It's only been a few weeks since we released our first title of 2018, Danish Beer and Continental Beer Gardens. Now IBN has followed up with another pocket classic, Secrets of the Mash Tun: or The Real Causes of Failure in Producing Good Ale or Beer.  First published in 1847, this guide was written for small brewers and home brewers during a period when science was becoming more appreciated for its contributions to the brewer's art. This is not a reproduction, but an all-new edition, freshly re-designed and typeset, including Publisher's comments and a helpful record-keeping section at the back for home brewers.

With simple explanations, useful advice and a common-sense approach, it offers today's small-scale brewers a handy manual of practice and a fascinating insight into our beer-brewing past. It's just the kind of handy reference you would like to add to your homebrewing bookshelf, or sit back and enjoy with a cold ale, next to a mid-winter fire.

Available via Amazon: HERE
Via Amazon UK: HERE

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In fact, most of the beer—or lager—as they would call it, is served perfectly cold. In this case, however, we’re talking about ale. And while English ale is not served warm, it would better be described as cool.

Of course, none of this came as a surprise to me during our recent trip to London. True English ales, hand-pumped out of a cask, are at their best when they are just slightly cool, so that more of their flavor has a chance to show through. This is especially true of the low-alcohol (around 4% abv) session ales, which are very light indeed. Served ice cold, they would clearly suffer as a result, and no doubt display all the character of a Coors Light.

Another note is that these ales, when pulled from a cask, are not nearly as carbonated as you might expect, especially if you enjoy English ales out of a bottle here at home. While not completely flat, the character is more like a bottle of beer you attempted to re-cap and put back in the fridge to drink the next day; there’s something there, but not like when you first opened it.

I will get into a little more detail in some follow-up posts regarding some specific ales and experiences—the pubs were mostly all delightful and the ales very good. We had a wonderful visit to the Windsor & Eaton Brewery after a visit to the castle and the staff were so entertaining and gracious as we sampled a variety of their tasty offerings. We did a lot of walking, which left me quite thirsty—as a result, when we reached a pub for a break, I often had a cold lager to start and followed up with ales afterwards.

As I expected, the long reach of American Craft Beer is making itself known in the UK; besides the ubiquitous BrewDog offerings, a few of the newer craft brewers were beginning to fall under the spell of “more hops, please” – and are also using some US variety hops. I can only hope this phenomenon is held in check, as I’d hate to muddy the traditional character of true English ales as a result of this bitter trend.

All in all, however - a great trip and a memorable experience.

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As a home brewer myself, I've always been fascinated by traditional approaches to brewing, particularly those dating back to an earlier age, when brewers did not have the technology or tools that we utilize today.

In truth, the brewing of beers and ales may not be a complex task, but it is one where extra thought and care may result in a superior end product. This approach is evident in both of the classic works we have chosen to offer through our publishing partner, American Biblioverken. Together, they kick off our History of Brewing Series, which we hope will continue to grow with additional titles as time goes on.

The first, A Treatise on the Brewing of Beer, was written by E. Hughes and dates from 1796. It is a very modest work, extending but to 36 pages, but does include some insightful thoughts on the production of beers and ales via traditional methods. The second book, The London and Country Brewer, was originally published in 1736, and offers 100 pages of thoughtful advice on brewing, selection of malt and hops, as well as beer storage and transportation.

Upon reading, what does become clear is the realization that while modern technology does make brewing easier, and results in a more consistent product, it may not be absolutely necessary to produce a quality beer or ale, and that there is much "lost knowledge" from which today's brewers may still benefit.

In both examples,  the writing style is far more formal than modern ears may be accustomed to, and this may present a modest challenge to some readers. Nevertheless, the information as presented is logical, heartfelt and indeed, rather entertaining. To that end, we have retained all of the traditional idioms and spellings from the original edition, since they add so much to the overall effect of the works.

Both books are available at the links listed above, via Createspace, at $5.50 and $9.99 via the links above.  We'll post the links to Amazon in a few days, when they become available. The cost is the same at both sources.

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There are a lot of attempts by big foreign conglomerates to infiltrate the American Craft Beer Market. Some, like the recently reviewed Newcastle-Caledonian Pale Ales, result in a good product that offers something worthwhile; a solid British Pale Ale, brewed with English Hops – make sense, right?

Then, we have Guinness’ effort to approach this market: Let’s try to make an American Style lager that’s made with American Hops. This is the reasoning behind Guinness Blonde American Lager.

