Tasting Notes: double droppers

Butterscotch: that's the most intriguing word you see attached to most discussions of the age-old 'double drop' fermenting system. According to the received wisdom, butterscotch notes are what you get get when you allow the wort to ferment in one tank for 16 to 24 hours before dropping it, quite literally, from one fermentation vessel down to another below, making use of the marvellous properties of gravity. The beer then spends another day or two in the second fermenter and the result is double dropped beer. By doing so you achieve a couple of things: you lose some of the yeast (the stuff that settled at the bottom of the top tank) and you add a lot of oxygen into the mix - and it's this oxidised diacetyl in the beer that gives the distinctive butterscotch flavours.
Double drop brewing is a very old and traditonal method but has largely been abandoned, no doubt at least partly to avoid the extra costs that come with two sets of fermentation vessels instead of just one. Back in the early 20th century it was the most popular method of clearing English ales but them days are long gone.
A few breweries persist in the practice however, or something similar to it, including Brakspear and Marston's, whose ales are on the menu this outing: Brakspear Bitter and Marston's Double Drop.
Technically, Marston's use the famed 'Burton Union' system, a very particular version of double drop brewing based on a mammoth network of interlinked Victorian kit including oak casks, pipes and troughs that's absolutely worth making time in your life to go and see. Think Willy Wonka on beer. An awe-inspiring bit of British eccentricity that makes you proud to drink beer.
And yes, I'm aware that Refresh UK (the company that produces the Brakspear range) is part of Marstons plc, the humungous outfit that produces a raft of ales in Burton Upon Trent and elsewhere, so we're really looking at two parts of the same company but the bulk of the kit (and the yeast strain) used to produce Brakspear's version is the original pre-Marston's-takeover kit and that's good enough for me.
[An abbreviated history of how that came about: in 2002 the Brakspear Brewing Company sells its Henley brewery site to a developer and sells the brewing kit to Refresh who break it down, move it to the Wychwood Brewery in Witney in Oxfordshire which it already owns, rebuilds it and normal service is resumed. Critically, they remember to take the Henley yeast strain with them and still to this day use the very same Maris Otter malts and Fuggles and Goldings hops. A fairly serious and not inexpensive attempt to retain authenticity. We like that.]
Interestingly, the science is very far from clear on the merits or otherwise of double drop brewing, but that's probably why it's such an endearingly madcap British concept. But how do the beers themselves stack up? Well, try as I might I couldn't find them darned butterscotch notes....

TASTING NOTES, AFTER A FASHION:
Marston's Double Drop, Marston Thompson & Evershed plc, bitter, 4% abv, Morrisons, £1.75
A straw gold with a short-lived head, it's nice and clear and bright, though several degrees lighter and a good deal less pretty in the glass than the Brakspear offering. The most noticeable aspect of the nose is how dry it comes across. A little malt discernible if you sniff hard and a lot more hops but the dryness is aggressive and comes in big waves after you give the glass a good swirl. Maybe a touch of creaminess? In the mouth it's lots more hops with quite a fierce, dry bitterness. Some sweetness lurks underneath if you go in search of it. Feels quite light in the mouth, even for a 4% ale. The finish is predictably dry but not a lot else going on. Not my bag, I'm afraid.
Score: 2.5 / 5

Brakspear Bitter, Brakspear Brewing Co, bitter, 3.4% abv, Morrisons, £1.75
Glorious, deep amber in the glass, Brakspear's double dropped ale is a beautiful, bright and lively beer that also gives your nose much more to work with. There's a lot more sweet maltiness in there with maybe some restrained Xmas cake notes - raisins and sultanas mainly. The dryness is still there but it's not quite as gobsmacking. Taste-wise, there's the most delicious, subtle sweetness up front with more sultana notes that slowly, teasingly give way to a very powerful dry bitterness, but one that works much more in harmony with the rest of the flavours present, rather than battering them into submission. The finish is similarly more balanced and less aggressive than in the Marston's and it slowly and happily tapers away to leave just a hint of hoppy, malty perfume on the breath. A really well created brew - and not the sort of thing that normally appeals to me - but a lovely beer with so much going on and lovely body, remarkable for a brew coming in at just 3.4% abv.
Score: 3.5 / 5

http://www.marstons.co.uk/brands/marstonsbeercompany.asp
http://www.brakspear.co.uk/our_beer/

Tasting notes: California Common - take two

Steam beer, or California Common as the style is officially known, has a fascinating history. It's often touted as America's only truly native beer style (though US beer geeks will throw Kentucky common and cream ale in your face - metaphorically if not literally - if you make that claim) and in basic terms it's really just an ale made using lager yeast but brewed at ale fermentation temperatures, which are higher. If you want to read the technical detail, this article gives you all you need and more: http://brewingtechniques.com/library/styles/2_1style.html.
The reason the style came about is almost certainly more through necessity than desire, which also explains why steam beer has historically been seen as somewhat agricultural, a rough drop for the blue collar boys after they'd worked up a thirst. Mid-19th century gold rush Californians wanted to brew beer but didn't have access to the ice or cold water they needed to brew at classic lager brewing temperatures (55 to 32 °F) so they did what all right-minded people would do and carried on regardless by brewing their beer at higher temperatures anyway. What's not to like about that bit of pragmatism?
Oddly, nobody knows for sure what the word 'steam' refers to, not even the Anchor Brewing Co that trademarked the name 'Steam Beer' in 1981. The Anchor company is interesting in its own right because it is widely credited with spawning the craft beer industry in America, having been bought by former dairy farms magnate and subsequent brewing guru Fritz Maytag in 1965, though he sold it last year to Keith Greggor and Tony Foglio, the guys behind Skyy Vodka.
It's worth noting of course that no recipes or even precise brewing method specifications exist for the original 18th century steam beer so Anchor's take on it, Anchor Steam Beer, is very much a modern one.
To contrast with this well established classic, we have fledgling Edinburgh brewer Knops Beer Company's version, somewhat confusingly entitled California Common, the 'official' name for the style, since Anchor have exclusive rights on the term steam beer. A really interesting company, Knops has only been on the go for a few years and only makes a couple of beers but both with a strong historic flavour to them. California Common is cuckoo-brewed at Traditional Scottish Ales in Stirling, or it was last time I checked.

