha Bishop 

Okey dokey. So I am Tanisha Bishop, and I’m from Bewdley Brewery. I’m a brewer here.

Patrick Whittle 

Lovely, so how long have you been at Bewdley?

Tanisha Bishop 

I’ve been here just over two years now,

Patrick Whittle 

You enjoying it?

Tanisha Bishop 

 Yeah, fantastic. Great fun. It’s nice to be in an industry with more responsibility, because I come from the bar trade originally. So of course, I’ve always had an interest in real ale and anything like that, serving it in the correct ways. And, yeah, yeah, just having an interest

Patrick Whittle 

Serving it’s making it now.

Tanisha Bishop 

Yes.

Patrick Whittle 

So to start us off with our Five Minutes with Faram segment, what’s your favourite hop?

Tanisha Bishop 

My favourite hop, I would have to say, is between Azacca™ and Idaho 7™. And

Patrick Whittle 

Why’s that?

Tanisha Bishop 

They’re just lovely, fruity, tasty hops you can really like, feel the punch of an in beer, and two of the hops that I use to create my beer for the Untapped Apprentice Brewer for the year, so that  beer Rootin’-tootin come second place. So yeah, Amarillo®, Azacca™ and Idaho 7™ certainly just absolutely stunning. I’m so proud of that beer. No,

Patrick Whittle 

That sounds really delicious, actually. Yes, you do get those big, punchy flavours, don’t you? And that’s what that’s what my taste palette is too, especially. And I think a lot of people would agree with me on that one those big, like fresher beers, it’s definitely all sorts of coming through, isn’t it? So what would your favourite beer be? Either one you’ve brewed, one for another brewery, or anything really,

Tanisha

As for Bewdley, I love the Baldwin IPA. I love Sabrina, which is Wild River, of course, Rootin’-tootin but if I was gonna go step outside, it would be Adam’s dead dessert in a camp. They are absolutely stunning. I really want to make a dessert stout style like it, but I don’t think I can.

Patrick Whittle 

Do you do a lot of experimenting when you’re brewing?

We do have a little pilot kit, so at the moment, I’m in the works and trying to dessert stout. It’s just getting those ingredients right, because it’s a beer that we’ve never done before. So we’re just keeping experimental and trying to get these flavours that they want. But yeah, it’s always good fun just to, just to play around and see what works and what doesn’t.

Patrick Whittle 

Yeah, no, definitely. So what would you say your favourite like beer and food pairing is?

Tanisha

So a fun fact is about the brewery. Last year we won the cheese award. So our beer is best to be served with cheese. I’ll show you that award later on. So that’s  something to talk about. But, yeah, you can’t go wrong with cheese.

Patrick Whittle 

No, definitely not stunning. And also, your beer seems to be best for it. So would you say you have a favourite beer destination that could be UK, that could be abroad Europe, wherever, really.

Tanisha

So Prague would definitely be top on the list, because some of their beer is absolutely phenomenal. The same Budapest, fantastic. But of course, we’ve got some good, good destinations around the West Midlands. We’ve got some decent breweries, and it’s just fantastic to see like this part of England doing so well.

Patrick Whittle 

Have you got a favourite pub within those?

Tanisha

I don’t want to be biased and say one of the pubs I worked in. I do love Weavers Park Lane. My sister manages a pub, Weavers on Comberton Hill Kidderminster, but they have cracking range of ale, like constantly changing. So that’s really that got a nice back wall for craft, etc. So, yeah,

Patrick Whittle 

I think that’s that brings out a good pub, doesn’t if it has a good range, that changes frequently. It allows you to experiment. There’s so many beers in the world, it allows you to try all those different flavours, doesn’t it?

Tanisha Bishop 

Yeah

Patrick Whittle 

And, sort of, I like, to me, like a proper, traditional sort of pub, sort of, quite like, sort of cozy in the winter fire sort of thing, yeah, good food as well. So, yeah, would that be like one of those, like pub you just described as that sort of thing.

Tanisha Bishop 

Weavers, where I used to work at Park Lane, that is like your proper old traditional cozy, probably your Bathams, you got your Enville, you got your Wye Valley and all that sort of stuff sometimes as well. But that’s a proper traditional pub, whereas The Weavers is more of a crafty, funky pub.

Patrick Whittle 

Bit more modern sort of thing. Okay, that sounds good. No. Sounds really good indeed. So obviously, be assistant brewer here. What would you say is a piece of equipment you can’t live without, or something you use the most or in the brewery?

Tanisha Bishop 

Tough question

Patrick Whittle 

I can give you some example answers that we’ve had before everyone so we’ve had, like, anything from like a computer to a calculator over a pen and paper. It doesn’t have to be something that’s we’ve had, like Mash paddle, that sort of thing. It doesn’t have to be something that’s really expensive or really, like, unique to a brewery, so just whatever you use day to day the most.

Tanisha

So I guess, yeah, pen, mash paddle. What would you do about and yeast stirrer? Yeah, what would you do about that?

Patrick Whittle 

Probably not brew very good there. So when you are brewing and sort of on your day to day, if you’ve got any like, go to songs, radio stations, podcasts that you listen to out loud or in headphones or

Tanisha Bishop 

So oh, god, that’s a difficult question as well. Obviously, we got all this music on Spotify. You’re listening away. But yeah, picking, picking one song or one artist

Patrick Whittle 

or an album, if that makes it easier.

