I was fortune enough to have been given two quite extraordinary bottles of beer for Christmas 2006. Firstly the packaging in a 75CL style plonk bottle complete with wire champers cage and cork was a little pretentious I thought but resolved to try the brews from London’s second largest brewery after fullers www.fullers.co.uk the Greenwich based Meantime http://www.meantimebrewing.com
The beers were recreations of two styles of drinks popular in the 18th and 19th century. The first a London Porter an the second an Indian Pale Ale or IPA. Many breweries create placid imitations of these styles but the Meantime versions are meticulously created to authentic and long lost, ahem, recipes and strengths plus being bottle conditioned no pasteurisation is used giving a live bottled ale that is near as damn it like beer from the cask. The Porter recipe is from 1750 and the IPA a recreation of the authentic style.
The 6.5 percent Porter was beautifully smooth and complex with flavours of liquorish smoke and a little bit of hop on the nose. This would probably work well with cheeses and crusty bread. Porters also have a little fruitiness about them that makes them less astringent than a stout. These beers were actually the forerunner of stouts and created in London for the market traders and Porters. For more information on this really smashing beer go to.
http://www.london-porter.com/
‘“They say this style of beer was called Porter because it refreshed and energised
the muscular men who worked through the night in markets like Billingsgate, Smithfield
and Covent Garden to ensure that we had fresh food next morning. Porter is a London
style of beer that has been having a revival among connoisseurs. To be the real thing,
it should be made by a London brewery. This tall, dark, handsome bottle comes to
you from London’s youngest brewery: Meantime, in Greenwich. It’s a muscular brew,
but deceptively lean and smooth. It has a nutty maltiness in the middle and a lingering,
bittersweet, black chocolate finish. If you have been up all night, give yourself
a lift: have Porter with breakfast.
(But not for breakfast.)”
- Michael Jackson’
The IPA at 7.5 percent was really bursting with hop flavour and would be at home on a hot summers day or with Indian food or even fish and chips because the hops would cut through the fat. I am a sucker for hoppy ale but this pushed it to the limit such was the density of English hop flavours. Gone were the tart grapefruity American hops and in were bitter tangy and peppery flavours that took no prisoners. IPA was a style of beer exported by ship to India in the days of British rule. The extreme hopping levels and high strength meant the beer would survive the long sea voyage. For more information check out
http://www.india-pale-ale.com/
‘“Very few British brewers accord proper respect to the initials IPA. This elegant
bottle calls for a celebration, a toast to friendship - or, if you prefer, a special
relationship. If your favourite meal might be described as masala, honour it with
your best appetite. Release the cork with a sight and a pop; enjoy the orangey colour;
the herbal aroma of Worcestershire hops; and their flavours of sweet grass, orange
zest and a hint of aniseed. This beer will make you feel very hungry indeed. Thank
heavens the second blossoming of hops, from Kent this time, are a different variety:
soothingly oily Goldings. A hint of clove, from the yeast? For heaven’s sake, where’s
dinner?”
Michael Jackson’
Maybe the special bottle deserves to be used in packaging these beers. As far as I’m concerned they are just lovely and these bottles should help put them on the tables of wine snobs, plus don’t we all like pulling a cork?
The above quotes were from the beer and whisky scribbler Michael Jackson who has sadly announced he has Parkinson’s disease. The man had a profound affect on my views of beer and whisky and also influenced AA Dave in this regard.
Labels: beer
