Abbeydale's first lower ABV beer

Eefnin all,

       tonight I have been very pleased to open a mini keg of Abbeydale Absolution. Whilst writing up it's pouring on Faceache I claimed it was probably the first Abbeydale beer I ever tasted. I remember said event was at the Cask and Cutler, now the Wellington again, on Henry street. But am not so sure whether Abbeydale started out with both Absolution as well as Moonshine, or one or the other. And this got me thinking....

Nearly a year ago (give or take a few weeks) I had a grain injury, and readers may already be aware that this has affected my memory - initial tests suggested that both my recent and long term memories had been affected, but strangely, including references to old beermats by John Clarke in his recently re-ignited posts, I appear to be managing somewhat better with longer ago memories. Which in this case at least is good news - since the SCBIRT in Sheffield suggested it may take a further three to six years for me to recall more of my memories.

I remember when Abbeydale started. Neil and Sheila at the Cask and Cutler had got two casks of their very first output, and I remember trying and enjoying both of them. Unless it was just one? If I am right, am thinking that Patrick Morton used to brew or have some involvement with Kelham Island Brewery. This is something that he may also share with Canadian James who currently owns Neepsend brewery. Alas am not sure he ever was involved at Abbeydale but in fairness that matters little - because my dip into excellent Absolution tonight revived memories of a pre Daily bread beer from the same brewery.

It took me a while to remember, and I did think of asking my chums on Faceache if they could remember it's name. Am not 100% sure but I am likewise fairly certain that thy do not brew this anymore.  So what was it called., and where did I try it?

It was called Matins, and, if my otherwise frothy memory comes out OK, I think this pale ale was 3.6%. Where I first tried it is a puzzle, because I tried it a number of times initially. However, the first time I can remember was at the wonderful Three Stage Heads in Wardlow Mires, probably in 1998, or 1999. WF was still driving coaches at that point and invited me to the Yondeman's cafe (or one of many other names) across the road from the pub for some Sunday morning scran, before he set off to pick up his passengers. After the nosh I distinctly remember nipping across to the Three Stags Heads just as it opened - I was very much the first customer of the day.

I recall that then, and on the 30th December that same year, the pub was served by a lass behind the bar whose name absolutely escapes me. Although it was twenty one and  a half years ago. She was possibly a friend or family member of one of the two owners, and It was a short period where they had Matins on cask - I remember I had three pints of it due to its lower strength. My friend Christingpher also had some when we visited just before New Year's Eve. For reasons not that important, I also recall that this was my first ever visit to the Red Lion in Litton - taken over at least twice since and very much improved, I remember sitting outside, maudlin, with a half of something bland, and being very much surprised on my return to find that the pub had improved immensely. But I digress...

I recall that as well as the three pints or perhaps two pints and a half of Matins I moved up to the excellent Absolution. This and other experiences started a lengthy love of Absolution - which despite my well known  desire for and stated appreciation of hoppy and fruity DIPA's, remains one of my favourite beers. When me and Tash went on our first ever night away we stayed in Litton and after a meal in the Red Lion we walked to the Stags and really enjoyed a night of Absolution and lemon peppered tomatoes sat listening to Jeff (or maybe Geoff) and Pat.

The next time I recall hearing a reference, never mind tasting Matins, I was in the Gardener Rest with Pat and Eddy and Tim and another guy who were setting up the Sheffield Brewery Company. I was tasting their decent standard pale ale and as they thought I may know my stuff, asked me for my opinions about the same against perhaps, the output of Abbeydale. They rightly recognised the excellence of their, at that time, astutely pale beers such as Moonshine, and suggested they might try and brew a slightly more traditional  version of Matins. I admit that I had seen it less and less, and wasn't aware at that point of plans for Daily Bread, so I assumed it was still in production and suggested that it would have to be quite different, in order  to compete.

Alas, at some stage in the noughties am certain Matins was scrapped, and at some time in the last twelve years they introduced Daily Bread as their lower gravity offering. Tonight's experience however, has shown me how much the excellent Absolution has meanwhile firmly stayed in my heart and palate thereafter.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

      

What next for frontier brewers?

Ay oop,

     I was talking with a friend recently about the next big thing to hit real ale and beer in general. Obviously circumnavigating any assessment of where mega conglomerates and fizz packers would strike next, I focused on the smaller brewers, so often, even if not exclusively, at the forefront of beer innovation and trends.

