Northern Monk Holy Faith

Northern Monk Brewing Co was founded in Leeds in 2013 by Russel Bisset and David Bishop, and it’s opening business plan was much different to how things have gone for the brewer over the years since. The original idea was to build up their brand of beers through the practise of ‘gypsy brewing’ – utilising other breweries’ equipment to produce small batches of beer to avoid the huge costs of building and running your own brewing kit. This approach works for many brewers worldwide, including big names such as Mikkeller and Omnipollo, who often collaborate with other brewers but have never had a physical brewery of their own. The first batches of Northern Monk’s beers were brewed at Hambleton Ales and proved to be successful enough to attract a number of investors. From this investment the brewery had the capital to open their own facilities, and chose the site of an old linen mill just outside of Leeds city centre for their location – The Old Flax Store.

From those humble beginnings Northern Monk are now arguably one of the most recognisable craft beer brewers in the UK, with their wares available in the trifecta of big supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Morrisons. They’ve helped many smaller brewers get a foot on the ladder via their brewing facilities, including the ever-popular Mash Gang. However, as far as I know the brewer has only released a single non-alcoholic beer under their own label. Holy Faith was released in January 2021, the result of over a year’s work on the ins and outs of 0.5% ABV brewing. The brewer has used Citra Cryo and El Dorado hops in the brew, known for a slew of tropical and citrus aromas, along with other fruits such as watermelon and stone fruits. Has the brewer’s year of hard graft in the research and development department paid off in the flavour department without relying on any alcohol to prop it all up?

Pouring the beer from the can (Holy Faith comes in both 330ml and 440ml cans, but I don’t know why I was dumped with the smaller one!) we get a hazy pale straw coloured liquid (almost a pineapple juice appearance), which produces a thick soapy head as it drains away into the glass. Completely opaque, it certainly lives up to it’s hazy name. Tropical fruits aplenty on the nose, with juicy mango and lychee at the fore, some slight pineapple aroma, and a mandarin citrus fragrance to round it out. Delicious aromas, lets hope the taste follows suit.

We get an initial bitterness when we taste, with hoppy citrus and dank grassy flavours building up. The sweet tropical fruits don’t make much of an appearance in the taste but are enough of a presence to mellow the bitterness out and provide more depth to the beer. The carbonation level is perfect for me, with the body being medium, and the mouthfeel actually quite thick, I think thanks to the oats and maltodextrin in the recipe. We get a dry finish to the drink.

For a craft brewer held in high esteem, Northern Monk have stuck to their guns and produced an extremely high quality AF pale ale in Holy Faith. Very similar to their popular ‘Faith’ pale, it shows why the brewery is so popular, and also gives me hope (and faith!) for the future of non-alcoholic brews.

Buy Northern Monk Holy Faith

Northern Monk’s beers are quite widely available in supermarkets, but I’ve only seen Holy Faith in Morrisons branches so far. You can of course buy it online from the following stores:

Nutritional Information (per 100ml, taken from the side of the can)
ABV	0.5%
Additional nutritional information not given. Boo, hiss!
Ingredients
Water, Malted Barley, Oats, Maltodextrin, Hops, Yeast
Additional Information
Country of Production	United Kingdom
Brewer	Northern Monk Brew Co – https://northernmonk.com/
Gluten Free?	No
Vegan Friendly?	Yes