Eccles Stout — the annual collaboration between Trevor Gulliver and Fergus Henderson’s St. JOHN restaurant and 40ft Brewery — is returning this November.
To celebrate, 40ft Blackhorse Road will play host to a commemorative party on Sunday, 9th November.
The St. JOHN team will journey to Walthamstow for the first time, offering an array of their legendary bakery classics. These will include a range of buns, pies, and, of course, its famed Eccles cake paired with Lancashire cheese. And Steve Ryan and 40ft will be debuting the epic brew.
Dishes available on the day will include ox heart buns, pig cheek pie, potato pie, and doughnuts for the sweet-toothed, in addition to a selection of St. JOHN wines.
This year marks the seventh anniversary of the partnership. What started with 40ft incorporating St. JOHN’s famous Eccles cakes recipe into its popular Deep Irish stout has become an evolving brew, where the recipe changes annually. The St. JOHN chefs prepare a blend of currants, nutmeg, and allspice, which the 40ft team blend into the stout.
Trevor Gulliver and Steve Ryan in the 40ft brewhouse (left), and Trevor trying a soupçon from the fermenting vessels
This year’s new vintage, one of the first to be produced in 40ft’s new brewery, focuses on bringing out the spices from the Eccles cakes with the ingredients now puréed to produce a smooth and full-bodied brew. There are notes of spice, nutmeg, dark chocolate, rich malt, and currants.
The Eccles Stout will be available on tap and in 330ml cans in all St. JOHN restaurants and cafés, and on tap at 40ft Brewery in Dalston and Blackhorse Road, as well as selected pubs across the city.
The launch celebrations will kick off at noon on Sunday, 9th November, at the new 40ft Brewery Blackhorse Road, with a vinyl soundtrack spinning all afternoon until 5pm and cans of the new brew available to take home.
