Best beers to try while living in England
October 28, 2010 5:01 PM Subscribe
[beerfilter] What brands of domestic craft beer should I check out while I am living in England?
Background:
One month ago I moved to England after spending the last several years in New England and Northern California, where local craft beer is fantastic and abundant.
Now that I am in England, I am looking to try a whole bunch of local and regional beers, preferably stuff that I've never tried and that I won't find anywhere else.
I'm open to any and all styles, from hop-crazy American-style IPAs to frothy Irish stouts. Extra points for real ales, old-school breweries, great bottle art, or unique flavors.
What specific brands and/or beers would you recommend to a UK-dwelling beer lover?
FWIW, I'm located in the Cambridge area.
Thanks.
Background:
One month ago I moved to England after spending the last several years in New England and Northern California, where local craft beer is fantastic and abundant.
Now that I am in England, I am looking to try a whole bunch of local and regional beers, preferably stuff that I've never tried and that I won't find anywhere else.
I'm open to any and all styles, from hop-crazy American-style IPAs to frothy Irish stouts. Extra points for real ales, old-school breweries, great bottle art, or unique flavors.
What specific brands and/or beers would you recommend to a UK-dwelling beer lover?
FWIW, I'm located in the Cambridge area.
Thanks.
Double Diamond.
posted by TravellingDen at 5:17 PM on October 28, 2010
posted by TravellingDen at 5:17 PM on October 28, 2010
Best answer: British cask ale on the whole doesn't travel well. So drink beer that's brewed as locally as possible. Most local pubs will have a local beer on tap (avoid big chain pubs).
There's a good list of East Anglian ales at the Camra site here.
posted by Conductor71 at 5:41 PM on October 28, 2010
There's a good list of East Anglian ales at the Camra site here.
posted by Conductor71 at 5:41 PM on October 28, 2010
St Peter's is in your general vicinity, though a wee trek: they export to the US, but the brewery and hall is worth a visit if you have a car.
If you're in London, you might want to visit The Gunmakers, whose landlord used to be a beer blogger. They have Landlord on cask quite a bit.
In general terms: for a relatively small country, Britain has lots of very distinct regional styles to discover. (It's not Belgium, but it's not Spain.) You generally won't find dark mild in the US, but you will in the Pennines, hanging on for grim life. You won't find beer served with a sparkler or economiser in most of the world, but you will in Yorkshire. Britain has lagged the US in terms of craft beer, and it's only now coming out from a period of amalgamation and contraction, but you can still get Draught Bass, Double Maxim, White Shield, JW Lees Harvest and all sorts of things in between.
posted by holgate at 6:15 PM on October 28, 2010
If you're in London, you might want to visit The Gunmakers, whose landlord used to be a beer blogger. They have Landlord on cask quite a bit.
In general terms: for a relatively small country, Britain has lots of very distinct regional styles to discover. (It's not Belgium, but it's not Spain.) You generally won't find dark mild in the US, but you will in the Pennines, hanging on for grim life. You won't find beer served with a sparkler or economiser in most of the world, but you will in Yorkshire. Britain has lagged the US in terms of craft beer, and it's only now coming out from a period of amalgamation and contraction, but you can still get Draught Bass, Double Maxim, White Shield, JW Lees Harvest and all sorts of things in between.
posted by holgate at 6:15 PM on October 28, 2010
Best answer: Look for good pubs rather than good beers. Real ale will taste different in different pubs depending on how well they look after it. One of the problems with it is selling it quickly while it's at its peak. Pubs with a low turnover can't manage this. Pubs that can will attract the numbers of customers that make it easier to do.
Because real ale requires skill to maintain, you will find good pubs have at least one staff member who is knowledgeable and passionate about beer. Ask them for recommendations. The same beer in the same pub will be better some days than others. Many pubs will have a "guest ale"; a beer they don't usually sell which will change on rotation. Better pubs will quite happily give you a small sample of a beer if you're not sure what to order.
Try going along to a meeting of a local CAMRA group (see Conductor71's link above). They will hold their meetings in good pubs and will happily tell you all about good beer to be had in the area. If you don't like the idea of going to a meeting, just go to some of the pubs they hold them in, they should all serve a decent pint.
Buying packaged beer from off licenses will give you a broader range (some of which you'll already know and many of which will be Belgian or German etc), but British beer should really be enjoyed on tap, with company, in a pub.
posted by GeckoDundee at 8:38 PM on October 28, 2010
Because real ale requires skill to maintain, you will find good pubs have at least one staff member who is knowledgeable and passionate about beer. Ask them for recommendations. The same beer in the same pub will be better some days than others. Many pubs will have a "guest ale"; a beer they don't usually sell which will change on rotation. Better pubs will quite happily give you a small sample of a beer if you're not sure what to order.
