JIMBO – The Very Best Bitter. Brewed in memory of our co-founder Jim Minkin who sadly passed away earlier this year. JIMBO is our legacy brew that allows Jim’s character to lives on in our great beer and a part of him will always be at Purity.
James Minkin who co-founded Purity Brewing Company back in 2005 with close friend Paul Halsey, was affectionately known to many as ‘Jimbo.’ A qualified accountant by trade, Jim had a huge passion for brewing which led him in the early days to take on the mantle of Head Brewer at Purity. Brewer of the original line up UBU and Pure Gold, Jim’s passion for great tasting beer with real character lives with us still today.
In the early years of Purity, Jim was the driving force of sustainability at Purity and led the project of our passive wetland system. It was his passion and dedication to brewing with a conscience that was a key factor in the Brew Team and Paul Halsey’s decision to brew a Best Bitter in memory of Jim.
Best Bitters are a classic and traditional English style of beer that is seeing a resurgence in popularity with brands such as Five Points, Harvey’s Sussex Best and the cult following of Batham’s. During the 20th century, bitter became the most popular type of draught beer sold in British pubs and has been described as “the national drink of England.”
As a new cask beer that kick starts a year of celebrations of Purity’s 15th birthday, we felt it right to pay homage to our cask beer roots and picking a traditional style that has a Purity twist. JIMBO is the beer that uses the least food miles with all our ingredients from England. With the finest malt from East Anglia and then hops from Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Fuggles and Goldings two classic English hops grown by Sarah Hawkins at her farm in Bosbury and then a brand-new hop grown by Simon Parker at Instone Court.
When we spoke to Charles Faram and Simon about our plan for JIMBO they were keen that they honoured Jim themselves. As long standing suppliers Jim had many discussions and hop walks with the Charles Faram team and they offered Purity and the Minkin family to name this brand-new hop. Emperor was chosen as a nod to Jim’s love of Roman history which was evident when he found a selection of Roman coins when Purity’s wetland system was being dug.
Jim spent many years in and around Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire so it felt only right to use hops from these areas. Again, using only, the finest hops from our long-standing friends Charles Faram – JIMBO is brewed with Pilgrim for that initial bitterness and then the classics Fuggles and Goldings as well as Emperor – a brand new hop as part of the Charles Faram hop breeding program. These classic and new wave hops give JIMBO aromas of mixed berries, crisp apple, yet all balanced with a well-rounded nutty bitter finish.
As part of Purity’s commitment to the local community and a further way of continuing Jim’s legacy the brewery is donating 5p per pint to the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund (PCRF).