SUMMER OF LAGER

GOOD NEWS FOR PEOPLE
WHO LOVE GOOD BEER
CRAFT BEER
REAL ALES
GOOD PUBS
TASTING NOTES
ARTISANAL SPIRITS
+ other nice stuff
4
FREE issue
originalgravitymag.com /originalgravitymag @OGBeerMag ORIGINAL_GRAVITY
SUMMER OF LAGER
How brewers are reinventing the world’s favourite beers
+ The 15 thrilling lagers you need to try
+ Three exclusive homebrew recipes from
MIKKELLER
47 BEERS FEATURED DO GLASSES MATTER? LAMBICS HARVEYS

10 years of brewing
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MÄRZEN
Contents
Local hops line up at Harveys Brewery in Lewes, Sussex / p12
The Mash /p04 | Lagers /p09 | Photo Essay /p12 | Mikkeller /p14
Tasting Notes /p17 | Beer Traveller’s Guide /p18 | Your round /p19
Cover image by Assa Ariyoshi for
Original Gravity% (assaariyoshi.com)
ORIGINAL
GRAVITY
Contact
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© 2015 Original Gravity is published
by Don’t Look Down Media. All rights
reserved. All material in this publication may
not be reproduced or distributed in any form
without the written permission of Don’t
Look Down Media. Views expressed in
Original Gravity are those of the respective
contributors and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the publication nor its staff.
TRY THE BEERS
The Curious Beer Club. Subscribe at
curiousbeer.club for your ticket to the taste
revolution. A beer club like no other.
Already a member?
This symbol indicates beers in
the CBC boxes this edition.
Who is writing
this issue, and the
best lager at the
moment
HELLO
Drink differently.
It’s an utterly sparkling, adventurous and intoxicating
time for beer right now. Dozens of new breweries
are opening, the range of beers from overseas is
bewildering. We share your passion for these beers.
And we all have a great opportunity to spread the word
further. A great starting point is lager. It is the most
misaligned types of beer, and it’s time to reclaim it from
Big Brand Bland. It’s difficult and costly to produce,
and done well, it’s the best summer drink in the world.
So next time your mate gets a lager, point them in the
direction of a Brooklyn Lager, or a Camden Hells,
perhaps a Köstritzer Black Lager, and change the way
they drink beer forever. Pete Brown will help with the
answers on page 9.
Elsewhere, we’ve relaunched the website and
added a shop. We’ve started a podcast and we’ll
be at some events near you too soon. Check out
originalgravitymag.com for your daily dose. Finally,
we’re launching a collaboration with the Curious
Beer Club to curate a mystery box of beer, all of which
will be written about in the next issue. See page 16.
Daniel Neilson, Publisher and Editor
BUY THE BEERS
You’ll notice we mention our partners who
supply many of the beers mentioned.
Ales By Mail (alesbymail.co.uk): ABM
Beers of Europe (beersofeurope.co.uk): BE
Beer Hawk (beerhawk.co.uk): BH
Real Ale (realale.com): RA
Daniel Neilson
Daniel is the editor and publisher of Original Gravity%. It was a pint of Dark
Star’s Hophead that started him off on this amazing journey through the world
of beer. He’s edited guidebooks and national magazines in the UK, Canada and
Argentina, but beer is where his heart is. / originalgravitymag.com
‘They’ve just put on Brooklyn Lager in the pub below our office (yes, we work above
a pub). I love the creamy dark colours, the juicy hoppiness, and the pre-prohibition
tradition that this recipe is based on. A beer with personality.’
Pete Brown
Pete Brown is a British writer who specialises in making people thirsty. He is the
author of five-and-a-half books as well as the annual Cask Report, and numerous
articles in the drinks trade press and consumer press. He is a member of the
British Guild of Beer Writers, and was Beer Writer of the Year in 2009 and 2012.
‘The best lager I’ve tasted recently would have to be Cloudwater Versus Camden,
a lovely rich, malty Marzen that’s been three months in the making, and is, as a
result, distressingly drinkable for a 6.2% beer.’
Teninchwheels
Teninchwheels is a Yorkshire-born designer and photographer. A proud Timothy
Taylor fanboy, he became a beer and pub blogger when nobody ever read his Vespa
blog. / moorstoneimages.wordpress.com / teninchwheels.wordpress.com
‘The Andechser Vollbier Hell is crisp, clean and pure as mountain air. Gentle
sweetness with lemon and grassy hits. The brewing is overseen by Benedictine monks
– try it at their abbey just outside Munich. This Hell is Heavenly.’
Adrian Tierney-Jones
Adrian is an award-winning freelance journalist, author and speaker writing and
talking about beer, pubs, food and travel and how they all intersect. Read his
tasting notes on p17. / maltworms.blogspot.co.uk
‘In Bologna I was reacquainted with Imperial Pils My Antonia by Birra del Borgo
and Dogfish Head. It’s got pineapple and mango on the nose, a bracing bitterness, a
voluptuousness in its mouthfeel. It’s a serious example of what you can do with lager.’
Alan Hinkes
Alan Hinkes is the first Briton to climb all 14 8000m peaks. Alan was awarded
the OBE in 2006, and he is Yorkshireman of the Year. He lives in Yorkshire but is
usually found walking mountains by day and discovering beers by evening.
‘Several years ago necking German-influenced Chinese lager straight from what
seemed a British style large pint bottle. Once acclimatised to the high altitude, arid
dusty Tibetan desert plateau, a Chinese lager was a welcome thirst slaker.’
6.6%
0 3

The Mash
The ART OF BEER
TRUMANS
.. I have long felt the brewing business to be
particularly adapted to Mr Micawber. Look at
Barclay and Perkins! Look at Truman, Hanbury,
and Buxton! It is on that extensive footing that
Mr Micawber, I know from my own knowledge of
him, is calculated to shine; and the profits, I am
told, are e-NOR—mous! – Mrs Micawber
Truman’s beer was so ingrained in the culture of
London’s East End, that Charles Dickens namechecks
the brewery in David Copperfield. By
the time the most autobiographical of Dickens’
novels was published in 1850, Truman, Hanbury,
Buxton & Co was the biggest brewery in the
world, fumbling over six-acres at the well-known
Brick Lane site. It was supplying the East India
Company, and its Export Imperial Stout was sent
to the Russian Court. By the mid 1800s it was a
force not only in brewing, especially with the rise
of porter, but also in politics and the abolitionist
cause. In 1831, it hosted the Cabinet Dinner
of Charles Grey’s government. The steaks were
purportedly cooked in the furnace of the brewery
boiler house.
By the 1970s however, it was victim to the
snapping up of brewers and the name was
changed. Despite a last gasp effort to bring back
the Truman’s Eagle, it closed in 1989. That is
until James Morgan and team brought it back
to East London in 2013, even discovering the
original Truman’s yeast from the National
Collection of Yeast Cultures.
Almost under the shadow of the Olympic Stadium,
Original Gravity% meets Jack Hibberd of Truman’s
and illustrator James Brown at the brewery in
Hackney Wick to examine some pump clips.
“Truman’s is about taking the best of our history
and making it relevant to East London today,”
explains Jack. “When co-founder James Morgan
saw James Brown’s prints in an art gallery, he knew
he wanted him to illustrate the seasonal beers. His
style and screen prints combined the tradition and
modernity that we’re all about. It also reflected the
creative industries in East London.”
Truman’s has a loose policy of having an ‘artistin-residence’,
usually with local artists, who’ll
redesign the regular seasonals and any new beers,
James’s pump clip design for Attaboy a ‘hoppy
pale ale’, and featuring a racing greyhound, is
perhaps the most evocative of East London. The
famous Hackney Wick Stadium was opened
in 1932 and used for greyhound racing and
speedway. It was demolished in 2003 after
standing derelict for years and replaced by the
London Olympics Media Centre just a couple
of minutes walk from the brewery. “I remember
the stadium from when I lived in Hackney
around 1999,” says Leyton resident James
Brown. “Probably from being lost!
“Within all my work I look to the past for
inspiration,” James continues. “I collect useless
bits of printed paraphernalia from junk shops
and charity shops, and I’m fascinated by precomputer
typography. But it’s about taking the
best of the past and making it relevant – that’s
where I dovetail with Truman’s.”
James’s background is as a textile design
making patters “until I realised people wanted
illustrations more”. It’s served him well, working
on book jackets and for newspapers including the
Guardian. His amazing prints are wildly popular.
Attaboy was the first design he did and it
captures wonderfully the spirited creativity of
East London and also the beer itself. “It’s a fast,
hoppy and dynamic beer and we wanted to get
that across,” Jack adds.
Next up was Blindside, a rugby themed label for
a beer that comes out around the Six Nations,
but it’s Lazarus that perhaps is most symbolic.
“This is the beer that was brewed to celebrate
Truman’s return to London,” says Jack. “It’s a
lovely refreshing beer and with a special place
in our hearts.” At which point we retire to
Truman’s de facto tap room, The Plough@Swan
Wharf for a pint of the zesty Lazarus. It’s been
quite a resurrection.
/ trumansbeer.co.uk / jamesbrown.info
/ hackneyplough.co.uk
WIN IT
a limited edition print of Lazarus or
Attaboy by answering a very easy
question at originalgravitymag.com
0 4

