Deep in a basement bar not far from Bohemia, the cerny pilsners of the brewery up the road changed my perception of lager. Sweet and rich but surprisingly light, they distributed refreshment and nutrition as if feeding me and five thousand other thirsty drinkers.

Meantime Union shares a similar contradiction. Broody and brown, this is is no pale bodied pushover. Lagered it is, and a tad metallic to boot, coupled with a dark caramel composition and a surprisingly roasted finish suggesting mustard seeds, honey-soaked biscuits and bitter Bourneville.

Union shares the creaminess of some of the golden pilsners that stole a march onn Vienna style lagers many years ago.

It’s enigmatic to say the least. Coloured like a bitter, tastes like a bitter, but brisker, bolder, livelier. It’s interesting, ebbing and flowing between it’s different elements, but it’s hard to see how it would fit into my everyday drinking.

Except for with pizza. Michael Jackson recommended amber beers with pizza and at a basic level this shares many facets – creamy texture, bitterness, effervescent, mouthfilling malt and sweet roasted finish.

So being under £2, being under 5%, and offering refreshment, intrigue and solace, this is one beer that will be on the shopping list alongside doughballs and garlic bread.

Caught my eye as I thought it was a football beer!

A Union of dark malt, pizza and beer. Mmm.

Vienna style beers have a special place in my heart as I once named a Vienna influenced beer. Thornbridge Equinox was a one off ‘Vienna IPA’, so a little different from the copper coloured lagers of continental Europe, but I only ever got to try one pint of it. I’d love to try it again one day!

A strong, frothy head, a pale countenance and a ferociously Noble body makes Meantime Pilsner unmistakeably Bavarian.

Put simply it’s the colour of straw and the embodiment of light, refreshing, authentic lager. It’s so pale you might even miss the barely toasted malt in this one.

It’s pale, delicate fizz, infused with the scent of stalks and greenery, ensures it’s fresh and natural in body and soul with a congenital bitterness screaming of the vernacular style.

E.g. it’s hoppy, it’s bitter, it’s Pilsner.

Served in a 330ml bottle means you don’t get a lot for your money (they’d laugh at a such a measure in both Germany and Czech Republic I’m sure). Sure enough you do get a most elegant and well turned out bottle to show off whilst you drink. If that’s your thing.

Meantime Pilsner perhaps lacks the subtle lemon balm slap that (according to my taste buds) separates the most interesting, intense variations of this famous style from those more monotonous attempts.

But let’s be clear – this is no marketing ploy by Meantime to make a simple lager sound more premium, nor is it a poor copycat of the tall, translucent pilsners that changed the world.

It’s a sophisticated, if slightly subdued celebration of grassy, gassy, sparkling straw-coloured beer.

Meantime Pilsner: perfect for the garden

Read the rest of this entry »

Smoky as hell to smell and like a burnt caramel bar to taste, M&S’s London Porter is a sweet beer to devour with masses of chocolate or marshmallows over a camp fire.

If you don’t fancy the great outdoors then no worries, the lingering smoky presence hangs around for a long time in your mouth and may invoke daydreams of sitting under the stars and gazing at the heavens.

It’s packed with malt variety: you can settle for adoring it’s remarkably sweet Cadbury’s flavours, or close your eyes and take in the notes of liquorice, coffee and molasses that may or may not be hiding under the covers of darkness.

For best results wait for a cold, wet October night when the light recedes before you’ve even left work. Use as a slow burning nightcap, and crack open in place of a steaming mug of fluffy hot chocolate. Nestle deep into the sofa, dip into your gastronomic vice of choice and have a bit of mid-week you-time.

London Porter brewed by Meantime for M&S

The last few days have been fantastic. Despite a lot of travel kafuffle and too much time spent on my feet, I managed to get to the British Guild of Beer Writers dinner in London. I could write for hours about the adventures I’ve had, a sojourn around London with my camera, beers in the legendary Rake, a day rambling around London pubs with fellow bloggers and a huge and unsuccessful rush from the Pigs Ear beer festival to get home, but I’d be here all day.

So just a few words on the event we all went down for, and what was a great celebration of beer, food and the writing that so much passion goes into… Read the rest of this entry »

The Greenwich Union is the brewery pub of the Meantime Brewery…

www.meantimebrewing.com

Located less than 5 minutes walk away from Cutty Sark Station on the DLR this pub is really easy to get to but is located up a quaint side street. The exterior makes it appear as one of those dark traditional pubs. Opening the door you see a strange collision of modern and traditional as the large, light interior contrasts with the atmosphere projected from the street.

We arrived at 3.00pm on a Saturday afternoon and the place was full, we got one of only two or three free tables in the garden and all of the tables inside were occupied. The reason for the full tables soon became apparent as the food being served looked and smelt fantastic. The burgers were massive and were priced at under a tenner.

The round I bought was two pints of London Pale Ale (reviewed on here), a diet coke and two bags of nuts which came to £8.80 altogether. This is cheap enough in the middle of London I thought.

The range of beers on tap were as follows…

Adnams Bitter

Meantime LPA

Meantime Kolner

Meantime Helles

Meantime Wheat

Meantime  High Saison

Meantime London Stout

Aspall Suffolk Cider

As well as this they had a wide range of bottled ales and lagers that any respectable ale house would be proud to boast. For anyone who was unable to decide there were free samples offered and the staff were pleasant and approachable and I’m sure that they will have been happy to offer a helping word. In addition to this I note that the menus offered tasting notes on all of the drinks, dedicating 5 pages to beers and only 2 to food!!!

I certainly recommend this watering hole to anyone in London. Meantime make some cracking beers and they have hit the perfect mix of old and new, traditional and modern, in order to create the perfect environment to drink them in.

Meantime Brewery – London Pale Ale, 4.3% abv, on tap from The Greenwich Union

This is quite a clear pale ale and immedately I could tell that it was well kept which was no surprise given that there was at least one pint on every table. I would imagine that thry fire through hundreds of pints of this a day.

To be honest I was quite worried about getting back on the ale today given that last night was a bit of a blockbuster but, as I sat in the pub garden taking my furst si, this was certainly no chore. The beer was quite flat, I think more so than the bottled version that I have had before, which give it a smoothness that meant it went down really well.

In terms of flavour this beer is tangy, with a citrus bitterness that is far from overpowering. This modest flavour, coupled with the smooth texture, make this what I would call a real session ale.

Landlord....get me another......

Real Ale Reviews Score: Beer of the Month, April 2009

Being a huge IPA/pale ale fan along the lines of East Coast US pale ales, I often find myself disappointed with our own competition here in the UK.

Meantime have certainly bucked the trend with their London Pale Ale, a fantastic ale that matches any American pale ale for depth of character, whilst being distinctively British on the palette.

I can inadequately describe this as a best of both worlds (a phrase that doesn’t by any means do this beer justice) for those who love both modern IPAs and also more traditional British ales. And for those who, like me, rarely stray from the extravagant US pale bottles, Meantime’s London Pale Ale has enough character to tempt your tastebuds back across the Atlantic.

Cynics might call this ‘middle of the road’ but that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is a pale ale that doesn’t shirk from the challenge that younger, modern breweries are posing to the beer world, but rather embraces both the needs of a 21st century marketplace and the tradition of long established brewing techniques.

Served cold this is a thoroughly enjoyable beer with the heart of pale ale and the soul of British brewing.

Meantime London Pale Ale