CALLED TO THE BAR

Let’s all think about bitter

What’s next in beer and brewing (apart from the urgent need for people to be treated fairer and misogynistic practices swept away)? I’m thinking of where today ’s brewers are going, as well as drinkers to be honest, for without drinkers there would be no need for sweetshop sours or stewed fruit IPAs.

I’m being unfair and facetious perhaps, even if the current trend in British brewing (or maybe I should say craft brewing) does seem to be towards, what seems to me, a palatewrecking assembly of beers that children might enjoy (if they didn ’t contain alcohol). I suppose this thought has been inspired by an email letting me know that BrewDog (remember them?) has partnered with ‘ cult confectionary ’ brand Candy Kittens (no I’ ve not heard of them either) to produce a sweet raspberry and guava beer.

Gimmicks yes, but there does seem to be a market for this sort of beverage (along with hard seltzer, which I tried for the first, and last time, recently) and who am I to wag an arthritic finger at anyone drinking it? People should be able to drink what they like as long as it doesn ’t frighten the horses. However, from my point of view, as someone who drinks beers at home and in pubs and, as part of my job, tries to keep an eye on what brewers are releasing, there also seems to be an intriguing rediscovery of certain beer styles in their original purity, rather than with added adjuncts.

For starters let’ s think about bitter. A few years ago, you could find bitter being dismissed as twiggy and boringly brown (even though the eminent US poet Anne Sexton once wrote: ‘God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer ’), old men ’ s beer and just plain dull. I fell into that sort of trap in which I considered bitter not fit for purpose unless it was made by the likes of Adnams or Hook Norton, tried and trusted examples of the style (though you would have to also trust the quality of beer in the pub as well).

However, little did I know how things would be changing. Take the excitement among London beer geeks with the release of Five Points Best Bitter in 2019 (which even my 23-year old brewery-working son in London now enjoys as well as the usual hazy juicy suspects). This is a beer that is single-hopped with Kentish-grown Fuggle, is biscuity, grainy, fruity, bitter and dry, a catwalk display of the fundamental ingredients of beer. It is glorious.

According to brewery co-founder and head brewer, Greg Hobbs, ‘Five Points Best is all about showcasing balance in beer. It’ s a beer that is uncomplicated and slips down easily without demanding attention but likewise it’ s a beer that is full of nuance in how the ingredients come together and maintains interest pint after pint. In terms of flavours, Fuggle hops provide a minty and floral character backed by the Maris Otter barley malt and an oaky character from the yeast.

‘We initially planned to showcase other British hop varieties in Five Points Best on a rotating basis, and did release a version hopped with Goldings, however we’re now committed to keeping the recipe consistent with Fuggle. We now look to showcase other British varieties in specials and our Green Hop series.’

Hmm, balance in a beer, how very uncraft.

I’m currently finishing another book featuring the best British beers in can and bottle (I thought I would slip that in, it’s out in March) and I am definitely seeing a resurgence in newer breweries reaching out to the less celebrated styles. For instance, in the chapter on bitter, there are versions by Deya, Neptune and Yonder, while Attic and Boxcar’s milds are featured in the amber chapter. There are also ESBs, straightforward stouts and English-style IPAs without oats or lactose in them, a beer such as Wimbledon’s Quartermaine IPA, of which its originator brewing veteran Derek Prentice explains.

“I have been seeking to recreate a long held memory of a particular style of beer from when I joined the brewing industry over 50 years ago. This was the classic Burton bottled IPA, at the time then was best epitomised by Worthington White Shield. There were a few other major brewers ’ beers in the category such as Ben Truman ale, Bass Red Triangle, Courage Bulldog but it was really only the White Shield which had retained bottle conditioning and hence kept that fresh beer vibrancy, flavour and spritz. I am pleased to say that our first brew trials were very close to the classic IPA memory of mine and the recipe/process have largely remained unchanged since the first brews. ”

On one hand it is thoroughly exciting that brewers want to keep pushing at the borderlands of what we consider beer, but it is also heartwarming that the beer styles considered twiggy not so long ago are now being discovered by a newer generation. And now all we need is a healthier sense of inclusivity and diversity in British beer. That’ s not too much to ask is it?

Adrian Tierney-Jones