The Mash
Hop
OF THE MONTH
“Enjoying a beer, the mind becomes awash with visions.” Artist Beer Visions
Beer PUBLICATIONS
NELSON SAUVIN
This issue we move continents and head to the
antipodes, New Zealand in fact for perhaps
the world’s most juicy, fruity and downright
appealing hop. Hops are as rooted in their terrior
as grapes, each imparting different flavours and
bitterness. The characteristics of Nelson Sauvin
is quickly becoming a brewing favourite for its
tropical, lively, fun and characterful aromas.
You’ll get fresh gooseberries, tangerines, passion
fruit, grapefruit, mangoes and white wine (it’s
named after the Sauvignon Blanc with reason).
This is a hop for summer gardens and barbecue
evenings.
#1/ Thornbridge Kipling, 5.2%
A beer that uses Nelson Sauvin
exclusively. It’s an OG% favourite that is
exquisite in its kiwi and passion fruit and
freshly-squeezed drinkability.
/ thornbridgebrewery.co.uk
Buy at: Thornbridge, BE, BH,
#2 / 8 Wired Saison Sauvin, 7%
Oh. My. Word. This is one of the fruitiest
and most wonderful beers from New
Zealand’s best brewery, and for our
money, one of best in the world. This
Sauvin Saison is like bathing your tongue
in an alcoholic tropical smoothie.
/ 8wired.co.nz Buy at: ABM
Artist Beer Visions
/ 3rd Rail
As Partizan’s amazing bottle label designer Alec
Doherty said in these pages, beer art is the new
album art. This book of fictional beer labels,
curated by 3rd Rail screen printing studio, crosses
that boundary more than ever.
This satisfying hard back book brings together
20 artists with their ‘beer vision’ and a brief
interview. The artist’s final work was a 50cm x
50cm screen print and has been exhibited around
the country (check website for more). If you miss
that, buy the book.
/ 3rdrailpresents.co.uk
Brewery History
/ Brewery History Society
Despite being on issue 159, we’ve only come
across this scholarly journal of the Brewery
History Society that covers the history of the
world’s breweries. It was first published in 1973
and now appears four times a year with occasional
special issues. It’s a peer-reviewed journal in the
academic sense, but it’s packed with fascinating
nuggets about lost breweries, biographical
pieces and loads of amazing old photos. The
current edition includes a photo essay on the
Donnington Brewery and an examination of the
American Brewing industry from 1865 to 1940.
/ breweryhistory.com
Hop & Barley
/ Nicholas Dawes, Michael Jenkins, Simon James
Hop & Barley, now in its 4th issue, is a quarterly
publication dedicated to all things beer and
the stories behind it. In the current issue you’ll
find articles on Buxton Brewery, an interview
with Melissa Cole, tasting gluten-free beers, a
rather lovely recipe and hilarious drawings from
‘Twatty Beer Doodles’ (@twattybeer – always
worth following). The photography is stunning
throughout too. A welcome addition to the
bourgeoning independent publishing scene.
The 116-page magazine is on good stock, costs £8
and is available from hopandbarley.co.uk.
/ hopandbarley.co.uk
what’s in a GLASS?
As glassware specialists Spiegelau launch a new range of ‘craft beer
glasses’, we ask whether it makes a jot of difference
As they are with beer, Belgian brewers are
also masters of glassware with each brew is
meticulously served with the right glass. Outside
Belgium the right glass for the right beer is not
always observed, though the Germans get it right
as the towering and sensually shaped Weizen glass
demonstrates. Spiegelau is a Bavarian company
that have been making glassware for some 500
years, and are best known for their crystal-cut
wine glasses.
Glassware is important. There are champagne
flutes and Burgundy glasses, Pinot Noir glasses
and Bordeaux glasses. And you wouldn’t drink a
martini from a tumbler. Volume is a reason, but
does the glass you drink your beer from matter?
IPA GLASS
If you buy one glass, make
it this one. It was designed
in collaboration with
Dogfish Head and Sierra
Nevada. This very clearly
makes a difference to
taste wrapping the aroma
around your nose.
STOUT GLASS
Another collaboration,
this time with Left Hand
Brewing and Rogue Ales,
two brewers who know a
thing or two about stout.
Not wildly different from
the IPA glass in style, but
beautiful nonetheless.
GLASSIC LAGER
There’s less
noticeable difference
in taste for the lager
glass and other
glasses, but the wide
mouth allows the
aromas out. It’s a
delicate all rounder.
WHEAT BEER
GLASS
Well, it would be a
bit weird drinking a
Hefeweizen, a classic
German Wheat Beer,
in anything else. One to
pick up if you’re a fan of
this style.
Adrian Tierney-Jones, head of judges at the
World Beer Awards, explained: “I used to think it
was nonsense but then I had Boston Lager at the
eponymous airport in a glass specially designed by
Sam Adams, and the beer positively pulsated with
flavour and aroma. Once airside I had another
in an ordinary glass, it was like I’d drank two
different beers.” So maybe there is something in
it – let’s see…
/ spiegelau.com
0 5

