A few Saturdays ago I was lucky enough to take a trip to the Norwich Beer Festival put on by the Norwich & Norfolk Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. It's a somewhat idiosyncratic festival, held in a former church. For some very strange reason they have a separate lunchtime and evening session on a Saturday. This is most unheard of, as it's usual, in my experience, for other festivals to open late morning and carry on into the night-time. But that's Norfolk folk for you!
Being the last day of the festival always mean that there is less choice, but was I downhearted? Not at all. There was still enough to choose from and choose I did. I started my lunchtime treats with Tawney Bitter (Cotleigh) 3.8% ABV, followed by Sygnus, a 4.0% ABV golden ale from the Blackfriars brewery in Gt Yarmouth which both went down well, as did Golden Newt (Elgoods) 4.1% ABV. I was pretty impressed with Hoppit 3.5% ABV (Loddon), and Harbourmaster 3.6% ABV was deliciously tasty session ale from Quay brewery in Weymouth. Wet & Windy 4.3% ABV bitter (Oulton Ales) was rather disappointing, particularly as I'm a big fan of what they do, and am rarely less than ecstatic about their beer. Yetman's Red 3.8% ABV didn't wow either.
But there was one beer that stood head and shoulders above all others that I tried that day, and that was Chiswick from Fullers. You always expect the best beer you taste to be from an obscure one man band brewery, stuck in the middle of nowhere, and not from a large regional, especially not from the metropolis. Named after the area of London which is home to their Griffin brewery, Chiswick is a 3.5% ABV light coloured bitter
with very flowery characteristics. To call it a bitter is almost a misnomer, and if your taste buds have been blatted by years of drinking stronger more bitter ales, from somewhere like Yorkshire, then this beer will be too subtle for you. But for those of us that are fortunate enough to still have palates, and ones that can appreciate complex flavours, this is a fantastic ale. You can taste and the aroma of the hops with their very slight hint of musk really that gets the juices flowing. I always think that a beer that excites both
your senses of taste and smell is something to be savoured. With this beer, you close your eyes and you are transported to the hop-fields of Kent.
A lot of people pooh pooh weaker ales, but with this beer the strength is immaterial. It has an up-front hoppiness supported by a clean, sufficiently malty body, which makes it a great ale that you can drink in reasonable quantities. Perhaps they should rename it "win-win"!
Comments
Alan - November 12, 2006 10:00 PM
Interesting to compare your comments on lower alcohol beer, Paul, with this BBC news item from last week about these 2% beers that are coming out in the UK to attract those interested in the bar scene. I wish milds would make a comeback and if I were able to find this example from Maine near me it would be a regular in my fridge.
Paul - November 14, 2006 9:07 AM
Big beer producers are always looking for something new to shift product. They'll push this no doubt cause they pay less duty and can make more money !
Mild continues to struggle in the UK - fantastic beer caught in a catch 22 circle of not stocked/kept well vs nobody drinks it due to ignorance or bad experience.
Knut - November 14, 2006 11:08 AM
Two points: I admire the British brewers for managing to brew low strength ales with full taste. When I visited the Netherlands recently, the beers were very nice, but after having sampled a few they go straight to you head, they are typically in the 6-8% range.
The second: The low alcohol lager has a useful function if you are driving, have an important meeting in the morning, or if you want something to drink for lunch that is not either water or sweet. I cannot imagine that this will catch on by those who drink more than two pints at a session.
It may be a fad for a while, but then the sales will dwindle. Remember low carb beer?