Media Release

Murray’s Anniversary Ale 7 – out now

Every year we brew a beer to celebrate the birth of our brewery. The Anniversary Ale series changes subtly each year but is always oak aged, always big and always a very limited release of around 1000 bottles.

Murray’s 7th Anniversary Ale is among the brewer’s biggest, most complex beers yet.

This year’s release is a Belgian-inspired barley wine (15% abv) – but with a twist on last year. Cherry wood smoked malt has been added, which contributes a really interesting layer of smoky complexity to the beer.

Like previous year’s Anniversary Ales, this year’s beer has been treated to extensive oak barrel aging, and is packaged under cork in 750ml Champagne bottles. The blend of two different Belgian yeast strains makes for an incredibly complex ester profile. The high abv makes its presence felt with warmth right across the palate, but even at this early stage of the beer’s life is not ‘hot’ or spirit like.

The American oak barrels contribute further complex layers of flavour and aroma to the beer. Initially full and rich on the palate, Murray’s Anniversary Ale 7 finishes remarkably dry for a beer of this size.

Murray’s Anniversary Ale 7 is designed to drink well at release but will reward careful cellaring – with the beer expected to mature beautifully over up to 10 years.

Enjoy with celebrations!

Great with Christmas pudding – and the ultimate beer accompaniment to New Year’s Eve!

Available today, online or from the brewery.

A note from the head brewer

Murray’s AA7 is a beer designed to cellar.

It isn’t like most other beers you’ll come across. We’ve carefully brewed it, packaged it, and timed its release with the intention that the beer isn’t designed for immediate consumption.

Good things take time. Great things take even longer.

Don’t put your AA7 in the fridge straight away after purchase. Let it sit at room temp (not extreme temps) until at least Xmas before you even think about cracking one.

It is a beer designed to present with low carbonation – at 15% ABV we didn’t want Champagne style gas – and it will take a little time to settle into itself in the bottle. It should have an almost red wine like mouthfeel.

It will drink well from Xmas on but in our opinion if cellared carefully it will be at its best in around 5 years from now and should keep going for at least 10. And that is speaking from our experience across all 7 years of AA releases.

So give it time, don’t chill it until you are ready to drink it and don’t even think about drinking a ‘test’ bottle until Xmas lunch at the earliest. That’s the best advice we can give. The beer is worth the wait.

We hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we enjoyed brewing and ageing it before release.

Shawn Sherlock – Murray’s Head Brewer