The Mash
Beer 101
YEAST
#7
Brewery
FOCUS
4/12) This is where the magic happens. As Pete Brown suggests
in our podcast about his new book covering the ingredients
of beer: “Yeast is a miracle in itself. It’s a microscopic
organism that eats sugar and excretes alcohol and carbon
dioxide.” Yeast is added to wort – the sugary and
hoppy liquid – and ferments the sugar resulting in an
alcoholic beer. Different strains of yeast are better for
different beers. Lager, for example, is defined by the
yeast it uses; one that allows fermentation at low
temperatures. (There’s compelling evidence that a
main lager yeast strain originates in the Amazon.
The Amazon!).
It also imparts flavour, both intentionally, and
off-flavours. That banana-like taste in a hefeweizen?
That’s the yeast – but you don’t want it in a mild.
And more and more new brewers are using yeast to
define their beers: Wild Beer Co use a sourdoughbased
yeast with great success. The Belgians have
been playing around with yeasts for years. Lambics and
saisons (see right) are often produced with Brettanomyces
yeast strain (you’ll see this word a lot), and gives the beer a
sour edge. Similarly, Lactobacillus gives an acidity to beers such
as Berliner weisse. It’s a miracle indeed, and a new frontier for beer.
News
#6
SHORTS
i/ One of the world’s most sought-after beers, Founders Kentucky
Breakfast Stout, has just been released in the UK. It is often voted as i
the best beer in the world on Rate Beer. Get it quick.
/ jamesclay.co.uk for stockists.
ii/ Meantime Brewery has been bought by SAB Miller, the world’s
second largest brewery. Meantime increased production by 58% last
year. / meantimebrewing.com
iii/ Dark Star Brewing Co have announced an expansion into the
pub market and are currently looking for 20 pubs over the next five
years, mostly in the south east. / darkstarbrewing.co.uk
iii
iv/ BrewDog have launched their fourth crowd-funding round Equity
For Punks IV. Two shares (£95) is minimum investment. / brewdog.com
v/ Marks & Spencer now stock branded beers from Fourpure,
Camden Town, Buxton, Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn and Anchor among
vi
others. / marksandspencer.com
vi/ The 2nd edition of The CAMRA Guide to London’s Best Beers,
v
Pubs and Bars written by Des De Moor is now out. / desdemoor.co.uk
HANDCRAFTED BEER
FROM EAST LONDON
@FivePointsBrew
www.fivepointsbrewing.co.uk
0 6
When we arrive at Fourpure on a Bermondsey trading
estate in May, more new tanks are going in. Even by craft
beer standards, the rise of Fourpure has been fast. Michel
Roux Jr stocks a bespoke beer in La Gavroche and two
of the beers are in Marks & Spencer stores across the
country. After brothers Dan and Tom Lowe sold their
technology business in 2012, there was a bit of soulsearching
and a lot of travelling. Dan had long been a
homebrewer, and ‘won’ a charity auction for some branding
consultancy. Meanwhile Tom was having a beer epiphany
in California – the choice become obvious. The consultancy
company helped them create the Fourpure brand, kit was
bought and in 2013 they opened for business.
Did you begin with an ethos you wanted to adhere to?
Yes indeed. ‘Inspired by Adventure’ encapsulates
our whole ethos around modern beer.
It’s got its roots in traditional beer styles, but
is heavily influenced by the cultures, flavours
and – to use a wine term – the terroir of the
ingredients. We’ve had the chance to travel to
find these points of inspiration, and also been
lucky enough to have people from seven countries
take their own adventures and arrive in a
brewery in South East London and contribute
to Fourpure. We then set out three simple rules,
checks if you will, for things we would invest in:
does it improve the quality of the beer? Is it fun
to do? Does it make business sense? Satisfying
these tests still forms the basis for us.
Is the US craft beer scene an inspiration to you?
It certainly has had and continues to influence
us. In terms of style development, hops, and
most of all the understanding from the larger
craft brewers about quality. However, the influence
is far more global for us – from the traditional
brewers of the UK, to the exciting hop
scene of the South Pacific, through to the South
FIVE
POINTS
PALE
FIVE
POINTS
IPA
FOURPURE
RAILWAY
PORTER
LONDON
SMOKE
East Asian and Japanese craft explosion.
The Americans did teach us some key things
though – brewing to style is important for
drinkers to understand what you are offering,
but not beholden to style in equal measure. Not
forgetting one of the keys to potential success
- risk taking, but they balance that with being
socially conscious and engaging communities.
Fourpure really concentrate of consistency over a relatively
small range of beers – was that a clear plan?
We appreciate the compliment! We did spend
our first year dialing in our recipes, our processes,
and our quality. That has allowed us to
understand our equipment, be fastidious on
quality, and train our team which all forms a
foundation for innovation and growth. But
we’re also producing plenty of one off and seasonal
beers. We’ve been releasing and distributing
a new beer every month in 2015 so far – and
that’s in addition to the Outpost small batch
series only seen in our tap room.
Read the full interview at originalgravity.com.
See page 17 for Tasting Notes on Fourpure Pils
/fourpure.com
1/ West Coast Saison, 5.9%
Saison it may be, but this is packed with
aromatic US hops and is sumptuous.
2/ Amber Ale, 5.1%
This is a rich, bready amber beer
that tastes of the Californian sun.
3/ Pils, 4.7%
A great example of Munich Pilsner, but
look out for the limited Dry Hopped Pils.
HOOK
ISLAND
RED

The Mash
#8
Anatomy of...
LAMBIC
Want to give your tongue beery jolt like never before? Pick up
the sour beer that is lambic, both one of the most complex and
most brutally simple beers in the world. It can be challenging
no doubt, but once tried it sits in the mind like a distant love to
be lusted after or brooded for. The cooling wort was placed in
specially-design barns that allowed the wind carrying wild yeast
and bacteria to settle on the beer and ferment it naturally. It is a
beer loaded with the weight of history and the depth of biology.
Hyperbole? Pop open the cork today and see!
STRENGTH
It’s diverse, of course, but it’s
usually between 4-7%.
4-7
% ABV
FLAVOUR
Sour! Complex! Magic! It is sharp and acidic, but with
a cidery fruitiness and a woody aftertaste.
STYLE
It’s usually a sprightly affair and often feels like popping
a champagne bottle and should be celebrated as so.
AKA...
Gueuze is the most common lambic, blended with young
and old lambic. Kriek is cherry, framboise is raspberry.
FOOD
Great with fatty pork chops and, rather predictably,
mussels and frites.
ALTERNATIVES
Beers can only be called lambics from a certain region,
but look out for sour beers using brettanomyces.
HISTORY
Traditionally from one area in Belgium where
‘wild’ yeast ferments the wort.
THREE TO TRY...
/ Cantillon 100%
Organic, 5%
Exclusively brewers of
lambic beers and founded
in 1900. This organic
gueuze (blend) uses only
organic cereals.
/ Buy at BE, BH
/ Elgood’s Coolship, 6.7%
An East Anglian lambic!
It’s tart, a hint of sweetness,
and hugely well balanced.
There’s also a fruit version
available. / Buy at elgoodsbrewery.co.uk
/ Boon Oude Geuze, 7%
A sparkling blend of
1-year-old and 3-year-old
lambics. Rich, sour, nutty.
As thrilling as beer gets.
/ Buy at BE
#9
Events JUNE-JULY
For more events, visit originalgravitymag.com and to list originalgravitymag@gmail.com
19-21 June | Summer Brew Fest
Unmissable London event with 14 breweries.
/ summerbrewfest.co.uk
19-20 June | South Downs Beer & Cider Festival
CAMRA festival in Lewes with Sussex focus.
/ brightoncamra.org.uk
25-27 June | Glasgow Real Ale Festival
Glasgow CAMRA Festival at the lovely Briggait.
/ glasgowrealalefestival.co.uk
2-4 July | Chorlton Beer & Cider Festival
CAMRA beer festival held in St Clement’s Church.
/ chorltonbeerfestival.org.uk
23-25 July | Kent CAMRA Beer Festival
Kent CAMRA festival held near Canterbury.
/ kentbeerfestival.com
NOW BOOKING
13-16 August | London Craft Beer Festival
One of the highlights of the beer calendar is this
event in Bethnal Green. A superb opportunity to
try hard to find beers.
/ londoncraftbeerfestival.co.uk
11-15 August | Great British Beer Festival
It’s the big one. CAMRA’s biggest festival.
/ gbbf.org.uk
4-5 September | Craft Beer Rising Glasgow
Craft Beer Rising festival hits Scotland.
/ craftbeerrising.co.uk
5 September | Beer by the River
Sambrooks presents this chilled festival at Morden
Hall Park, London. Beer, food & music.
/ beerbytheriver.com
10/10
OG PODCAST
The (almost) perfect beer cast
OK, it’s not ten out of ten perfect. In fact, I’d probably go for a five... but we are getting better. The
monthly podcast roughly follows the format of the publication with news, views and idle gossip in
The Mash, a main feature – check out our interview with Brooklyn Beer co-founder Steve Hindy,
and some Tasting Notes. It’s a light-hearted, relaxed beery listening. /originalgravitymag.com
0 7

TRUMAN’S
FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH - 5:30-10:00PM
BEER. FOOD. TOURS. games. music. fun
3rd July, 7th august, 4th september
your chance
to look inside
the brewery
and see how
we make our
great beers
Looking for our beers?
e regularly get asked where
W people can find our beer and on
the basis that our memory is so
bad, we employed a techie to come up
with what he called a 'beerfinder'.
The Beerfinder will display Pubs/Bars
that regularly order in Dark Star beer
and where possible we’ll show the
Delivery Date & Beers of the last Dark
Star order they placed.
WWW.TRUMANSBEER.CO.UK
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Official supplier of Ball Corporation for the supply of printed aluminum cans to our customers

