It’s getting dithyrambic in the United Kingdome these days. My headline sounds like something from a “beerlieve it or not” beer oddities museum. Actually I came across these weird beer news tidbits in a recent issue of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling’s Brewers & Distiller International January 2012 magazine. Investigation of websites revealed that UK brewers are embracing the dithyrambic.
The Yates Brewery in Newchurch on the Isle of Wight has collaborated with The Garlic Farm (located also on the Isle of Wight ) to brew what one reviewer describes as a “rusty brown ale… actually tastes less like garlic than it smells. The garlic taste is a short, initial burst, while the finish is actually quite grassy, probably from the cascade hops used in production.” Does the citrus aroma of Cascade hops even survive? This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of garlic beer. In the early 80s I had my first wallop of this “style” from a Miami homebrew shop. “It was good with pizza” said the homebrewer. I thought it was more appropriate at the local Vampire Club. The Garlic Farm suggests it’s great in or accompanied with Shepard pie. Each bottle of the brew has a clove of garlic smiling from the bottom.
Now then, White Stout? You might think that the previous paragraph was a setup and lead in for Wight Stout, but no I kid you not. White Stout is the brainstorm of the Durham Brewery and presented as the world’s first modern pale stout. It weighs in at 7.2% and described as a “stout” beer, as when stout originally meant strong. Yes indeed. Launched in November 2011 and brewed with American grown Columbus hops this bottle conditioned brew has a recommended aging period of 6 months. It’s getting ready, if you can get your hands on it. I suppose that you really can’t quibble with the name too much in this day and age of a beer type sometimes referred to as “Black India Pale Ale.”
I had a friend in the 1970s who once told me, “Listen closely to what I mean, return the Druids to Halloween.” For now, let’s never mind the Druids and Halloween, but “listen closely to what I mean” always makes good sense. So goes this tale of ale about the Top of the Hops 2,012. That’s 2,012 not 2012. I put the comma in not the brewer. The UK Great Yorkshire Brewery has set a new benchmark for brewers worldwide. Their recently brewed Top of the Hops Golden Ale uses 2,012 varieties of UK hops. That’s right, 2,012 varieties.
Explanation: Literally thousands of varieties of hops are cultivated on hop research farms worldwide, with the UK’s Wye Hops Ltd being one of the farms. The brewery collected the 2,012 varieties of hops that yieldedf 750 kilograms of dried hops; all harvested on a single day. The beer is only available (on draft) at selected Mitchells & Butlers Pubs December through February. There’s still time. I suppose if I were the brewer or head of the company I’d have made a 7+% brew and had it bottle-conditioned. That could have been a sought after collectors brew.
Until the next dithyrambic moment, I remain still thirsty.
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