Try going along to a meeting of a local CAMRA group (see Conductor71's link above). They will hold their meetings in good pubs and will happily tell you all about good beer to be had in the area. If you don't like the idea of going to a meeting, just go to some of the pubs they hold them in, they should all serve a decent pint.
Buying packaged beer from off licenses will give you a broader range (some of which you'll already know and many of which will be Belgian or German etc), but British beer should really be enjoyed on tap, with company, in a pub.
posted by GeckoDundee at 8:38 PM on October 28, 2010
Best answer: Go to the Live and Let Live, The Cambridge Blue, and The Devonshire Arms around Mill Road in Cambridge and drink. The Devonshire is run by the local Milton Brewery. And Bacchanalia on Mill Road is a great source for British, European and even American beers. The guy there is importing Rogue directly. American craft beer is not widely known in the UK yet, but the Bacchanalia guy knows his stuff.
posted by galaksit at 9:28 PM on October 28, 2010
posted by galaksit at 9:28 PM on October 28, 2010
Seconding the Live and Let Live, and also the Salisbury round the corner. The thing about 'craft beer' in the UK is that its both incredibly regional and incredibly seasonal. You will find beers that you only see once, that perhaps even only get made once, in a small batch. A good landlord will be able to make advice, so tell him/her what you like, what you want to try, and they'll pull something good for you. If you want a handbook, CAMRA's 'Good Beer Guide' is the standard. Happy hunting.
posted by hydatius at 1:29 AM on October 29, 2010
posted by hydatius at 1:29 AM on October 29, 2010
I'd definitely follow GeckoDundee's recommendation find a good selection of pubs and be guided by that (you are lucky to be near Milton pub). But I wouldn't be so quick to write off bottled beer. A good off license or large supermarket will have dozens of different ales and the quickest, cheapest and easiest way to get an introduction to British beer would be to if you methodically work your way through those to get a good feel for the different brewers and types of beer.
posted by ninebelow at 2:50 AM on October 29, 2010
posted by ninebelow at 2:50 AM on October 29, 2010
Lord, where to start? The number of good real ales of all types in England is vast. The advice to favour local brews is best. You're not too far from Southwold, home of the wonderful Adnams brewery. You can't go wrong with their Best Bitter and the meaty "Broadside".
I fear the suggestion of "Double Diamond" above was a joke. That was a nasty old brew from an area of England nowhere near where you are, and to the best of my recollection hasn't been produced for many years.
posted by Decani at 3:14 AM on October 29, 2010
I fear the suggestion of "Double Diamond" above was a joke. That was a nasty old brew from an area of England nowhere near where you are, and to the best of my recollection hasn't been produced for many years.
posted by Decani at 3:14 AM on October 29, 2010
Best answer: Tucked away on a quiet street just southwest of the Grafton Centre is the Free Press. It has good beer. One of their current guest ales is the St Austell Brewery Proper Job, which you should go and try because I can't. And also because it's a brilliant name, although it's hard to explain to a non-Cornish person quite why. (Proper Job seems to be one of those American-style IPAs; I would imagine the other guest ales have different characters).
posted by Lebannen at 3:48 AM on October 29, 2010
posted by Lebannen at 3:48 AM on October 29, 2010
The Hobgoblin in Reading specialises in 'real ale' (the UK name for 'craft beer', I think) if you fancy a daytrip. Some pubs will have a local CAMRA magazine which will give you tips on where to go - oddly Wetherspoons, a bargain basement pub chain, stocks several real ales and will probably have a copy on their bar.
posted by mippy at 4:40 AM on October 29, 2010
posted by mippy at 4:40 AM on October 29, 2010
Adding to mippy's post, Wetherspoon pubs currently have a real ale 'festival' going on until the middle of next month. I went to my local yesterday, and they had nine ales out, rotating them as the barrels ended. They're often not the most salubrious venues, but they're cheap, (less than two quid a pint!), and the beer's good. Might be a good way to discover your likes and dislikes.
posted by punilux at 4:54 AM on October 29, 2010
posted by punilux at 4:54 AM on October 29, 2010
Meantimes Brewing in London - they have a great pub in Greenwich. The IPA is great, a original style India Pale Ale.
posted by laukf at 5:40 AM on October 29, 2010
posted by laukf at 5:40 AM on October 29, 2010
Best answer: Sorry if I gave the impression that I was writing off bottled beer. British beer is real ale and this should be enjoyed live on tap (Boddingtons for example can be either a live beer or a "dead" keg beer depending on where you get it). But bottled beer can be good and often better than the real ale version from a poor pub.