Tanisha Bishop 

At the moment, I’m quite into my South African music. So probably Jack Paro, because it’s nice, upbeat, just, yeah, keeps, keeps you going, sort of thing,

Patrick Whittle 

I guess, because obviously, brewing got a physical job, you need that sort of upbeat gym motivation music, sort of like, sort of, when you’re doing, like, the real physical, tough jobs, it sort of really helps. And it’s like, power you through, yeah, good answer. Love that so before, obviously you were into brewing, you worked in sort of pubs, yeah, sort of thing serving. So if you weren’t in the brewing industry, what would you do instead?

Tanisha Bishop 

i”d still be in the pubs I imagine. Once a bartender, always a bartender, they say. But um, yeah, I’m glad to be out of the trade because I feel like I’ve got much more responsibility, and I’m growing as a person, instead of just being behind the bar still.

Patrick Whittle 

Do you find you’re more passionate about the brewing side, rather than, like, the sort of hospitality side?

Tanisha Bishop 

I love both. I do. I do miss hospitality, but then I don’t, but it’s nice just to be out the way and just brewing and, you know, just enjoying myself. Got a great little team here. We all get on and have a laugh. So can’t moan.

Patrick Whittle 

Yeah, definitely, I guess when you’re actually behind the bar, you have to put on that, like, customer faced earlier, customer smile, and that, like perky voice, I guess out about you can sit concentrate and like, really, like, don’t have to put a show on for anyone. It’s a bit more comforting in that way, isn’t it? So do you have, like, a big inspiration in brewing, someone that either got you into it, or someone that you, like aspire to work with, or?

Tanisha Bishop 

I fell into this job really, like I said, covid hit. I just wanted to get out the bar trade, and then I worked doing telesales for a month I didn’t like that. I was just at a loose end, then I saw that they advertised a job for an apprentice Brewer here at Bewdley, it’s like, what’s the worst that can happen? Got the interview. And they’re like, Yeah, crack on you’ve got it. You’re the apprentice Brewer at Bewdley now, brilliant, cheers. I’ve learned all this stuff so like, so far. And like, just fantastic. I’m so glad this way it turned out me,

Patrick Whittle 

Sometimes things do just happen. If covid would have never hit, you might have just been sort of working in the bar and you might have never found this sort of unloved passion. And it’s sort of, it’s funny how sort of fate takes a turn. I think how, like your own personal choices, like, really change where you are, so that’s really nice. So, and I guess covid would be the reason why you got into brewing I guess.

Tanisha Bishop 

yeah

Patrick Whittle 

Obviously you’ve always had a passion there, sort of serving the beer and that sort of stuff. So that sort of, like, ticks off that question, really. So what would you say, sort of outside of brewing, outside of the bar where, what sort of hobbies and interests have you got, sort of outside of?

Tanisha

So I like drawing, can designs like they’re letting me just sit down and draw here. So got my little digital tablets, I can sometimes sit down and do that, which is, which is great.

Patrick Whittle 

Have you done any for the beers that are available now? Yeah, I actually said to Maddie, literally, when we were sat down, just sort of going through, I was like, that’s really cool, genuinely, like, she might even have that video. No, I love that. What you drew that? Yeah, it’s amazing. So obviously, hobby outside brewing is designing cans for beer and what did you have any others? Or?

Tanisha

Most of it is just crafting and doing stuff. I’ve got a little tattoo machine at home as well, but that’s not going too far. I’m not going to be a tattoo artist at any point in the future. Yeah, drawing, painting, just making stuff I love, just

Patrick Whittle 

Generally, creating things, like being creative, that sort of thing. So do you have any like, obviously, from that creativity, do you have any like, beer recipes that you’ve created on your own? So you mentioned that award you want?  So how did you come up with the inspiration for that?

Tanisha

So in the competition, I gave you a spec of what you had to follow. So over 5% certain color, certain bitterness, etc. So I just took like, 5% is a good, good ABV. From here I’d only go too high.

Patrick Whittle 

That was for your competition beer?

Tanisha

That was for the competition. That’s what got second place. And. Is basically named after my cat. So I was just like APA and my American Pale Ale cowboys, my cat Rootin’ Tootin’ to it makes sense to draw me cat.

Patrick Whittle 

I love that. No that does show like a really creative mind, actually, and obviously with the designs, that’s another really good one. Now I love that so and so, just a few quick fire questions. Just finish up on our sort of segments. What was the last beer you brewed?

Tanisha

So at the moment, I’m currently brewing Worcestershire Way, Sway, sorry. And before that, Seven Side Stout. So I love brewing the stouts, all the malts, so nice

Patrick Whittle 

And Fuggles or Goldings?

Tanisha Bishop 

I’d say Golding, I think.

Patrick Whittle 

And why is that?

Tanisha

Fuggles are just your standard. At least Goldings got a bit more of a kick and a punch to it. And we use Goldings much more than we use Fuggles.

Patrick Whittle 

Bit more familiar use of it then. And what’s next for you in the industry?

Tanisha

Um, don’t think I thought I had that first carry on people enjoying it. Maybe in a few years, I’d like to perhaps move abroad and go brewing in Asia. That’s the big dream, but it’s just getting out there and finding somewhere. Yeah, definitely, yeah. I love that part of the world. There

Patrick Whittle There we go. So that concludes our Five Minutes with Faram segment. Thank you very much to you and Bewdley Brewery. 

Tanisha Bishop 

Thank you