October 16th, 2009FletchtheMonkeyComment

I was recently directly by a kind friend to an article in shortlist discussing ‘The Real Ale Revival’.

Despite it lacking somewhat in actual evidence (other than the fact that Stephen Fry and James May drink real ale, whose exponential increase in popularity over the last 5 years is hardly evidence for real ale becoming cool) it made some nice points to convince Shortlist readers that real ale is better than the mass produced ‘lager’ stuff, a philosophy I doubt I need to convert most of our readers to.

Anyway, well done to Shortlist for highlighting that real ale is good (and for pointing out for those that are interested the very obviously geeky celebrities that prefer real beer to watered down [insert name of your least favourite canned lager-piss here].

What caught my eye was a column by Roger Protz, who selected ‘a quartet of introductory ales’ alongside the main article. Now Roger Protz knows much more about beer than me, and rightly so, I’ve been supping real ale on and off since I was 17 (that’s 8 years) although only with any real enthusiasm and passion for 1 or 2 (and only writing about it since May this year!).

But given that this foursome is designed to be an ‘introduction’ to real ale – the column was titled ‘A Starter For Four’ – I would assume that these beers are selected with the lager or non-beer drinker in mind. That might include drinkers who’ve touched on real ale in the past, either unwittingly or ‘just to try’ and never really ‘got it’ and those that generally steer clear.

So what ales were selected? Caledonian Deuchars, 3.8%; Martson’s Pedigree, 4.5%; Adnams Bitter, 4.5%; Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, 4.1%.

Trying to be objective (so not just naming my favourite four beers here) I’m not entirely sure I would make the same selection as Roger based on the ‘point’ of the list. To me, they should be beers that meet one or more of these criteria:

• These beers should be easy to drink
• They should be ‘good’ examples of real ale (and by that I include a wider definition than CAMRA’s to include quality beers not necessarily “real” ‘real ale’).
• The four should show the strength in depth of real ale available in the UK
• They should be beers produced in enough volume and to a consistency that makes them accessible to a wide audience
• Should perform in both bottle and draft form to a high standard

In my opinion the beers selected do meet these criteria, although I’m not sure they show enough of one key elements: strength in depth.

I wholeheartedly agree with Landlord, it’s underrated by younger generations and is undoubtedly one of the most drinkable ales in existence. On Deuchars I think it does the job in terms of the ‘Starter for Four’ idea, although there’s surely a better example of an IPA to showcase the great examples of this style there are out there? Between Adnams Bitter and Marston’s Pedigree I just don’t see much difference. Yes, they each have different flavours and are both good quality, but they are to me not hugely exciting, essentially just solid examples of a traditional real ale style. I wouldn’t swap either for Landlord and I’m just not sure there’s room in the list for Adnams’s and Marstons.

So my ‘Starters for Four’? Well it’s difficult as there are lots of beers I’ve tried in bottles and not on draft, and a rare few that I’ve only tried the other way round, and in my experience some work in both and some only work in one (subject to your own tastes). But, bearing in (a slightly stereotypical) mind that the average punter reading ShortList will head for Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons or ASDA, my off-the-top-of-my-head list is:

• Timothy Taylor’s Landlord –  a beer that our non-ale drinking friends get nearly as excited about as we do and crosses generational gaps

• Meantime’s London Pale Ale – this is a traditional ale with contemporary influences

• Hogsback T.E.A. – sometime ale drinkers have all agreed this a fabulous ale and one very well suited to new ale drinkers

• ?????????????? – the fourth one I’m opening up to the floor

I believe the fourth place should go to something different, not simply for the sake of it but to show that there’s more than the relatively ubiquitous brands available, but more so to show that real ale has a lot more in its locker than what may be perceived as simply ‘bitters’.

Some might say I’m the resident hop head at Real Ale Reviews, and I’m not aiming to just open the way for a lupulin heavy pale ale , nor a whisky-aged-imperial-stout-double-Belgian-style-toffee-infused-sea-salt-pilsner to storm the last place in a blaze of publicity. Instead I want to open that last place out to you, to choose an ale that shows off the passion, quality and variety of the ‘real ale revival’. Don’t stop at suggesting the fourth either, suggest new criterion, suggest, Adnams, Deuchars, Marston’s, suggest your own brewery or your favourite brewery.

And please suggest your ‘Starter for four’ too, mine will probably change as I see new suggestions that I’ve overlooked or not tasted.

Tags: Real Ale, roger protz, shortlist