Feature
Helles, Pilsner, Dortmunder, Oktoberfest, Märzen,
Vienna, Schwarzbier, Dunkel, Dopplebock, Maibock,
Rauchbier… Pete Brown investigates the most misaligned
of beers, and picks the lagers you need to try
0 9

Feature
C A M
Campaign for Real Lager
The day I decided never to use a Dictaphone when
writing a story was the day of my first visit to the
Budweiser Budvar brewery in České Budějovice,
southern Bohemia.
After a fascinating tour, I listened back to the
recording to write up my notes. I remembered
having a great afternoon, but being quite
professional about it. Now, my slurred voice came
out of the tinny speaker, saying, “When you’re
somewhere like this you realise how PURE and
NATURAL beer is. It’s only when it gets into our
BODIES and into our SOULS that it becomes…
CORRUPTED.”
I decided that if that’s the kind of observation I
was going to make into a Dictaphone on a brewery
tour, I’d be better leaving it at home. I’ve never
used one since.
This embarrassment does mean I have a very strong
sense memory of where I was when I recorded it.
Deep in the cellars beneath the brewery, the massive
horizontal conditioning tanks were kept at a steady
two degrees Celsius while the beer matured inside
them for ninety days. The flagstone floors had
just been washed and were still wet, so the whole,
vast room smelled like a fresh summer rainfall.
And the beer I’d just tasted was one of the greatest
experiences of my professional life: unpasteurized
and unfermented, up to about sixty days of its
maturation period, it was a revelation. Lager had
never tasted so good before. In fact, I struggled to
think of beers of any style that had.
I think of this moment every time I meet someone
who asks what I do for a living, and when I tell
them, they say, “Beer writer? Oh, you won’t like me
then. I only drink lager.”
This idea that lager is somehow not beer is possibly
the most colossal misunderstanding in the drinks
world, but it’s not difficult to see how it came about,
in the UK at least.
WORLD BEATER
The harder you look at it, the more difficult it
becomes to define what lager actually is – but
more on that later. For the vast majority of beer
drinkers, lager is synonymous with the golden
Pilsner style developed in the Czech town of Plzen
in 1842. It was swiftly followed by the arrival of two
innovations that would transform the way we drank
beer: rail travel and refrigeration. Pilsner lager’s fame
spread rapidly across the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
and because neither the name nor the brewing
process were patented, it was copied by brewers
everywhere it went. When the war and political
turmoil that would ultimately lead to German
unification forced many to flee the region, German
brewers took the art of lager brewing around the
world, especially to the United States, where soonto-be
giant corporations like Miller, Anheuser Bush
and Coors were founded by German immigrants.
Golden lager rapidly became the world’s dominant
beer style.
But Britain held off. Happy with pale ale, bitter and
mild (which were drunk in pubs owned by brewers
who didn’t make lager) and curiously late to adopt
refrigeration, we didn’t start drinking lager in great
quantities until the 1970s, after many failed attempts
by brewers such as Heineken and Carlsberg to crack
the market.
We finally switched to lager thanks to a number
of factors including an increase in foreign travel,
several long hot summers and some great (for the
time) advertising campaigns. Lager was the clever,
sophisticated choice of a younger generation
compared to boring old ale.
In the designer decade of the 1980s, lager went into
bottles, with cool, exotic labels pointing outward for
everyone to see. We became more sophisticated and
knowledgeable about where our lager came from
and what it was supposed to taste like – or so we
thought. It was reassuringly expensive because it cost
more to make: one old Stella Artois press ad with
Doppelbock is a strong, winter lager
originally brewed by Bavarian monks.
Nicknamed ‘liquid bread,’ they survived on it
through Lent. This example lives up to that
reputation. It’s a hearty beer, full-bodied,
complex and fruity, with a smoky dry finish.
/ Buy at: BE
BOHEMIA REGENT DARK, 4.4%
A misconception is that lager has to be
pale, but lagered beers had been made with
darker malts for centuries by the time Pilsner
appeared. This classic example of a ‘Dunkel’
still has lager’s cleanness on the palate, but
combines it with richer, maltier, toffee
flavours than you’d expect./ Buy at: BE
1 0
AYINGER CELEBRATOR, 6.7%
HOFBRAUHAUS MAIBOCK, 7.2%
Maibock is a strong, malty lager, traditionally
brewed for the Bavarian spring. Hofbrauhaus
Munchen is one of Munich’s six great
breweries, and their version has notes of
toffee, caramel and toasted malt, but still has
lager’s clean freshness.
/ Buy at: BE
BROOKLYN LAGER, 5.2%
Brewed to a pre-prohibition recipe. Taste
this side by side with any of the leading
commercial lager brands for an object lesson
in how lager as a style has been deformed
by cost cutting. Now common, when fresh,
it’s stunning.
/ Buy at: ABM BE, RA
JEVER PILSNER, 4.9%
Just a simple, straightforward German
Pilsner with no side, no gimmicks or
pretensions. This is what proper lager is all
about. Very dry, matured for ninety days,
with a hop character that’s assertive for a
lager, but still classy.
/ Buy at: BE, BH, RA
BUDVAR TANK BEER, 5%
Unpasteurised and shipped directly from
the brewery, this fresh beer is as close as it’s
possible to get to the miraculous experience
of drinking Budvar straight from the lagering
vessels in the brewery. Still rare in the UK, but
look out for notice of tanks coming to a pub
near you.
THORNBRIDGE TZARA, 4.8%
This Koln-style beer (it can only be called
Kölsch if its brewed in the town itself ) is
brewed with an ale yeast but lagered to
produce a wonderful crisp yet rounded
flavour, and has drawn compliments even
from Koln itself.
/ Buy at: BE, BH, ABM, RA
CAMDEN IHL, 6.2%
It would be easy to roll your eyes at the idea of
an ‘India Hells Lager’ and the inevitability of
sticking loads of hops in everything, but when
your as good at brewing Hells as Camden
are, the result is a bona fide new style. The
refreshment of lager with the big hoppy hit of
an IPA. / Buy at: ABM

