Last week we were delighted to be invited to the Newshouse, Canal Street, Nottingham, where this fabulous Castle Rock pub became a Lincoln Green tap house during a 'Meet The Brewer' evening.

Five Lincoln Green beers were available - Marion, Sherwood and Tuck from the core range, together with Longbow and Lincoln, our 5% specials that showcase New Zealand and American hops respectively.

Meet the Brewer events are a great opportunity for us to get feedback on our ales and Lincoln and Longbow received rave reviews. Lincoln represents the American IPA style well, with huge amounts of hop bitterness from Mounthood and Cascade, while Longbow offers a more gentle, sweet hop experience from Pacific Jade, Dr Rudi and Wakatu. Both beers share the same ABV and malt profile but couldn't be more different - what a difference hops make!

Our hosts, Colin, Jenny and Matt were fantastic, putting on Shepherds Pie for folks to enjoy and we were also delighted to see our friends Colin, Charlie and Steve from Castle Rock spend the evening with us sampling our beers. All in all, a great way to spend a Thursday evening and welcome in the weekend!

It's fair to say that there's never a dull moment here at Lincoln Green - The other week, we launched a new beer, had a visit from a member of parliament and then set up a bar for some Vikings. No, really.

Linocoln - American IPA

The new beer pays homage to the success of the film that shares our name and celebrates the life of American President, Abraham Lincoln. 'Lincoln' is an American style IPA, packed with American hops (Mount Hood and Cascade), providing a high level of bitterness. With 'Abe' appearing on the $5 bill, we've made this one 5% abv and the pump clip design is based on the bank note too - we're pretty sure this will stand out on any bar:

Mark Spencer - MP for Sherwood

During the week that saw the end of the Beer Duty Escalator, we received a welcome visit from our local MP, Mark Spencer. We took the opportunity to thank him for his support and shared our successes to date during a tour around the brewery.

Given that Mark is MP for Sherwood, he was particularly impressed with our very own 'Sherwood' Extra Pale Ale and has put us in touch with The Strangers' Bar at The Houses of Parliament. We're hoping that we'll soon see government ministers with a pint of Lincoln Green in their hand very soon!

...and Vikings!

Immediately after our meeting with Mark, Martin and I went off to set up our bar for a bunch of Vikings. Nigel Tate is a member of 'Danelaw', a Norman, Saxon and Viking Re-enactment group in Nottinghamshire. Founded in 1971, The Vikings are the oldest and largest Dark Age re-enactment society in the UK, and probably the world and you can find out more about them here.

We were delighted to help provide much needed beverages for their drinking horns:

All in all, it's fair to say that no two days are ever the same at Lincoln Green.....!

A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to have been invited to Castle Rock's Annual Party where we suddenly found ourselves suprised winners of the 'LocAle Brewery of the Year 2012-13' Award.

We're really humbled to have been recognised by a brewery and its pubs whom we greatly admire - the award now sits proudly in our office and we show it to everyone who visits!

Avid followers of this blog may have noticed a distinct lack of updates over the last couple of months. It's fair to say that things have really been getting rather hectic around here since Christmas - we expected it to be quiet and it's been the reverse! Long may this continue - our fingers are well and truly crossed.

On a personal front, Lynette and I moved house too; We're delighted to now live in Hucknall just 5 minutes away from the brewery. Does this mean a longer lie in? No.... just longer days....!! :)

I'll be updating in more detail over the next few days and weeks - please keep stopping by this website, our Twitter page @LincolnGBrewing and Facebook 'Lincoln Green Brewing Company'.

We've got loads to share... beer festivals, new ales, new starters..... Oh... and we won an award...