I am SO, SO glad to hear an Englishman say that. As an American who loves American beer as much as the next guy, I feel kinda bad constantly downplaying Chico yeast and Cascades hops on these forums.Hogarth wrote:...I've had so many disappointing evenings recently in craft beer bars, sipping yet another glass of jumped-up grapefruit juice and wishing I was at the King's Head with a nice pint of Adnams. The definition of 'craft beer' these days seems to be any beer that's made from pale malt, Nottingham yeast, and some wacky new hop from New Zealand.
It's just that, as I've stated so many times, you UK brewers taught us how to brew, and despite all odds, you've successfully kept intact many centuries of brewing history, locale-specific barley cultivars, malting techniques, mashing techniques, hops cultivars and growth habits and usage, and highly unique historical yeast strains. I hate to see all those babies thrown out with the bath water in a rush to clone Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, etc. It's a good beer, but probably not as good and complex as Adnams Broadside or Fullers London Porter.
I believe you guys still have a lot of things figured out better than us. There's nothing wrong with--correction: there is a lot right with--a "common" 4% ABV brown beer with layers and layers of aroma and flavour complexity: malty-sweet, caramel, toffee, nuts, apricot, plum, black cherry, occasional banana, orange marmalade, chocolate, coffee, toast, balanced by perfumey/tangy/earthy/citrusy/floral/resiny hops and a smooth, creamy, full-bodied, bready, chewy mouthfeel and lingering bittersweet aftertaste.
Anyone familiar with my brewing methodology (madness?) knows I often experiment simply for the sake of experimenting, like the rest of us rogue Americans (and you guys should feel more free to do so as well.) BUT, there is much to be said for proud tradition, as well. We've been talking lately about how English brewers vehemently rejected some cool painstakingly-English-bred hops such as Bullion and Brewer's Gold, which are only now, nearly 100 years later being rediscovered. BUT on the other hand, it's that same English stubborness/steadfastness that protected the old landraces such as Fuggles and Goldings upon which so many modern cultivars are based (and in many ways, still fall short.) Get your hands on as much of our crazy beer as you can, and please enjoy, but stop feeling like you have anything to apologize for with your own offerings.
When given the yeast choice between Chico (US-05) or Whitbread-B (S-04) of the Fullers strain, keep choosing Whitbread or Fullers. Even Nottingham would be more faithful. When given the choice between Cascade or Golding or Challenger, keep considering Golding or Challenger. You see what I mean. And for the record, I've had John Smith Extra Smooth Bitter, apparently the bottom of your barrel, and bland and counterfeit as it is, it's still a vastly better beer than our Bud/Miller/Coors swill.
Done ranting for now. Taking a deep calming breath.