Ten or fifteen years ago, in my experience, beers were still brown and malty. Some admittedly strayed into paler territory, in fact of course, Stones in Sheffield was always pale, but largely the output was mid brown to dark brown, plus a stout or two. The only noticeably hoppy stuff was from Burton Bridge (Empire) Freeminer (Trafalgar IPA), White Shield, and Whim, Hartington bitter, perhaps.

It turns out, unbeknown to me, and seemingly the rest of the larger percentage of British brewers at the time, that American brewers were putting huge amounts of hops into their beers years ago, and pushing the boundaries of what particular styles should be like, and experimenting with producing styles not native to their continent, or even their nearest ally, the UK.

Assuming then that we have spent the last decade in the UK catching up with the USA in terms of hop quantities especially, I consider that we are getting ever nearer to matching our Atlantic cousins in terms of bite. However, I wonder, will we continue to chase them, or pursue another countries style, or more intriguingly, forge our own way?

I mean, even the stoic world of stouts and old ales has been Yankified - for the better?

At present, where hops are concerned it seems that IKE is the start of the beginning of the end for producing equally hop forward beers. Reaching ever dizzying heights of IBU is impressive but ultimately I want to be seduced rather than hospitalised by a beer. Don't get me wrong, Steel City 666 is still a matchlessly hoppy and delicious beer. And I realise that the folks at SCB see other characteristics in their IKE touched beer other than hop induced pain.... 

 Overall though , after near on a decade of hop heavy dry bitter beers, I can see a desire for something a bit more rounded, or maybe at the opposite end of the flavour spectrum, or put another way, new. 

Of course trends have already emerged, but even then a scarcity of good knowledge of American beer styles prevents me from identifying where Black IPA and Red Hop/Rye ales originated, but its clear we are catching up, even if not quickly, rather than leading. IKE can take us to the eye watering heights of some overseas beers but it has to be in a magnificently complex beer to make it palatable.

So as for new trends, alas, the UK seems alone in striving for great flavour in sub 3% beers and doesn't seem to have a NEW specific identifably British style, or direction. Since the USA has only been brewing  the better smaller brewer and innovative output for 20 or 30 years, its surely time to set a divergent and desirably unique beer direction in the UK, so that we can match, rather than follow US beers.

And, that of course does not even have to mean matching their ascorbic, dry, bitter, Belgian IPA, smoked whatever and red ingredient output. To be really good, the UK needs to keep up with the USA whilst also defining itself, not based on what has been UK beer for a century, but what is and can be UK beer now.

In terms of future styles and developments, I personally think a combination of cask, KeyKeg and Bottle conditioned (yep, that;s right, BCA, but really (hopefully) only produced by competent bottlers) output is the future, but giving equal stall to each medium. I don't think one of the three will outstrip the other as gradually, well informed punters come to equally appreciate and part money for the benefits of each style of dispense.

What I do foresee is, whilst carrying on with hop forward ales, assertive dark brews, remarkable lagers and steadfastly traditional bitters, the UK will find its feet pushing uniquely British unfiltered beers. Unfiltered KeyKeg starts to plugs the divide between cask and KK to some extent, unfiltered cask is a revelation, if only in the early stages (Waen spring to mind, yummy!) and unfiltered bottles have been around in Europe and in some small way the UK for years. Tasting Williams Bros Grozet from the conditioning tanks years ago at Strathaven was a highlight of my drinking years I can assure you. And the clamour for unfiltered Pilsner Urquell was legendary.

But do you agree?

And if not, what do you think will be the future direction of British brewed beer, be it in cask, KeyKeg, or bottle?

Wee Beefy.

Imaginary 2.8% beers

Hello,

    back in January I noted a beer tasting session in Parliament for MP's to sample some of the 'brave new world' of exciting lower strength beers.

It didn't seem that strange - after all, it was obvious that the punitive HSBD fiasco would frighten a few brewers (and likely many more punters) off strong beer and that the ever so begrudging reward of a duty cut on very low strength beers would spurr some brewers into brewing said products. No-one seemed very sure or willing to provide evidence of the level of this impact though.

