It’s not every day that you get the chance to try a beer that’s older than you are.

Last Saturday night I opened a bottle that was just that; I opened a beer that was older than me, so that’s over twenty five, give or take the odd ten years. In fact it was a lot older than me, more than twice my age.

It was brewed in 1929 in fact, so that’s 83 years old.

A mate of mine dabbles in buying and selling antiques and I got a call from him a while back…

“You like beer don’t you Gav?”
“Well, yes” I laughed.
“How long does beer last?” came the reply.
“Depends what it is” I say in return, “Why do you ask?”
“I’ve got a couple of bottles you might be interested in.”
“Go on.”
“It’s a bit old”
“How old?”
“1902 and 1929.”

I was silent for a second or two after that.

The beers my mate had come by were Bass King’s Ale (1902) and Bass Prince of Wales Brew (1929). I took a quick look at the bottles and, as he only wanted £30 for the pair, I snapped them up, for novelty reasons if nothing else.

A King and a Prince

Then along comes OpenIt! and I think, what about those Bass beers I’ve got, shall I open one of those? I council a few folks on twitter and by the end of the day I’ve decided I’m taking along the bottle of Prince of Wales Brew to OpenIt! at Mr Foley’s in Leeds. There’s plenty of other curious folks keen to try it too, most of them more beer geekish than I am.

And shortly after arriving the bottle is on to the table with a corkscrew, the remainder of the wax seal is removed and I’m plunging the corkscrew in. With a small lever part of the cork comes away – it’s a bit dried out as you’d expect –  and I need a different corkscrew to get a little more of the cork out and drill a little hole as its pretty stuck in there.

The empty glasses are thrust my way and everyone is keen to try. We all give it a sniff and look at each other slightly nervously. The aroma a little on the sour side but I’m getting a whiff of raisins and we wonder if the beer will taste as sour as it smells.

"Ich Dein" Bass 1929 Prince of Wales Ale

How many men does it take to open a beer?

The slow pour, and it's dripping tasty too!

Here goes!

I take a sip.

How does it taste?

Well it tastes alright considering its age. A nice fruity character. The next offering to my tongue is a good size and I’m getting an idea of the flavour now. I’m very pleasantly surprised, it’s a bit like like an amontillado sherry. It’s stunning that a beer that’s survived for 83 years untouched has this amount of flavour left in it. It’s not nasty at all and most of us are in agreement about this.

Of course I’ve no idea how it was supposed to taste (I’ve no idea what beer tasted like back in 1929 for that matter). Prince of Wales Brew was the second Bass beer with a royal connection after Bass King’s Ale was produced in 1902 for the coronation of Edward VII. I’m lead to believe that for Prince of Wales Brew the mash was started by Prince Edward, who later become Edward VIII of course, and sold for around £5 a bottle, a fair bit of wedge back in the day!

So was it worth opening? I took the remainder of the bottle home and then to the local the following day. There was a pretty mixed response from folks who where a little less beer geekish, some of disgust and some of surprise and intrigue. I’m with the latter crowd hence my curiosity to open it.

It’s just amazing to think that you’ve actually been drinking history. A beer that, given its royal connection and price, must have been been painstakingly crafted by Bass master brewers to brew a beer befitting a Prince. I feel very privileged to have been able to try and share it with friends. A great beer experience. I just wish, like most beers really, I could open it and enjoy the experience again.

The Prince of Wales feathers, which are also embossed on the bottle, bare the words ‘Ich Dien’, which means ‘I Serve’. This beer ‘Ich Dien’ with pleasure Your Royal Highness!

Victory! Eventually the cork is breached!

Pouring a bottle of beer older than me

Big thanks to Rick Furzer for organising the Open It session at Mr Foleys, and to Ghost Drinker for the lovely pics of the crew struggling to open the very old bottle of beer!

This post does exactly what it says on the tin. A couple of weeks ago I had a day off work and thought a trip to sample the real ale houses of London was in order.

Some of the establishments warranted posts of their own but, unfortunately, some did not. Those that did not are only mentioned here and may include brief tasting notes of the beers we (my University housemate and East End friend Jack was helping me out for the day) came across during our travels.

The pubs that we felt warranted their own posts tended to have a number of quality real ales on which we made tasting notes and the full articles that will follow are as much about the beers as the pubs. The itinery for the  day was as follows…

We met at Tooting Bec tube station, luckily bumping into each other outside one of the four exits, to visit the first pub of the day…

The Kings Head, Tooting – This place had a classic style, with original Victorian tiling, but a modern touch with Sky Sports and an IT Box. Despite the appealing decor I have to say that it was ultimately at the lower end of what can be considered a ‘Real Ale’ pub. There are three regular ales, Old Speckled Hen, Greene King IPA and London Pride, as well a Guest Ale of Highland Davenport’s The Fall (which was off). Both Jack and myself decided to start the day with London Pride – I will not go over old ground with tasting notes but will say that the beer was well kept.

The Eagle Ale House, Clapham – unfortunately The Eagle did not open until three and we arrived at one thirty. As  we arrived the landlord was unfortunately on his way out. He said that if he had not been he would have opened for us. That would have got him a very very good review. In the event, having not been able to go into the bar I can say that, from the outside it looked absolute quality. A massive regret that we were not able to have a beer there but one to add to the list of good reasons not to leave it too long before heading South again.

The Prince of Wales, Clapham – a 20 minute walk from The Eagle and also closed! In all honesty this did not look to offer the same quality drinking environment as we just felt we had probably missed out on but it did carry Timmy Taylor’s on draught so would certainly be worth a visit if passing on that basis alone.

The Porterhouse, Covent Garden (revisited) – following my last visit to the Porterhouse, which left me slightly underwhelmed,  The Beer Boy had encouraged me to give it another go. Suffice to say that a a revisit proved a productive way to spend some time, full review and tasting notes to follow.

The Coal House, The Strand – the first of three Nicholson Pubs visited on the day, the rolling range of 12 autumnal guest ales, coupled with the regular stock offered us enough tasting opportunities to complete a full review.

The White Lion, Covent Garden & The Three Greyhounds, Soho (ish) -the other two Nicholson Pubs and the beers on offer again justified their own posts.

The Crown & Two Chairmen, Soho – this pub was probably the jewel in the crown for the day and will certainly be getting its own review in due course.

The Duke of Argyll, Soho – this was the last stop of the day (although the whole point of the midweek trip was to get to The Jerusalem which fell through due to our unproductive rambling around Clapham). We were both feeling the effects of a long, tiring day by this time so tasting notes are limited! What did stand out was the fact that I ordered two pints of bitter and was charged only £3.58…..IN THE CENTRE OF LONDON!!!!!! They were not individual bottles of craft beer but they were good honest pints and absolute value at that price!!!

Needless to say that the hops were kicking in and, I headed back for my train, I made sure I set my alarm so that I didn’t miss my stop!