Hurrah for getting older!
Last week's Guild of Beer Writers annual dinner was preceded by a fabulous opportunity to taste a cache of vintage beers discovered in Burton-on-Trent, in the vaults of the brewery now producing Worthington White Shield. I am very fond of beer so this tasting was just too good an opportunity to pass up - but do remember that I am a food writer dabbling in booze!
The first thing that struck me was that the majority of beers had cork and wax closures and not crown caps. The first beer up was the oldest, an 1869 Ratcliff Ale with a nose like rich Olorosso sherry but, for me, a rather thin weight in the mouth with licorice, and a thin hopiness at the end. But it was drinkable and therefore amazing, as most pundits would reckon the life of a bottle conditioned beer to be around 10 years (if you are lucky) and not 150 years plus! Leaping forward a century or so, I found the 1977 Jubilee Strong Ale interesting in the mouth with flavours of dried figs and prunes, but the nose did not entice. Earl Spencer had a hand in the preparation of the 1982 Prince's Ale, brewed in celebration of the birth of his grandson Prince William and the beer had a hint of hot toddy about it, with honey, lemon and a suggestion of whisky on the nose. However, my favourite was the 2002 Duke's Beer at 6.5-7% abv (alcohol by volume), brewed for the Golden Jubilee. It had lots of condition left (a good mousse, to use a wine term - I mean a pleasing amount of bubble and head!) and a bright, fresh, citrus flavour. Other tasters took delight in the Queen's Ale that led the way at 10.5-11%abv, but it was too challenging for me - lots going on in the mouth and not sufficiently joined up.
So, what was the point of all that? Well, the question is could beers be marketed by vintage in the same way as wines, to help the promotion of the excellent art of beer and food matching? The answer must surely be yes, but I see this much more as a gastro-pub past-time than an occupation for most restaurants. However, I do think that restaurants should offer a good choice of beers as they are the preferred aperitif of many. However, as with vineyards and their restaurants, when you have a great beer it is important to match the food to the beer and not the beer to the food as near-misses can be horrible. A sorbet made from IPA (India Pale Ale), a beer rich in bittering hops, was included in the following dinner and it should have been obvious to a chef with tastebuds that this would not work. And it didn't. What about a barley wine and orange sorbet? Yes please.
The beers tasted last week are to be resealed and exhibited at the Museum of Brewing at Coors Visitor Centre in Burton.
1869 RATCLIFF ALE CROWNED AS
OLDEST DRINKABLE BEER IN THE UK
Worthington White Shield’s head brewer, Steve Wellington, has announced that after a three-month search to find the oldest bottle of drinkable beer in the UK, bottles of 1869 Ratcliff Ale are still the oldest known available.
The 1869 Ratcliff Ale formed part of the discovery of a cache of Vintage beers in the Worthington White Shield brewery vaults in Burton-upon-Trent in October 2006.
Together with CAMRA, Worthington White Shield launched a competition to find the oldest bottle of beer in drinkable condition in the UK. The competition, which was publicised on their websites (www.worthingtons-whiteshield.com, www.camra.org.uk) and in various magazines, challenged beer enthusiasts to submit bottles older than the 1869 Ratcliff Ale which was found in Burton.
Despite coverage of the competition as far a field as Melbourne, Australia and Boston, USA as well as many national newspapers, magazines, television and radio in the UK, no bottles older that the Ratcliff Ale have been found.
Beer expert, Roger Protz, was in possession of the closest competitor. A bottle from the Scottish Brewing Archive dating back to the very early 1900s, given to him by the then archivist, Charles McMaster.
After this beer, the oldest seems to be a bottle of Coronation Ale brewed by H and G Simonds Ltd., Reading from 22nd June 1911.
The find, and subsequent tastings of the Vintage beers, has generated a high level of interest from beer and wine lovers alike. Wine experts Oz Clarke and Steven Spurrier both tried the beers and were intrigued to find them in drinkable condition. The find shows that beers, when brewed with a high alcohol and yeast content, have the potential to age as long, or longer than wine. As a result of the tasting, Steven Spurrier has written the first ever beer tasting article in Decanter magazine’s history.
At a tasting of Worthington White Shield’s cache of beers, Beer Historian, Michael Jackson, said, “Prior to this tasting, the oldest, drinkable beer I had tasted was just 25 years old.”
Worthington White Shield’s head brewer, Steve Wellington, and his team have embarked on a re-corking programme of all the historic bottles to maintain their quality for the future. Examples of the different vintages will be displayed in the Coors Visitor Centre.