She’s a Diamond Monarch!

“Give my people plenty of beer, good beer and cheap beer, and you will have no revolution among
them” – Queen Victoria

 

Vicky

Well, like our current monarch, her reign may have had its turbulent moments but

Queen Victoria obviously knew what she was talking about. In an era marked by
revolutions, her reign lasted longer than any other in British history. Up
until now, Queen Victoria was the only monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee.

And while it may be stretching it a bit to say that having plenty of good cheap beer
was the one and only reason, the Victorian era was notable for brewing
innovations, the number of pubs and the quantity of beer imbibed (not to
mention long opening hours!).

 

Liz

So, this weekend celebrates the second time in British history that a sovereign

has been on the throne for sixty years. And, like the Victorian age, the second

Elizabethan age has not seen revolutions or violent social upheavals like so

many countries (the only Red Revolution in Britain was an advertising campaign

by Watneys). After all, it is a bit hard to harbour violent feelings after sharing a

delicious pint or two at the bar of your local with friends and/or strangers and

putting the world to rights.

 

And although the mighty British Empire ruled by Queen Victoria is long gone

and things do look a bit gloomy there are things to be grateful for. To start with

we are not in the Euro! A British football team (Chelsea) beat the Germans

(Bayern Munich) to win the European Cup! And we are hosting the Olympics

(pity I did not get Beach Volleyball tickets)…

 

On a more serious note, although beer may not be cheap and the number of

pubs may have declined from Victorian levels, the quality and range of beers

now on offer is better than ever. So, what to do?

 

Keep Calm and Celebrate…

 

Only problem is that there is so much choice that is hard to choose. There

are events such as the Thames River Procession involving a thousand boats or

local events like street parties. But what I suggest is finding out what is going

on at your local pubs. My local pubs are all doing activities ranging from beer

festivals, hog roasts, live music and television coverage of the national Jubilee

events.

 

Alternatively, buy some specially brewed beers to drink at a street party or a

picnic or just at home with friends. Here are three suggestions.

 

Jubilee Beer Choice

 

Shepherd Neame Spitfire 4.5% abv

Named after the legendary fighter plane this was originally produced in

1990 as a bottle conditioned 4.7% premium bitter as part of the 50th
anniversary of the Battle of Britain. This year a limited edition called
Glorious 2012 (“The Bottle of Britain”) has been released by Britain’s oldest
brewer. Spitfire is a golden ale whose
maltiness (from traditional English varieties) is balanced by the bold citrus
and fruity spiciness of local Kentish hops.

Available from
supermarkets and independent retailers at £1.69 rrp per bottle (500ml).

 

Hogs Back MAJEST.E.A. 5.2% abv

Based on T.E.A. (Traditional English Ale) although 5.2% abv
compared to T.E.A.’s 4.25 abv, this is brewed from English malts and

100% English Fuggles hops, a variety which was bred when Queen Victoria

was on the throne. This is described as being “a very regal dark corgi colour

with a fruity hoppy bite, generously honeyed and floral with a seductive

citric/mango element with Fuggles’s earthy notes as background.

Available from Majestic, Oddbins and Waitrose at about £1.95
per bottle (500ml).

 

Harveys Elizabethan Ale 7.5% abv

Harveys Brewery in Lewes is the oldest brewery in Sussex, dating
back to 1790 and this is an exact replica of the Coronation Ale brewed

in 1952. This dark barley wine with its full dark rich malt character is well

hopped with local Fuggles and Golding varieties. The colour is deep, rich

orange and the aroma has notes of bruised apples, dark fruits and nutmeg.

Full-bodied with a rich creamy texture, this beer tastes of caramel malt, dark

fruits, plums, dates and has a clean dry finish.

Available from Harveys managed houses or go to Harveys website.
It IS lovely!

 

P.S.

 

It is estimated that this weekend an extra 60 million pints
of beer will be drunk in celebration, which means an extra £52 million in

duty and VAT for the Government (approximately). So the Government has

got enough from beer sales to pay for the Pageant four times over…

Just proves how right Queen Victoria was!