Feature
R
L
the headline, ‘”My Shout,” he Whispered.’ carefully
explained that the beer was brewed according to the
rheinheitsgebot (the famous Bavarian brewing purity
law mandating only lager, water, malted barley and,
later, yeast) used traditionally floor-malted barley
and whole female Saaz hops, and enjoyed a long
maturation period.
RISE AND DECLINE
But lager’s popularity eventually became its
undoing. In the mid-nineties it became ubiquitous,
and synonymous with lad culture. What had
once been cool became boorish. As the balance
of sales moved to supermarkets, which competed
on price, and the cool ads fell victim to tightening
regulation and a collective loss of direction among
the leading brands, lager became commoditised.
Brand loyalty disappeared. And all this time, cutting
costs to meet tumbling prices meant such things
as long maturation times and whole hops became
unaffordable luxuries. Lager became bastardised
and debased, allowing ale to eventually make its
celebrated comeback in a declining beer market.
“No other country makes quite as bad a job of lager
as we do,” says Thornbridge’s head brewer, Rob
Lovatt. “British lager has no resemblance to any
other lager I know of.”
Lager is a style that’s close to Lovatt’s heart. He
worked previously for Meantime, and studied in
Germany with his brewing hero, the American Eric
Toft, who has devoted himself to championing
traditional German styles and the preservation of
the rheinheitsgebot.
“There’s so much more within lager than people
are aware of,” says Lovatt, who has successfully
brewed traditional European styles for Thornbridge
including a Kölsch-style beer, a Bamberg-style
smoked lager and a Doppelweizenbock. “Brewers
in Bavaria will specialise in a particular style such
as Pilsner or Helles, and devote themselves to it.
They reach an incredibly high standard, and it’s
hard for a craft brewer who works across loads of
different styles to get anywhere close to their degree
of excellence.”
“For me it’s all about the subtlety,” says Jonathan
Smith, head brewer at longstanding British craft
lager brewer Freedom. “When you give it the
full maturation period of four weeks you get
this delicacy and balance. We taste throughout
the maturation period, and the palate softens.
Sulphury notes and DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide, a
compound that creates a flavour similar to cooked
corn) disappear, and the subtle hop character
comes through.”
Lager takes its very name from this long, cold
maturation period (Lagern is the German verb, to
store), and both Lovatt and Smith feel that lager
is more of a process than a beer style – a process
that helps create a surprisingly wide range of beer
styles, some of which are brewed with ale yeasts
but are lagers in a sense. But while Freedom follows
the classic tradition of maturing its beers for four
weeks, many commercial lager brands are in and out
of the brewery within a 72-hour period. Ironically,
not only is lager far more diverse and complex
than mainstream brands suggest; technically, those
mainstream brands are not actually lagers at all.
Happily then, not only do we have an amazing
array of longstanding, traditional craft lagers to
choose from abroad, an increasingly number of
British craft brewers are turning to lager to prove
what they are capable of. “I just love nailing the
style,” says Rob Lovatt. “Lager is so delicate and
refined, any faults will really show. It doesn’t allow
you anywhere to hide.”
Lager is not just lager. But when it really is lager, as
in, a beer that has been lagered, far from being beer’s
dumber, insipid cousin, it can be seen as the epitome
of the brewer’s art.
PILSNER URQUELL, 4.4
The ‘original’ golden lager may not have
been the first golden beer ever brewed, but
it certainly defined that style that went on to
conquer the world. While there have been
some compromises on lagering time since
it was bought by SABMiller, it remains an
undeniably great beer.
WINDSOR & ETON REPUBLIKA, 4.8%
This Pilsner-stye beer was originally brewed
as a collaboration with Tomas Mikulica,
Head Brewer and owner of Pivovarsky Dvur
near Prague. Fermented for three weeks and
lagered for a further six, it’s no coincidence
that it wins heaps of awards.
/ Buy at: ABM, RA
SCHLENKERLA MARZEN, 5.1%
Before refrigeration, Marzen beers were
brewed in Spring, before it was too warm
to spoil. It had to be strong to survive the
summer months, and is darker and maltier
than other lagers. Added complexity from
smoked malts, creates a beer that tastes of
bacon more than lager./ Buy at: BE, BH, RA
BIRRA DEL BORGO MY ANTONIA, 7.5%
Began as a collaboration with Dogfish Head
brewery, and has since become one of the
highlights of the Italian craft beer revolution.
There’s an intriguing depth to the aromas of
citrus fruit and cut grass, a beautiful collision of
new and old world hops, finishing more like a
traditional, clamer Pilsner.
KEEP ON DISCOVERING...
A beer club like no other
HARVIESTOUN SCHIEHALLION, 4.8%
So good that the rump of CAMRA’s old
guard often insist on calling it a pale ale when
they stock it at beer festivals. It has a seductive
note of tropical fruit, and on cask especially
it presents a silky mouthfeel, full, satisfying
body and sophisticated balance.
/ Buy at: BE, BH, RA
KIRIN ICHIBAN, 5%
Delicate is not the same as bland, and brewing
with rice doesn’t necessarily make for poor
beer. This crisp, dry, snappy lager is clean and
refreshing, and works wonderfully with fried
food such as yakitori as well as sushi. Brewed
under license in the UK, but still good.
/ Buy at: BE
ST. GEORGEN BRÄU KELLER BIER, 4.9%
Keller Bier is an unfiltered, unpasteurised
beer that is matured in open or ‘unbunged’
wooden casks. St Georgen sticks to this
traditional method, and produce a lager that’s
deep amber in colour, bready on the nose,
very smooth with a nice, grassy hop character.
/ Buy at: BE
Desperate to try the beers we feature
while you read? Understandable.
We teamed up with The Curious
Beer Club to provide a front row
seat to the revolution. Beers selected
by OG% writers. Delivered with
Original Gravity edition they’re
featured in. curiousbeer.club
Look out for this symbol...
1 1

Photo Essay
One of the original copper mash tuns at Harveys
Head Brewer Miles Jenner updates the brewing records
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philips signature
on the brewing record for Elizabethan Ale
Local hops line up ready for brewing
1 2

Photo Essay
Head Brewer Miles Jenner examines the first batch of Olympia
HARVEYS
The fermenting tanks are open, just like they used to be; the brew
notes are written by hand, just like they used to be; the coppers
are, well, copper and every Tuesday the horse-drawn dray cart
delivers beer around Lewes. It would be easy to dismiss Harveys,
founded in 1790, as stuck in their ways, but far from it. Under
the steady hand of Head Brewer Miles Jenner, Harveys continues
to make a wide range of world-beating beer. Their Best has never
been better, the 6.1% Waterloo IPA is eagerly awaited, and the
multi-award winning Imperial Extra Stout Double Stout is one of
the greatest beers in the country. Here we take a sneak peak into
this remarkable brewery unlike any other. / harveys.org.uk
Open fermenting tanks give Harveys
special characteristics
Wiggins, one of the longest serving members of staff
Cleaning the fermenting tanks in
preparation for Olympia
1 3

Feature
Great
DANE
Mikkel Borg Bjergsø is one of the world’s great brewers. His
Mikkeller beers transport you to another place with a magical
quality. Nearly all the brews are different, many are collaborations
and no two Mikkeller experiences are the same. For the first time,
we speak to Mikkeller and publish an exclusive extract from his
Book of Beer, plus three of his homebrew recipes.
Mikkellers’s Book of Beer by Mikkel Borg Bjergsø and Pernille Pang is out
now on Jacqui Small and costs £20.
“Twenty years ago, a lot of beer (most often lager)
tasted the same across the world. Whether Tuborg,
Tsingtao, Budweiser or Heineken, it was pale in
colour, weak in flavour and low in alcohol, and for
the most part consumed either to quench thirst or
to get drunk. Today, the situation is very different.
Courtesy of the craft microbrewing revolution that
spread during the 1990s from the US and the UK
to the rest of Europe, particularly the
Nordic countries, and then to the rest of the world,
the beer scene now is home to a diverse band of
brewers and beer enthusiasts who live and breathe
the hopped beverage. One of the figureheads of
this revolution is Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, the man
behind the Mikkeller microbrewery that, since
2006, has helped change the general perception of
beer to the point where it now takes in not only
weaker-tasting lagers, but also highly-hopped India
Pale Ales and bone-dry lambics.
Mikkeller’s Book of Beer was written with the
indispensable assistance of numerous experts
from Mikkeller’s colourful team, but essentially
it is the product of a close collaboration between
Mikkel and me.
I met Mikkel before he had caught a whiff of the
hop. Today, we are married with two daughters,
and it was at home in our apartment in Vesterbro,
Copenhagen, that it all started back in 2003. That
was the year in which Mikkel and his childhood
friend Kristian Klarup Keller began experimenting
with home brewing in our kitchen, where I
occasionally helped to bottle, cap and label the
beer. Subsequently, I trained as a journalist, and, as
Mikkeller grew, it became more and more obvious
that I should tell the fascinating story of the maths
and physics teacher who became world-famous as a
nomadic brewer and a craft beer evangelist.
His ‘democratic principles’ of brewing allow
anyone to brew their own beer at home, at
relatively little cost. In the book pages, you can
read Mikkel’s story of how he found his way into
the world of beer, how Mikkeller started and
subsequently developed into one of the world’s
leading microbreweries. Above all, though, you
can read about beer. It’s an inspiring guidebook
for anyone who is interested in beer in any way,
whether those who aspire to learn more about this
versatile beverage or those who dream of brewing
exciting, great-tasting beer at home.
Is it the golden time for craft brewing or is
there more to come?
There is a lot more to come. The craft beer scene is
on a constant rise and in many countries the interest
is exploding. The US is way ahead of us, showing
what will happen in the rest of the world. Also, with
craft beer there are still so many things to explore.
What is your underlying ethos behind the
beer you create?
No compromises. Always do my best. Use the best
ingredients and brewing at the best places. If I can
find a better way I will go for it.
Which of your beers most embodies what
you do?
All of them. Mikkeller is a brewery that like to
experiment and do things that nobody has done
before. But we also like to change excisting styles,
invent new styles and just do excisting styles a little
bit better than what has been done before.
Q&A with
ORIGINAL
GRAVITY%
Become a WARPIGS TROOPER
We’re giving away an exclusive membership to
Mikkeller’s WarPigs Troopers worth £65.
Warigs is Mikkeller’s brewpub in Copenhagen.
WarPigs Troopers is a member´s only club divided
into five different levels of beer nerdery.
As a trooper you get access to limited edition
bottles in a member´s only pre-sale for every
launch. This includes a 5% discount. You also get
WarPigs merch (T shirt, Patch, Totebag) and
invitations to member´s only events. Also for the
Original Gravity% winner they have thrown in an
exclusive tour of WarPigs, Copenhagen with a few
beer samples when they come to visit.*
*You do have to get yourself there however.
All you have to do is go to
www.originalgravity.com and
answer an easy question.
We’ll pick the winner at random
by July 10.
1 4