Landlord for example (mentioned above) is a great beer in bottles but it is sublime when at its best on tap. I've had Meantime (also mentioned above) in bottles in Australia and while I thought it spectacular I'm confident that the real thing will be even better.
What I'm trying to say is that good beers will be good in bottles but potentially great on tap. Real ale is not just craft beer. It's craft beer that hasn't been filtered or pasteurised and which continues to develop in the cask. Instead of being dispensed from kegs by CO2, it's dispensed by gravity (or compressed air in Scotland) and the only condition (fizziness) it has comes from the action of yeast (which is still present in the beer). This means the cellarperson has to control the final development of the beer after it leaves the brewery.
This system is unique and, in my opinion anyway, puts English beer ahead of that of Belgium and Germany.
Any fan of beer living in the UK ought to immerse themself in real ale. Anything that comes in a bottle can theoretically be enjoyed anywhere else in the world. Real ale culture is something that can only be enjoyed there.
The only downside is when you go live somewhere else, you miss it like crazy.
posted by GeckoDundee at 7:43 AM on October 29, 2010 [3 favorites]
Landlord for example (mentioned above) is a great beer in bottles but it is sublime when at its best on tap. I've had Meantime (also mentioned above) in bottles in Australia and while I thought it spectacular I'm confident that the real thing will be even better.
What I'm trying to say is that good beers will be good in bottles but potentially great on tap. Real ale is not just craft beer. It's craft beer that hasn't been filtered or pasteurised and which continues to develop in the cask. Instead of being dispensed from kegs by CO2, it's dispensed by gravity (or compressed air in Scotland) and the only condition (fizziness) it has comes from the action of yeast (which is still present in the beer). This means the cellarperson has to control the final development of the beer after it leaves the brewery.
This system is unique and, in my opinion anyway, puts English beer ahead of that of Belgium and Germany.
Any fan of beer living in the UK ought to immerse themself in real ale. Anything that comes in a bottle can theoretically be enjoyed anywhere else in the world. Real ale culture is something that can only be enjoyed there.
The only downside is when you go live somewhere else, you miss it like crazy.
posted by GeckoDundee at 7:43 AM on October 29, 2010 [3 favorites]
What GeckoDundee says. Most of the best ales are to be found on draught in a small radius of where they are made, and getting to know good pubs will introduce you to a wider range of draught brews faster than seeking out particular bottlings will. When in Cambridge/East Anglia, if I see any beer by Adnams (made in Southwold) on draught, I'll have it as it's local-ish. Milton is local to Cambridge. But since you're also on a side of the country well known for its ciders, do be sure to try a few of those as well. Cambridge has a yearly beer festival and chapter of CAMRA as well.
Things I see nationwide that I like? Timothy Taylor Landlord, Black Sheep, Marston's Old Empire, and every now and then the (to my mind peerless) Pale Rider. But they're not local to your area, so as GeckoDundee recommends, get to know pubs that keep their beer well.
posted by Cuppatea at 9:45 AM on October 29, 2010
Things I see nationwide that I like? Timothy Taylor Landlord, Black Sheep, Marston's Old Empire, and every now and then the (to my mind peerless) Pale Rider. But they're not local to your area, so as GeckoDundee recommends, get to know pubs that keep their beer well.
posted by Cuppatea at 9:45 AM on October 29, 2010
The Castle Inn on Castle Hill is a fantastic Adnams pub. They usually have several different Adnams beers on, and the food is pretty good as far as pub food goes, too.
Milton Brewery will sell you polypins and more of their ale, bright, at the brewery site. Smaller quantities of real ales and Belgian draughts can also be purchased at Bacchanalia on Mill Road, which I neglected to say above is an off-licence.
The beer festival is great but look around as some of the local pubs run their own mini-festivals year round; again The Live and Let Live and The Cambridge Blue come to mind.
posted by galaksit at 12:08 PM on October 29, 2010
Milton Brewery will sell you polypins and more of their ale, bright, at the brewery site. Smaller quantities of real ales and Belgian draughts can also be purchased at Bacchanalia on Mill Road, which I neglected to say above is an off-licence.
The beer festival is great but look around as some of the local pubs run their own mini-festivals year round; again The Live and Let Live and The Cambridge Blue come to mind.
posted by galaksit at 12:08 PM on October 29, 2010
As well as Milton Brewery look out for the other very local brewery, the City of Cambridge Brewery. Their bottles are available at Bacchanalia and elsewhere. Their site has a handy list of supporting pubs. I recommend the Hobson's Choice.
Here's a link for the Dev in its new Milton incarnation.
posted by galaksit at 12:15 PM on October 29, 2010
Here's a link for the Dev in its new Milton incarnation.
posted by galaksit at 12:15 PM on October 29, 2010
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posted by setanor at 5:11 PM on October 28, 2010