First of all, I would remind you that I’m not a fan of some high-alpha American hop varieties, or resinous, “Piney” hops like Simcoe. In many cases, it’s not even so much about the hops, but the fact that many brewers are not subtle in their use, tending to “load up” for “big” flavor and bitterness.

That said, we have a wealth of great American Craft Breweries who are working their tails off to bring us an incomparable range of unique ‘American Lagers.”  Does America really need Guinness to show us how to do this? My guess would be no.

My suggestion to Guinness would be to simply stick to what you do best. Great stout…Irish Ales…you get the picture. Harp’s a fine product—just try to convince people to buy it more often and you’ll be fine.

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While most of my beer-buying is done at the local supermarket (our locals have a fairly excellent selection) I came across Newcastle's new variety pack at a nearby BP station, where the proprietor goes out of his way to offer a modest selection of craft and import beers:

"Just let me know what you like, I'll try and get it for you, boss."

The “Best of Britain” Variety 12-Pack contains equal amounts of three ales, including two definitive new styles from the brand--Newcastle British Pale Ale and Newcastle British Session IPA--along with Newcastle Brown Ale, which has always been one of my “predictable, go-to beers.”  The three distinctly Newcastle offerings are intended to “showcase the quality and depth of the Newcastle-Caledonian partnership and capitalize on the growing demand for variety among consumers.”

So much for marketing strategy. My main concern would be how the two new offerings would taste, and I wasn’t disappointed.

It’s probably important to preface this review with the fact that I am NOT a big IPA drinker; in fact, I almost never buy American IPA’s because (for the most part) I find them over-hopped and overly bitter for my palate. I’m also not a big fan of some varieties of American hops, which seem to get shoveled into those IPA’s relentlessly. I know a generation of young drinkers have been told that these IPA’s are delicious. Good for them. Open a Bottle and Carry On.

Back to the Newcastle Variety Pack.  The newcomers include a Newcastle British Pale Ale (5.8% ABV, 39 IBUs) and a Newcastle British Session IPA (5.1% ABV, 45 IBUs).

I tried the Session IPA first—realizing that even at just 5.1% ABV, it’s not technically a Session Ale at all (needs to be 4% or under. If you doubt me, ask @D_I_N_G on Twitter). It had a lovely copper hue, manageable bitterness, and an aromatic nose; a nice balance overall--and as I was outside opening the pool on the first weekend in May--notably refreshing.

The British Pale Ale was actually a little better. A little more of the same, with a rich gold color, a little more body and a citrusy-finish that I found particularly appealing. The higher alcohol level was not really that apparent, but what was apparent to me was that I could drink quite a bit of either one of these ales.

I was happy to have come across them, but was also wondering how long these Caledonian offerings would be available. I was also wondering to myself “why can’t more American pale ales taste this good?”

I’m sure there are some that do. If you’ve tried either of these Newcastle-Caledonian offerings and want to suggest a similar offering from one of our American craft breweries, please send me an email or a tweet with your suggestions.

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There was an interesting back-and-forth in the Telegraph a few days ago, starting with Adrian Tierney-Jones’s observations on what makes a perfect pub, followed by Harry Mount’s next-day semi-rebuttal, where he characterizes most pubs as “a little inadequate” – prefaced by the admission that he doesn’t like pubs very much to begin with. The exchange seemed a little like one guy ruminating on what makes up an ideal IPA, while another one responds with “IPAs suck anyway and besides—I prefer wine coolers.”

I’ll let the real Englishmen fight this one out, regardless of the fact that my mother’s maiden name was Moneypenny. The comments on these stories—as you might expect—were as entertaining as the original content. A lot of readers worried that the future of the pub as an English institution was already in jeopardy, due to high taxes and regulations such as the smoking ban. Here were some of the best:

“Make sure there's Liver & Bacon on the menu, plus Stew and Dumplings, Pork in Cider and other such stodgy old favourites.  And the stuffed head of a vegan above the bar.”

"Personally, what makes a good pub is no TV/gaming machines/juke box/musak, and a pint of well kept real ale served by a barmaid with a cleavage you could land a helicopter on."

"It's simple. Pubs are going out of business because they serve crap beer. This is because most landlords are generally very lazy and don't clean their pipes frequently so the beer sticks to your teeth.”

Rule Britannia.

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