Twickenham Fine Ales Rugby Bar

England 26 v Australia 17

Saturday 29 November 2014

Twitter @ball_sup

What's our name for the Big Boy keg Micros? You know Camden, Meantime, Thornbridge, etc. Anyway, here's my story. When I first piled into Camden Pale, Meantime London Pale, Thornbridge Chiron I thought wow here we go.

But now they all seem a bit run of the mill. What's going on there? Is it just familiarity breeding boredom? Is it that their recipes & techniques haven't scaled up well? Is it that in order to serve investors & shareholders they have to compromise on the quality of ingredients and/or the time they put in?

Between the rugby at Twickenham & Steven Morrissey in North Greenwich, I popped into Meantime's The Old Brewery. First time for me. A thoroughly ordinary experience.

I counted roughly 20 keg lines & 2 handpulls. But there was a fair amount of duplication. Maybe 8 Meantime kegs & a couple of guests kegs. The cask handpulls were guests.

I asked about the guests. The Bar Lady told me the only guest she was sure about was Dark Star "from America". You know, Dark Star Brewing Company from Sussex. Sigh.

I had the Meantime Naval Porter on keg at 8%. Maybe I just got a wrong 'un. But I didn't enjoy that. It was bordering on unpleasant. No discernible flavour. Maybe it had all been overcome by some barrel ageing or similar distraction.

Much better was the London Stout on keg at 4.5%. I get the impression that I'm seeing more & more straightforward  session stouts. I had a good one in Leeds Brewery Tap the other week. I quite like that as a trend. If indeed it is a trend. Just the right amount of Toast on this Meantime version.

Before the Rugby we hit the Twickenham Fine Ales Brewery Door Bar. Now we're talking. Very welcoming. Rough & ready of course. Planks over kegs serve as benches. I got served in plastic glasses. I noticed some punters had real glass (maybe they paid a deposit).

There was a range of Twickenham bottles. 2 on cask (£3 a pint) & 1 on keg. I started on the keg Tusk at 4.7%. Nice kegged head. Refreshing. Mouthfilling. Lot of grapefruit, then the bittering kicks in. Soft not harsh. Lingering. It gets there & stays there rather than developing into a finish. A great beer.

I moved onto Grandstand on cask at 3.8%. Nice nuttiness to that. Fair bit of sweetness coming through from the malt. The bitterness grows as you get down the glass. It's an all in the mix beer. The sweetness & bitterness all seems to just sit there.

Then Naked Ladies on cask at 4.4%. A good whack of citrus in the first mouthful. Somewhat tart/sharp bitterness. Slightly earthy on the palate. Turns into a sweetened tinned grapefruit taste the further down you get.

Easy decision today. The Standout Beer was Twickenham Fine Ales Tusk.

Fuck Harvest Records.