TASTING NOTES AFTER A FASHION:
Anchor Steam, Anchor Brewing Co, california common, 4.8% abv, realale.com (gifted)
Pretty little amber beer in the glass with a lively if short-lived head. Florally notes on the nose with a bit of sweetness giving way to pronounced hops. In the mouth there's more to it than what you'd expect from a hybrid of a lager and a darker ale, but a lot of the nuances are very subtle. Malt and a nutty sweetness and some more floral notes are quickly swamped by a powerful, crisp hoppy bitterness. Finish is more of the same but lacks substance and depth for my taste although the subtly perfumed aftertaste it leaves behind is really rather delicate and special. For me, however, the idea and history behind the style is more intriguing than the ale itself, or this one at any rate.
Score: 2.5 / 5

California Common, Knops Beer Co, california common, 4.8% abv, Peckhams, £1.89.
Disconcertingly similar in the glass to Anchor's version, the two are virtually identical to the eye in terms of colour and head density and length - though an entirely different kettle of fish once you get closer. Gloriously malty and toasty on the nose with maybe a touch of dried fruit and perhaps a little spice on the nose, it's an explosion in the mouth and on the tongue. Far heavier and denser than Anchor Steam, it's much nearer the ale end of the spectrum than the lager end, though it retains a lagery crispness and dryness. More malty sweetness with big blasts of alcohol-soaked dried raisins, like my granny used to make at Christmas. But with the sweetness and fruitiness comes a steady layer of hops that balances the ale just perfectly, leading into a nice, full finish that leaves the loveliest glow in the mouth. Cracking drop.
Score: 4/5

http://www.anchorbrewing.com/
http://www.knopsbeer.co.uk/

Tasting notes: A Fyne old romance

Having once lived in Arrochar for 7 or 8 years, just around the corner from Loch Fyne, I have a long-standing soft spot for the fine brews concocted by Jonny and Tuggy Delap. Countless pints of Maverick and Piper's Gold in the Village Inn and even a wee guided tour or two of the brewery mean there is very little chance of an unbiased appraisal here. And that's one of the many lovely things I like about beer: the colourful tales that lie behind the brews. [If you ever do find yourself in Arrochar, do drop into the Village Inn - www.villageinnarrochar.co.uk/ - and if you need some company, nip next door (literally) to my mate Tom's pottery and studio - www.tombutcherceramics.co.uk/ - and if he's around, you couldn't find a better beer-loving guy to prop the bar up with. As a conversational starter for 10, ask him about his theory on why men's urinals in pubs are shaped the way they are...]
So, founded in 1991 in what used to be a milking parlour, the very first Fyne Ales commercial brew to see the light of day did so on St Andrews day that year. The core range now runs to 8 beers. The two I'm test driving here are Vital Spark, a 4.4% mild, and Holly Daze, a really rather dreadfully named 5% premium bitter. Both are new to me in (filtered) bottled format though I know Vital Spark well in its cask guise.

TASTING NOTES, AFTER A FASHION:
Holly Daze, Fyne Ales, premium bitter, 4.4% abv, Oddbins, £2.50
Trying my very best to ignore the punny name, the beer looks lovely in the glass, a nice dark amber just as it says on the label with enough fizz in it to keep it lively. The nose is all hops and citrus with the zestiness balanced nicely by the underlying malt. Sweetish, toasty malts arrive first in the mouth with caramel and then loads of hops, something you see in quite a few of Fyne Ales' beers. The finish is a big, crisp hoppy one with good length, well balanced throughout. Not the most complex beer I've ever tasted but a really refreshing, hoppy drop with nice straightforward likeable flavours and cracking balance start to finish.
Score: 4 / 5

Vital Spark, Fyne Ales, mild, 4.4% abv, Oddbins, £2.50
Having really looked forward to renewing my acquaintance with this ale, I was a little underwhelmed - though I'm unsure whether that was because I remember it in cask from the Village Inn, or whether it was following Holly Daze that really worked for me. A very dark brown with a red tinge in the glass, it poured well with a nice clean head. Rich, roasted malt on the nose with hints of what struck me unmistakably time and again as diesel. Yes, the stuff you run tractors and sales reps' Vauxhall Vectras on. In the mouth it was full of fruity malt with a lovely positive bitterness and maybe just a hint of coffee. Hops are in there but not in your face and the finish was likewise not overly hoppy with the hops coming and going. Good strong bitterness and wee citrus notes made the finish a highlight though. So all in all a tasty mild with pronounced bitterness and restrained hops - my gob remained unsmacked but Vital Spark on tap will always be spot on for a couple of pints after coming down off the hill. (And if you want to try that theory out, don't do The Cobbler like everyone else, try Beinn Narnain.)
Score: 3.5 / 5

http://www.fyneales.com/