Much was made of the innovations that the great magnanimous brewing family had utilised to create a whole range of exciting new beers at 2.8% or below. The scene was set to see what this new breed of ale was about, and, best of all, to make an informed judgement about whether the brewers claims held any credibility.

Well, its April now, and even though lower strength beers may be aimed squarely at a "Summer" market (don't forget we just had it!) it would surely be the case that Brewers were already rolling out their new array of ultra weak ales, which they had since well before the duty imposition in October to create.

I am not saying that no such beers have evolved in that time - as clearly shown by the Beer Today blog I linked at the time, there were quite a few beers from a number of (albeit mainly larger brewers) offered for sale. Yet, I haven#t seen any. And interestingly, there hasn't exactly been any response, commercial or publicity wise, from brewers that, erm, well, you kind of like and respect. Thornbridge dallied with a series of low gravity beers a few years ago but I got the impression they were just experimental excercises in brewing. BrewDog did nanny state, which was a hugely unpleasant beer, now of course not to be seen in cask form.

But that's it.

Good, innovative and respected micro's like Magic Rock, Summer Wine Brewery, Brodies beers, Hawkshead, Ilkley, Dark Star and Red Willow have all done lower gravity beers, but all around the kind of acceptable established cut off point of 3.5%. This weekend I had a bottle of the Ilkley Mary Jane at that strength - it was very nice, but as with all such offerings, I found myself wooed principally by the flavours that I hadn't expected, in a beer that I attributed the oft used description "impressive for its strength".

So, one wonders,  where are these amazing new beers? I have seen one 2.8% beer. It was rubbish. I would desperately like to try a few and roll my beer drinkers palate over them all to pick out the flavours and characteristics present in such a beer but I have never seen one other than that I tried once in the Shakespeare.

Maybe I only drink in pubs that sell exclusively micro brewery output, and the weak beers are all made by nationals and mega regionals - perhaps because I buy almost all my bottled beer from Asda, who never change thier beer range more than once a year I am missing out on the bottled 2.8% offerings?

Whatever the explanation though, I stilll haven't seen any.

Which suggests there is a very real chance that the Government will oversee a minimum pricing policy that will do nothing to improve the plight of the British pub, further tax hikes that see us the most punished drinkers in Europe, a nonsensical tax hike on stronger and usually more interesting brews that punishes those with an interest in aged or imperial/export beer styles, and has offset this dire situation with an idiotic plan to reward brewers that make beers that no-one makes, no-one drinks and seemingly, no-one can find!

Has anyone seen a 2.8% or lower real ale, anywhere? And if so, what was it like? Please let me know what you thought - lets see if we have just transferred rarely brewed luncheon ales or light ales from dark bottle shelves to cask, or whether as predicted by CAMRA, and the mega brewers, sub 2.8 really is the way forward...

Wee Beefy.

Low strength beer - a revelation or a deliberate discombobulation?

Good even

    I noticed earlier on on the excellent Beer Today website that there had been a beer tasting in Parliament of a range of low strength beers this week, organised by the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group and the trade body the British Beer and Pubs Association, or BBPA as they call themselves.

There is no suggestion that this is all of the beers available in the UK at or below 2.8% ABV, or indeed that they are the best, but when you see the menu, you'll perhaps agree that it sends out a fairly dismal message - the future of affordable beer seems to be mainly (Brodies and Brentwood excepted) represented by mega national brands, the majority of who's stablemate products are not only homogenised, but often emasculated of their strength.

Its important at this juncture to consider the list - I couldn't find it for myself using honest means so the best idea would be to take a look at the post on Beer Today at Beer Today - MP's sample low strength beers . I searched tinterweb for more information, and to my surprise, almost nowhere had more than the briefest details available, except for, erm, "renowned" beer website Caterer search : Parliament low gravity beer sampling . Perhaps this surfeit of facts is because one half of the organisers and possible beneficiaries of the event, the British Beer and Pubs Association, has its website down, but nevertheless, it was a surprise.

