Owner Marcos Ramirez moved to the UK from Venezuela in 2009 and had his first taste of craft beer in Leeds, and was so excited by the flavours, he started home brewing. Nine years later, he started his own microbrewery right here in the city that ignited his love for the drink.
Partnering with North Yorkshire brewery Black Sheep for its first ever brewery collab, the two have come together to bring Leeds, ‘Ensueño’, a hazy IPA that celebrates the best of Yorkshire and Latin America.
Paying homage to his heritage, Pig Love Brewery uses special ingredients that would be used in Latin America ‘for cooking and moonshining’ in its recipes, which is why this is far from bog standard brewery, Pig Love puts a real twist on craft beer with ingredients like coffee bean shells.
The shell of a coffee bean is usually wasted but in the last few years, people are increasingly experimenting with its abilities, and opting to use this to infuse notes of coffee and chocolate into food and drink. The coffee beans in Ensueño in particular come from Costa Rica and balance that rich flavour with the more traditional flavours you’d find in a pint of Black Sheep.
And you’ll find that everything right down to the name and beer can is telling the story of these two worlds colliding
‘Ensueño’ means “a dream that is really likely to happen, it’s an aspiration” that’s almost within reach, so the name felt fitting for Marcos, “working with the big boys at Black Sheep”, as a small Leeds independent.
The collaboration was talked about for almost three years, and the two breweries landed on the idea of creating a Hazy IPA given its current status as ‘a trendy product’ that’s got the brewery scene talking, but also because it has a real ability to blend experimental craft beers, traditional Yorkshire pints and Latin American influences.
With a deceiving 7.3% ABV, it’s a smooth drink that’ll really knock your socks off, with ‘lush fruity notes, coconut flavour and captivating aromas’.
Leeds-local Adam is a friend of Pig Love and helped to design a ‘Latin American Rainforest meets Yorkshire Dales’ featuring identifiable features like sheep and waterfalls that shows the full influences behind the collab.
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You can grab a pint for yourself over in the Climate Innovation District where CITU gave PigLove the opportunity to open a pop-up bar for a few months in 2021, fast forward two years and they’re still slinging out pints by the river and don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.
This will be a limited run so make sure to head down whilst you can and show your support for our own Leeds local. Black Sheep will be selling Ensueño online for those looking for give the IPA a taste test at home.
Feature Image – The Hoot Leeds