Rob @BG

38 Comments

World’s Longest Pub Crawl…

Most of us enjoy a pint or two with our friends and I suppose most of us have done a pub crawl at some stage in our lives but I was pretty awestruck to read in Saturday’s Sun that a group of beer lovers who call themselves The Black Country Ale Tairsters (the BATS) have visited a different pub every Saturday for the last 28 years.

 
Tastefully dressed in beer-towel waistcoats (handy for wiping your hands or the bottom of your glass without having to move too far) these six survivors of the original twenty man mission have now visited 16,337 pubs… Oh, they also visit bars in Europe but these are not included in the total!

 
In case you have some doubts about the veracity of this (just do the arithmetic!) they keep a record of the pubs they go to by taking photos and writing the number of the pub on a scorecard, and asking the landlord to sign the book they have which has information about every pub visited. The group have invested in personalised beer mats, which they leave in every pub they visit. They have also acquired thousands of souvenirs, including 130 box files full of beer mats and menus and 35,000 photos. Not surprisingly they are extremely knowledgeable about beer and pubs and BATs approval is a recognised accolade in the local pub trade.

 
More seriously, they have raised £15,000 for good causes by asking the pub landlord they buy beer from to donate £1-00.

Even more seriously, they all have long-term partners one of whom says:

“You know what you’re getting into – you can’t complain.”

Respect!

Me, I have been going to the same pub (The White Horse in Fulham) since Easter 1974, which means I have made about six thousand visits. However, whereas the BATS seek out variety, I let variety come to me. When I first started going to my local, I had shoulder-length hair and flared jeans. The pub was almost as scruffy as I was with a lino floor and a boring beer selection. But investing time and money turned it into one of the best pubs in Britain: attractive decor and an ever-changing selection of beers both traditional and modern. With all due respect to the The Black Country Ale Tairsters, I do not feel the need to go anywhere else!

 

That’s the great thing about the Great British Pub: there is something for everyone!

Rob @ BG

55 Comments

Beer Myths

Beer Myths and Legends…

Given the central place of beer and pubs in British history, it is not surprising that there are any number of myths and legends that have entered the English language. A few of these are true but many or most are not!

Wet Your Whistle!
Many years ago pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic mugs. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. “Wet your whistle” is the phrase inspired by this practice.
The snag with this is that if this was true, a few of these mugs would still exist just as other beer drinking vessels do. Also there would be drawings or paintings of these mugs or some reference in literature to the practice.
More importantly, do you really think any landlord would be prepared to put up with a barrage of shrill whistling all night? Or indeed other customers?

Ale-Conners…
In medieval times, officers called ale-conners were appointed to test beer for quality and that it was sold at a fair price. They wore leather breeches and tested ale by pouring some on a wooden bench and then sitting in it and seeing if their breeches stuck to the bench…
Mmmm, if someone gave you a pint and asked your opinion of it, what would you do? Sniff it and maybe taste it or put some on a chair and sit in it?
Ale-conners certainly did exist but there is no evidence that they tested beer like this!

Ropey?
As in “that’s a bit ropey” or “I feel a bit ropey this morning after that curry last night”. The phrase is said to come from beer that has been infected with a particular bacteria that makes the beer taste unpleasant and glutinous threads appear on the surface i.e. “ropey”.

This one is true!

So how do these myths get started?
There are a variety of reasons. One is that words often change their meaning over time and so the meaning of the original phrase gets lost. ‘Wet your whistle’ was first recorded in the 1386 Towneley Mysteries: “Had She oones Wett Hyr Whystyll She couth Syng full clere Hyr pater noster.” Whistle here means throat or voice and so the phrase simply means ‘take a drink’.
Another reason is that possibly something like these legends happened once and the legend spread. Possibly a potter with a sense of humour did bake a whistle in a mug once and used it to try and attract attention from the landlord who probably then took the offending item and tossed it out onto the pavement…
And imagine you are an ale-conner. Being paid to taste beer sounds like a dream job but the reason that the office came into being was that beers in Olde England were not always of the highest quality (to put it politely). So, at the end of a hard day spent tasting some less than perfect ales (and possibly affected by what you have drunk) you are handed a particularly sickly brew. You might well be tempted to get out of putting the stuff into your mouth by saying: “ I don’t even have to taste this!” and pouring some onto a bench and sitting in it for a while…

Rob @BG

51 Comments