Anyhoo, my point is this. Almost exclusively the beers supplied came from regional and mega regional breweries, along with the giant multinational brewers lagers. The absence of an official line from any organisation about what was intended to be achieved means I can only guess, but its safe to suggest that there was a shared desire to promote and prove the worth of, lower strength beers. This all seems entirely laudable, but it raises a few questions. (below is an image of a glass bearing the logo of what I hought was a now defunct ex Tolly Cobbold product in what would have to be an old glass, but which to my horror I now discover is a "new" beer launched/relaunched by Greedy King to save them money. Its a different beer in the glass though)

1. Were all breweries in the UK offered the chance to provide the House of Commons with their lower strength beer? I ask only because as I pointed out above, with two exceptions  only brewers of a certain magnitude appeared to have contributed. I wondered if this was symptomatic of the market across the brewing industry as a whole. Micro brewers have excelled in the field of strong ales over recent years, so does it follow that they aren't willing or interested in making sub 2.8% ale? Admittedly a giant regional brewer probably has sufficient spare capacity or funds available to develop and launch a low gravity beer quickly in response to October's ill thought through duty changes. But does the lack of microbrewery representation in this event speak of disinterest or unavailability in that sector, or is there a self serving big brewery bias in the selection?

2. Remember Morland Old Speckled Hen? I used to like it many years ago, (I was a novice drinker who liked GK Abbot and Castle Eden Ale, in the days before hops) I always used to see it in Whitbread "Ale House" pubs as a guest and tried it a few times down in Oxfordshire in what were perhaps the nearest thing to actual Morland pubs. Then, mysteriously, after the acquisition of Morland by Greene King, the ABV was reduced from 5.2% to 4.5%, apparently to address a gap in their range (although range overlap in breweries who have acquired too many other beer ranges usually ends in stopping brewing the beer altogether, so every cloud eh...).

This is not the only notable strength reduction by the big brewers - Stones down to 3.7% from at least 4.1 if not higher, Whitbread Gold Label down to 8.5% from nearer 10. No-one is saying that these are classic beers, or necessarily that they aren't as good now (Stones is of course back to 4.1% but well over a hundred miles from where it ought to be brewed). The things is, big brewers are quite happy to reduce ABV's but this marked reduction in duty paid doesn't seem to be reflected in the retail price. So when Adnams, Greedy King, Thwaites, Lees etc roll out a whole range of low strength beers, will we suddenly be paying much less at the bar for our pints?

3. Whats bad about MP's enjoying low strength beers? What does it matter if a few MP's get to taste examples of these products I hear you ask? Well, MP's of course are the ones taking the decisions over duty in the UK. Having made an inexplicable decision to reduce the viability of strong ales and punish the discerning drinker for liking something special ( I note that 3 months after implementing HSBD its still unclear what they really hoped to achieve and why, the HMRC statement is purely factual) they need to be able to demonstrate that the trade off in the deal actually achieves its aims, and that it justifies the impact on strong beer sales and long term viability.

If they are led to believe that this range of tasty but lower strength beer, is as good if not better than traditional strength beer then they are vindicated. Their aimless sleepwalk into beer meddling will not only deliver extra revenue (allegedly) but also will have created a whole new vibrant market. Everybody wins!

Except that, very few people do win, and focusing on the so called benefits of this arm of the legislation keeps them nicely and conveniently shielded from justifying the rate hike at the other end of the scale. Why has so little been said by serving MP's to justify the higher tax on beers that take longer and often more skill to produce? Is it because they didn't think it through and now realise they got it wrong?

That they now want to focus on the "merits" and exciting new opportunities afforded to brewers and the general drinking public by weak beer speaks volumes, if you'll excuse the pun, of how much they privately at least, think of HSBD.

I can see lots of brewers marketing lower strength beers, I really can, but not out of a noble determination to push the limits of brewing further by extracting more and more complex flavours from the lower alcohol, instead out of financial need. And the apparent support of the BBPA lends lobbying weight and perhaps credibility to the part of the legislation which its of course entirely in MP's interest to promote. Meanwhile, the pub goer or drink at home fan won't pay any less (as demonstrated time and time again by pubs and supermarkets who fail to make a noticeable reduction in cost when the ABV is considerably lower).

Perhaps there will be some truly great beers to come from this - there are already some slightly above 2.8% classics like Stonehenge Benchmark and Palmers Copper Ale and Ilkley Mary Jane, but I can't see how the unproven potential for increasing diversity and excellence in lower strength beer can come at a price worth paying.

Only an MP would believe its fine that we should lose our magnificent selection of UK and imported strong ales from supermarket shelves and pubs to make way for weaker beer that maybe good, but is ultimately not the same.

Wee Beefy.