For the United Kingdom I will be doing something a little
bit different. I am going to split it up into three separate blogs; England, Ireland,
and Scotland! So with that said….
Welcome to England!
Photo Credit: Ian Britton
While researching the various
types of beer and breweries located around England I stumbled upon something I found
to be much more interesting, their struggle to return to ‘Real Ale’. At first I
was confused myself, but continue reading to find out exactly what I mean and
what the struggle meant for beer in Britain.
To begin this topic first we must
start with some history…
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| Photo Credit: Rob Farrow |
According to Wikipedia, storing goods in wooden casks has
been an idea that can be traced as far back as 424 BC, however today in the
beer world it is predominately used by the Britain’s. While hardly any of us
know what a cask is the majority of readers will know what a keg is, however c
asks are closely related to kegs. They are essentially the same shape and size,
but casks are wooden and kegs are metal. However there are some slight variations in
these similar storage techniques. In kegs there is a tube located in the middle
of the keg which allows beer in and gas out when filling and beer out and gas
in when emptying, this means an easier dispense method but also more dissolved
gas in the beer. As the British began using more artificial carbonation in
their beer the consumers began to notice this dissolved gas in their beverages.
This caused an upset in the general population that resulted in a demand for
beer to be returned to ‘real ale’.
In 1973
the Campaign for Real Ale began, and that campaign brought a demand for change
and way of thinking. Before 1973 beer was beer was beer, however after the
campaign there became a huge difference between ‘Real Ale’ and ‘Ale’. Yet the
major changes came with the maturation process and the demand for no ‘extraneous
use of carbon dioxide’. It also requires the beer to be unfiltered and unpasteurized,
and still active on yeast.
The Britain’s saw something they didn’t like changing in
their beer and the way it was made and demanded change. I think that it is the
most interesting thing about their beer culture and proves they love their
beverages just as much as anyone in the world. Moral of the story, don’t mess
with the English and their beer.
Stay tuned part 2 of the United Kingdom... Ireland!
After trying beer in London (check out my post!), I agree with you, you can't mess with British beer! It's good stuff....bitters and ales = mmmm!
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