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Beavertown
www.beavertownbrewery.co.uk 020 8525 9884
Brewdog
www.brewdog.com 07508 582789
Camden Town
www.camdentownbrewery.com sellmebeer@
camdentownbrewery.com.
Meantime
www.meantimebrewing.com sales@meantimebrewing.com
Rooster’s
www.roosters.co.uk 01423 359533 (Beer Paradise)
The Kernel
www.thekernelbrewery.com contact@thekernelbrewery.com
Thornbridge
www.thornbridgebrewery.co.uk info@thornbridgebrewery.co.uk
Wadworth
www.wadworth.co.uk 01380 723361
says Fozard. He believes the rise of social media has helped inform people. “There’s lots more interac- tion between breweries and cus- tomers on social media now,” he says. “Lots of consumers are really well-informed on beer – there’s a shift toward quality and consist- ency from the consumer point of view. Consumers are looking for quality; they’re trusting breweries that make good beer.”
The explosion of interest in
craft beer has created spiralling diversity. Not just American beer, but Czech (a number of London pubs now offer unpasteurised Czech pilsner from the tank), Belgian and Italian too: the first Italian craft-beer bar (‘The Italian Job’) has just opened in Chiswick. As quality and diversity rises, other avenues open up. Some customers are increas- ingly dissatisfied with traditional glasses: like wine, craft beer often comes with touch of theatre. Does glassware really make
a difference, though? Plenty of brewers think so, and manufac-
62 | The Caterer | 20 March 2015
turers are moving to fill this gap. Heather Lovatt, head of market- ing at tableware manufacturer Steelite, says that glassware can improve the drinking experi- ence. “Selecting the right glasses to serve beer in can make a big dif- ference,” she says. “Choosing to go with a budget, mass-produced glass option can ruin the beer. They’re often made of thicker glass, causing the beer to warm up too quickly and go flat.” Others would argue that all that is really needed is clean glass- ware in good condition, although the suitability of the classic pint
This is increasingly the case, “There’s no
point in lagering for 10 weeks if you’re just going to hop the hell out of it” Rob Lovatt
glass for beers that are often 7% ABV and stronger is doubtful. Then again, session-strength beer – anything around 4% ABV – appears to be making a come- back in the craft-beer world, cour- tesy of the rise of the session IPA. “There’s been a huge amount of attention on strong beers; it’s great they exist and I love to drink them,” says Fozard, “but when it comes to session IPAs, pale ale, best bitters – I’d be surprised if most breweries’ best-selling beer wasn’t a session-strength beer. That’s what drives the business. Session IPA is a name for some- thing that already existed. People are interested in hop flavour; the session IPA offers that level of fla- vour without too much alcohol.”
Hop forward Hops are crucial to many of the new generation’s most fêted beers: the Kernel’s IPAs, Thorn- bridge’s Jaipur, Brewdog’s Punk IPA and Beavertown’s Gamma Ray among them. “It’s generally the key factor,” says Fozard. “It depends on the
consumer. There are beer geeks and people who just like going to the pub for a pint, but hops are still where it’s at.” The only rival to the IPAs appears to be pale lager: Camden and Meantime, the two biggest of the new generation of London brewers, both focus on lager. It could be that this year sees more brewers join them. Certainly, that’s what Lovatt would like to see happen. “I’d like to see fewer hop-forward beers,” he says. “It would be good to see more focus on malt and yeast. German styles are very close to my heart: long lagering, cold fer- mentation temperatures, stick- ing to style. There’s no point in lagering for 10 weeks if you’re just going to hop the hell out of it. It’s the intricacies and nuances of brewing lager – it would be nice if people understood those more.” One thing does come through loud and clear, though: the British beer scene has never been more interesting or more complex. Nav- igating this new world requires knowledge and care.
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