Feature
The novice
CLONING A BEER
The enthusiast
KNOW YOUR INGREDIENTS
The expert
MAKING STRONG BEERS
“When I began home-brewing, without a doubt
the thing that taught me most was trying to
copy a beer that I really liked. Most beginners
are likely to set about brewing a lot of different
beer types from the start. My advice is: find
your favourite beer type and try to clone it. If
it’s an IPA, start by brewing your own IPA and
then compare it with your favourite by tasting
them at the same time and reviewing which
parameters need to be adjusted in order for
your beer to taste like your model beer. If, for
example, your IPA is paler, you need to add
darker malt types. If it is sweeter, you could try
reducing the mashing temperature or cutting
back on the amount of sweet caramel malts. You
could also try adding more bittering hops to
balance out the sweetness better.
This is a process that requires lots of patience,
and you should be prepared for a good deal
of trial and error before you finally succeed.
On the other hand, you will acquire a range of
invaluable tools and a solid basic understanding
of the brewing processes that will benefit you
greatly as you progress in your brewing. Quite
simply, you will end up with better beers because
you will become a more experienced and, hence,
more skillful brewer.”
“A recipe will always include several different hop
and malt types, so for your own recipes you can
choose from a wealth of different yeast types.
There is a huge benefit in getting to know the
various hop, malt and yeast types and finding
out what effects they have when you isolate them
from the other ingredients. For example, you
learn more about hops by dividing a wort into
several portions then boiling and dry-hopping
them separately with different hop types –
Amarillo in one portion, Cascade in another, etc.
This will give you a basic appreciation of how the
different hop types smell and taste. Repeat the
trial with yeast by brewing 25 litres (6.6 gallons)
of wort and dividing it into five different 5-litre
(1.3-gallon) buckets, then adding five different
yeast types.
You can try the same with malt, but it is a slightly
more complicated project as it requires you to
make a brew for each malt type you want to test.”
“Once you feel you are on relatively solid
ground and have gained some experience of
the brewing process, you can try makimng a
really strong beer. See how high you can get the
alcohol content by experimenting with yeast
types, mashing temperatures, oxidation, sugar
addition and perhaps added enzymes. This
will give you a thorough understanding of the
function of the different ingredients and of the
chemical processes of brewing.”
All Other Pale Ales
American Pale Ale
Jackie Brown
American Brown Ale
Vesterbro Pilsner
American Lager
STATISTICS
Volume 20 litres (5.⁄. gallons)
Boil volume 25 litres (6. gallons)
OG 1058 / BG 1046 / FG 1012
Alcohol 6.0% abv
Colour 19 EBC / Bitterness ~55 IBU
MASHING
Pale Malt .................................6 EBC ........2800g (6lb 3oz)
Munich I Malt ........................22 EBC .....800g (1lb 12oz)
Cara Amber Malt .................70 EBC ....... 475g (1lb 1oz)
Cara Pils Malt ........................4 EBC ............. 325g (11.oz)
Cara Pils Malt ........................4 EBC ......... 625g (1lb 6oz)
Total malt ........................................................ 5025g (11lbs)
Mashing programme : 65.C (149.F for 60 min)
HOPS
Simcoe ....... 13.0% alpha .......25g (1oz) ................. 60 min
Centennial 8.8% alpha .........15g (.oz) ................... 10 min
Santiam ...... 11.9% alpha .......10g (.⁄.oz) .....................1 min
Nugget ...... 12.8% alpha ......15g (.oz) ......................1 min
Simcoe ....... 13.0% alpha ......15g (.oz) ..................dry hop
Nugget ...... 12.8% alpha ......15g (.oz) ..................dry hop
Warrior ...... 12.0% alpha ....... 15g (.oz) .................dry hop
Amarillo .... 9.5% alpha ........15g (.oz) ..................dry hop
FERMENTATION
Yeast .........................................1056 American Ale
Temperature ...........................19-21.C (66-70.F)
STATISTICS
Volume 20 litres (5.⁄. gallons)
Boil volume 25 litres (6. gallons)
OG 1063 / BG 1051 / FG 1017
Alcohol 6.0% abv
Colour 46 EBC / Bitterness ~77 IBU
MASHING
Pilsner Malt ............................4 EBC ...............3200g (7lb)
Munich I Malt .......................23 EBC ....... 600g (1lb 5oz)
Cara Crystal Malt .................110 EBC .........400g (14oz)
Flaked Oats ............................5 EBC ......... 600g (1lb 5oz)
Brown Malt ............................150 EBC .... 600g (1lb 5oz)
Chocolate (dehusked) .........1000 EBC ........ 100g (3.oz)
Cara Pils Malt......................... 4 EBC ............... 200g (7oz)
Total malt ....................................................... 5700g (12.lbs)
Mashing programme 65.C (149.F) for 60 min
HOPS
Nugget ...... 13.0% alpha ......35g (1.oz) ................ 60 min
Centennial 10.0% alpha ......35g (1.oz) ...................5 min
Amarillo .... 9.4% alpha ........35g (1.oz) ...............dry hop
FERMENTATION
Yeast .........................................1028 London Ale
Temperature ...........................19-20.C (66-68.F)
STATISTICS
Volume 20 litres (5.⁄. gallons)
Boil volume 25 litres (6. gallons)
OG 1054 / BG 1043 / FG 1012
Alcohol 5.6% abv
Colour 12 EBC / Bitterness ~43 IBU
MASHING
Pilsner Malt ............................4 EBC .... 2900g (6lb 6.⁄.oz)
Munich I Malt .......................23 EBC ...... 950g (2lb 1.oz)
Cara Pils Malt ........................5 EBC ........ 950g (2lb 1.oz)
Total malt ................................................4800g (10lb 9.⁄.oz)
Mashing programme 66.C (151ÅãF) for 60 min
HOPS
Simcoe ....... 13.0% alpha .......25g (1oz) ................. 60 min
Zeus ........... 12.8% alpha ......20g (.oz) ................... 60 min
Nelson Sauvin 12.0% alpha 40g (1.oz) ...................1 min
Cascade ...... 6.5% alpha .......40g (1.oz) ...................1 min
Simcoe ....... 13.0% alpha ......40g (1.oz) ...............dry hop
Amarillo .... 6.5% alpha ........40g (1.oz) ...............dry hop
FERMENTATION
Yeast .........................................2124 Bohemian Lager
Temperature ...........................11-13.C (52-55.F)
1 5

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Beer traveller
Beer traveller’s
guide to...
BOROUGH & BERMONDSEY
1
The brewery tap has been one of craft beer’s greatest success stories, no more so than
along the railway arches of Bermondsey with some eight breweries open for visitors
on a Saturday. Yet it’s not all benches among the fermenters. In nearby Borough and
Southwark, there are some wonderful pubs, from the thoroughly charming Royal
Oak to the thoroughly modern Rake.
6
2
BARS & PUBS
1. Dean Swift
There’s a lot of love for the Dean Swift, and
understandably so. It’s a great space, hidden away
near Tower Bridge, and a lot of care goes into the beer
selection. The Bermondsey breweries (see below)
rightfully take centre stage, but you’ll also find beers
from farther away such as the Bristol Beer Factory.
10 Gainsford St, Butler’s Wharf, SE1 2NE (020 7357
0748) / thedeanswift.com
2. Draft House
One of eight Draft Houses, this large pub in the
shadows of Tower Bridge is an airy place to try a wide
selection of beers from Siren to Fourpure, and usually
some incredible cask offers. Better still they make
their own gins and vodkas in the downstairs Bump
Caves, including a ‘Session IPA, rye, lychee and black
pepper’ spirit. Good food too.
206-208 Tower Bridge Road, SE1 2UP (020 7378
9995) / drafthouse.co.uk
3. Market Porter
This is a very busy and popular pub in Borough
Market and full of heritage. Alongside the almost
continuous buzz, there’s a range of nine constantly
changing well-kept real ales.
9 Stoney Street, Borough Market, SE1 9AA (020 7407
2495) / markettaverns.co.uk
9. Fourpure Brewing Company
A little farther south in Bermondsey, is the superb
Fourpure brewery and taproom (see p6). The big
pull is the wide range of seasonals and one-offs
they’ll have on tap. Open Saturday.
22 Bermondsey Trading Estate, Rotherhithe New
Road, SE16 3LL (020 3744 2141) / fourpure.com
TRY: Any specials you’ve not had before
10. The Kernel Brewery
Kernel is one of the country’s best breweries and is
been at the forefront of London’s brewery scene. No
matter the style, you know it’s a Kernel beer – a sign
of a great brewery. This brewery has become a bit of
a focal point for the Bermondsey scene and is a very
pleasant stop early on a Saturday. The freshest place
to try the beers that are at their best when brand new.
01 Spa Business Park, Spa Road, SE16 4QT
/ thekernelbrewery.com
TRY: Export India Porter
11. Partizan Brewing
It’s amazing what you can make in such a small space,
yet Partizan are making some incredible beers that
match the eye-catching artwork. As a brewery they
are constantly changing the ingredients so there’ll
always be something new to try.
8 Almond Road, South Bermondsey, SE16 3LR
(0208 127 5053) / partizanbrewing.co.uk
TRY: Saison Cuvee Lemon
10
3
4. The Rake
The Rake ticks every box us beer lovers want. It’s a cosy
space on the river side of Borough Market and has
around 130 beers at any one time. There are regular tap
takeovers and other fun events too. It’s from the same
people as Utobeer in Borough Market itself (see below).
14a Winchester Walk, Borough Market, SE1 9AG
(020 7407 0557) / utobeer.co.uk
5. Royal Oak
For our money, this is one of the capital’s most
charming pubs. It’s a lovingly-refurbished Victorian
pub run by Lewes brewers Harveys who supply most
of the beers. Its hidden away location makes it a
perfect escape from the bustle of the city. Etched glass
windows, friendly-staff, good beer and food.
44 Tabard Street, Borough, SE1 4JU (020 7357 7173)
/ harveys.org.uk
BREWERIES
12. Southwark Brewing Co
The newest of the Bermondsey breweries and one
that concentrates on traditional cask beer. The core
range includes Bermondsey Best and a London Pale
Ale. The bar, close to the foodie mecca Maltby Street,
has a couple of brews on and bottles coming soon.
46 Druid Street, SE1 2EZ (020 3302 4190)
/ southwarkbrewing.co.uk
TRY: Bermondsey Best
13. UBrew
A brewery yes, but one where you brew the beers.
There are a range of courses, but become a member
and you can book time on the nanokit and brew
whatever you like. The fermenters are yours to use.
There’s expert advice on hand too. There’s also a bar
here open with a range of beers, for example, Buxton
Brewery, Burning Sky, Siren and Magic Rock.
Old Jamaica Business Estate, 24 Old Jamaica Rd,
SE16 4AW / ubrew.cc
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6. Anspach & Hobday
This newish brewery is firmly rooted in London’s
brewing culture and fittingly, it’s the award-winning
porters that are the highlight here. Currently this
brewery is open Friday evening and Sunday as well as
the regular Saturday.
118 Druid Street, SE1 2HH (020 8617 9510)
/ anspachandhobday.com
TRY: The Porter
7. Brew By Numbers
Brew By Numbers has quickly cut itself out as one
of London’s most interesting breweries. A wildly
experimental programme with ingredients has led to
some classics, such as the cucumber & juniper saison.
79 Enid Street, SE16 3RA
/ brewbynumbers.com
TRY: The latest and freshest saison.
BOTTLE SHOPS
14. The Bottle Shop
One of the best beer shops in the capital. It’s open
Saturdays between 11am-7pm for a vast range of
carefully curated beers. You can trust that only
exceptional beers make the cut here and the staff can
advise. There’s also a shop in Canterbury.
128 Druid Street, SE1 2HH (020 3490 9252)
/ bottle-shop.co.uk
16. Utobeer Cage
The ‘Cage’ is a spot in Borough Market that has been
there since 1999. It was one of the first of its kind in
the UK. Today, there are more than 700 beers on offer.
We’re regulars here!
Unit 245, Middle Row, Borough Market, SE1 1TL.
/ utobeer.co.uk/the-cage/
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Tasting notes
Lervig Aktiebryggeri
BETTY BROWN (4.7 )
A rich, autumnal beer from Norway’s fabulous Lervig
brewery
Roosters
BABY-FACED
ASSASSIN (6.1 )
A canned IPA of two halves
Saltaire Brewery
IMPERIAL IPA (9.5 )
A bold, brazen and big-hearted beer in the way the
hop character shines in the glass
Keswick Brewing Co
THIRST GOLD (3.6 )
A gold standard beer and it slakes your thirst
Farmhouse IPA, Lervig’s collaboration with Magic
Rock was the standout beer of 2014 for me. Mike
Murphy, Lervig’s Philadelphia-born head brewer
knows his way around a dark beer having created the
stunning Beer Geek Breakfast with Mikkeller. From
the nicely retro-labelled bottle this pours a nearly
opaque copper with a tight beige head. You’re straight
into a rich caramel sweetness which gently slides into
a pleasing and distinct autumnal nuttiness. A subtle
backbone of Pacific Gem hops and hints of whisky,
sherry and vanilla roll around the palate, along with
notes of rye sourdough bread. Protip: Usually I’d
rather drink beer than cook with it, but this a real
winner added to a slow cooker when making pulled
pork. TenInchWheels / lervig.no
This bold, colourful, vividly flavoured IPA is a
case of yin and yang as citrus orange, juicy mango
and passion fruit juice notes leap out into the air,
acrobatic and assertive, lubricious and luscious, to
be balanced against a bracing bitterness and a grainy
dryness in the finish. This is a beer in which the
Citra hop shines with all its glorious aromatic might
and it deserves your full attention when it comes to
drinking it (thinking about a dish on the side will
only get in the way of the beer). Try this in a can (or
you might want it from a cask) and watch how it
turns a commonplace, everyday day into an IPA day
(and given that Roosters make their mighty beers in
Knaresborough we could be talking about a Yorkshire
IPA day). ATJ / roosters.co.uk / Buy from ABM, BH
What is an Imperial IPA? Easy answer: it’s a beer
swaggering about, noisy and cocky in its hop
confidence, but it’s also about being friendly and
knowing; no one likes a bully and this special Saltaire
release is a exemplary Imperial IPA. There’s aniseed,
malt sweetness and citrusy orange on the palate; these
are big movements of flavour, continental drifts, a
fascinating interplay between the aniseed-like notes,
the malt, the citrus, the chewy texture, the pleasing
alcoholic fieriness, some orange pith and a retro-nasal
whiff of fresh tea leaves, and then a big deep dive
into a pool of bitterness and dryness all of which fit
together as neatly as a master craftsman’s dry-stone
wall high up on the Dales close to where this beer is
brewed. ATJ / saltairebrewery.co.uk
I was in Keswick recently and drinking this excellent
ale with a German chap and I think it converted
him to British beer. (Actually he preferred the
slightly darker, chestnut coloured Thirst Session
3.7%, which has a slight malty aftertaste.) Keswick
Head ‘Brewster’ Sue has a range of beers from 3.6%
to a 7% IPA. Thirst Gold is a light, bright, golden
colour and just looking at it cheered me up. But this
is a beer made for quaffing, its gentle hoppy aroma
combined with a subtle clean bitterness and a very
slight undertone of citrus make it a fabulous session
beer. Essentially this beer is a no frills refreshing drink
and moreish, just as a good beer should be. Sup it cool
on a warm summer evening, al fresco if possible. Alan
Hinkes / keswickbrewery.co.uk
Boulevard TANK 7 (8.5 )
A spinning, thrilling Innovative Belgian US saison rye beer from – you’re one of Bristol’s in Kansas leading now
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breweries
It’s American saison time as a whirling Wurlitzer of
aromatics emerge out of the glass: sour, farmyardlike,
the smell of fresh hay alongside a crystalline
sweetness that makes things a lot more enjoyable
that you’d expect it to be. There’s also an iron-like
firmness, metal warming in the sun, plus white
Left Hand Brewing Fourpure Brewing Co
NITRO STOUT (6 ) PILS (4.7 )
‘Pour hard’ for this bottled milk stout from the US
masters Left Hand
A fantastic example of the depth a lager can have, and
all the sweeter it can now be bought in Marks & Sparks
The texture is like wrapping your tongue in a velvet Rejoice! For those of us who don’t live in the larger
glove, the flavour is a rich, creamy hot chocolate with urban conurbations, the excellent service of online
a drop of espresso, and the whole experience is a joyful retailers is our touch point with the beer world.
one. There’s even a hint of drama: ‘Pour Hard’ is the Yet, bit by bit, we’re seeing the welcome infiltration
advice on this bottled Nitro version of Left Hand’s of brilliant beers in supermarkets. Waitrose, Tesco
classic beer. It is topped up with nitrogen rather than and now Marks & Spencer are stocking great beers
CO2 and the difference between the Nitro and the including Buxton, Camden Town and this complex
normal one is in the size of the bubbles. This pitch Pils from Fourpure. There’s a light sweetness on the
black stout has a thick head once settled, like whipped nose, maybe honey, but it’s not until you’ve taken
cream, and the luscious mouthfeel swirls around a good swig that the bitterness and pepperiness of
covering the tongue in an increasingly complex attack the classic Saaz and Mittelfruh. It’s a showcase, as
of indulgent nuances. This Nitro clearly makes it a those mentioned from page 9, of the depth of flavor
smoother drink, and after dinner it’s perfect. Some a pilsner can have, and best of all I no longer have to
may prefer the little more roughness in the original lug a six-pack down from London. By the time this
version, but this is a event of a beer.
publication is in your hands, there’ll be a dry hopped
DN / lefthandbrewing.com
version too. DN / fourpure.com / Buy from ABM,
pepper. Amidst all these earthy, spicy heroics, there’s
a softness on the palate, comfortable and lullaby-like,
reminiscent of bubblegum, pineapple and rhubarb, a
boiling sweetness of confection kept in line by a stick
of feathery sourness; a herbal peak mid-palate brings
to mind cough lozenges, all of these flavours swirling
Bears Brewery
LONDON KNIGHT (6.7 )
One rich and lucious, one clean and crisp... oh and
very low sugar – two lagers from newcomers Bears
Unusually, we’re hitting up two lagers in one review:
one rich, velvety, full of life, the other sprightly, mildly
smoky and containing almost no sugar. Bear Brewery
have an interesting proposition: apparently the lowest
sugar content beer in the UK, plus a range Czech
and Slovak beers. Nimmitha the founder of Bear’s
Brewery, loves beer, but sugar hates him. His answer?
Get his beer own low sugar beer brewed (0.3g per
100ml). The result is a bone-dry, crisp lager. London
Knight however, is all honey, spice, sweetness –
candyfloss at a fairground. It has the caramel richness
of Brooklyn Lager, and a velvetiness of tiny bubbles
you get from the flat white. “I would buy a lot of this,”
one Team O/G member said. There’s a joyful will to
this outfit, full of passion and this shines through with
their beer. DN / bear-brewery.co.uk
about like Dorothy on her way out of Kansas (where
Boulevard brew). At 8.5%, this is a big beer, whose
fatness of alcohol, alongside all the aromatics and
flavours, would see it ask a creamy, stinky blue cheese
out for a date with no fear of dismissal.
ATJ / boulevard.com
Wild Beer Co (4.5 )
WILD GOOSE CHASE
This lively beer is full of the tastes and aromas of an
English hedgerow in summer
The Wild Beer Company make a claim to put a ‘wild’
ingredient into every one of their brews - in this
case the allotment staple and stodgy pud favourite,
gooseberry. It pours from the can a pale sunrise yellow/
green with a big pillowy head. A zip of sherbet gives
way to rolling, spritzy dollops of - yes - gooseberry,
with hints of lemon pith, elderflower and freshly-cut
meadow after gentle summer rain. It’s like the English
landscape in a glass. You can practically hear Vaughan
Williams’ The Lark Ascending as you take a swig. All
this rambles on to a huge fruity finish with a tickle
of salty tartness. Refreshing and unusual. Perhaps
a Saison for the drinker who – like me – wouldn’t
usually reach for one.
TenInchWheels
/ wildbeerco.com / Buy from ABM

Your round
A selection of reader images
@CraftBeerHour Nothing beats an
antique railway lamp to use as a prop in a
pic of the @FivePointsBrew Railway Porter!
#CraftBeerHour
@hopburnsblack Also the beer and
hot sauce match that was tailor-made
for HB&B... #srirachastout
@slowpokesam Ta dah!
@sparkyrite Another fantastic brew from these...
they are really on top of their game lately
@hopburnsblack Here’s @AnspachHobday
demonstrating the dubious joys of a Cream Ale
ice cream float at ours recently...
@Sparkyrite
gammonbaron #cloudwaterbrew #ipa
#hopfenweisse #weisse #beer #beerporn
LAM Brewing @lambrewing
@LeedsBeerWolf a 2.5% peach
lambic. All the way from Brussels.
@TweedBrewCo we
have unemployed STIG
a job, rejected Clarko
though! And Gladiator
brewed for us ;)
@TweedBrewCo
@TweedBrewCo
#OGyourround
AWARD WINNING ENGLISH BREWERY
Field Sales
VACANCIES
CENTRAL LONDON
£ very competitive . bonus . mileage allowance
@1970sBOY Took at @AnspachHobday with
@bottleandbeanUK
@BeersIveKnown
@BeerOClockShowWow. Another
stunner from @sirencraftbrew The
aroma gives the impression of something
sour to follow and on the first taste you
get amazing sweet flavours, hints of the
vanilla and a big raspberry hit. Then
you get the sweet aged porter with a hint
of roasted flavours a bitterness. This is
simply a stunning beer.
Freedom is the UK’s original lager micro-brewer, and our portfolio
of award-winning lagers is recognised for its quality throughout the country.
Due to the recent expansion of the brewery and to rapidly rising sales, we are
looking to expand our team and recruit an experienced salesperson to cover
the Central London region.
@1970sBOY Just popped into local
JDW on way home from work. I’d
forgotten how good this is...
This role will involve day to day sales, developing existing business and
creating new business. Knowledge and integrity is vital for our success in this
part of the beer market, therefore an in-depth understanding of craft beer and
the on-trade is essential. Ideally, applicants should be based in this region.
We are looking for someone who is a self-starter, not afraid of a challenge and
can demonstrate a strong record of success in the industry. Ideally degree
educated, the candidate should have at least 2 years current experience in
brewery sales.
@HalfPintGent
my favourite beer
shot! Last summer
in ostend...
Please send your CV and a covering letter explaining why you
have a passion for craft beer to leecalnan@freedombrewery.com
@Beerstalking Lagunitas IPA on
draught at @ED_FlyingPig The
only way to end the week
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