Building a Better Beer Business Part 6: Beer Business

Building a Better Beer Business Part 6: Beer Business

Ben McFarland concludes his look at ways to improve your beer offering with a list of must-stock brews for every occasion

Every good thing has a time and a place. The undeniable mirth of a whoopee cushion, for example, becomes misplaced when placed on a pew at a funeral; French kisses are fun, but not at a family reunion; and it’s considered unwise to browse high-resolution images of low-brow contortions on your laptop while at North Korean border control.

And so it is the same for beer. Beer, in general, is a good thing. Often a great thing. But when pondering the greatest beer, it’s all about the occasion. Marketing people love talking about Drinking Occasions, and if marketing people talk about it, then dammit, it must be true.

Anyway, with that in mind, here’s a ‘why, when and how’ list of great bottled beers (some are also available on tap) to cater for an array of said Drinking Occasions. Taste is, of course, subjective and there may well be people who disagree with those selected. But it’s worth remembering that such people are wrong.

Top of the Charts

1 Best with a burger

Flying Dog Brewery, Old Scratch Amber Lager, 5.5% abv

It has to be an American brew, since eating burgers is a national pastime in the States (alongside taking guns into school). This amber beer is an excellent ale and lager cross-breed from the fantastic Flying Dog kennel, renowned for cocking its leg on the fire hydrant of conformity. Its mellow malt body is mirrored by the burger’s caramelised sweetness and, it being American, there’s enough hop bitterness and alcohol to stand up to succulent textures. The bottle labels, designed by Ralph Steadman, look the mutt’s nuts too.

Serve in: Branded Flying Dog glassware
(half or full pint)
Match with: Burgers – concentrate will you?
£32.25/24x35.5cl. James Clay, 01422 377560

2 Best different but drinkable beer

The Kernel Brewery Export Stout, 7.8% abv

The problem with unusual, extreme and über-esoteric ales is that they may make a lot of noise among beer boffins and in the blog-o-sphere, but don’t necessarily bring in the beans for one’s business. This delectable dark Dickensian drop, crafted in Bermondsey by the extremely able hand of the impressively principled brewer Evin O’Riordain, could very well be the exception.

Brewed using a late 19th century recipe, it’s a smooth-as-satin stout, darker than a pawnbroker’s soul, and an alcoholic epiphany when served in a brandy balloon or snifter alongside a digestif (think espresso, tobacco, chocolate and vanilla notes). It comes in a sexy-looking bottle adorned with a minimalist label, too.

Serve in: Snifter
Food match: Oysters
£36.96/24x33cl. The Kernel Brewery, 07757 552636

3 Best ‘session’ beer

Woodforde’s Wherry Bitter, 3.8% abv

As any brewer worth his malt will confirm, it’s easier to brew a flavoursome beer that’s high in alcohol
than one with an abv below, say, 4%. But it can be done and, following the recent introduction of a
tax break for beers below 2.8% abv, more breweries will be doing so – and echoing the government’s ‘drinking less’ mantra in the process.

It remains to be seen whether sub-2.8% beers will catch on with consumers (I personally think it’s a little too low). But there are plenty of mid-strength 3-4% beers that punch well above their weight in terms of flavour. Best bet is a quintessential British bitter – Brakspear Bitter from Marston’s and Adnams Southwold Bitter are two such superb session ales – but Woodforde’s Wherry, brewed in Norfolk at 3.8%, is a real winner. Very, very drinkable.

Serve in: Dimpled pint mug
Match with: Cheese and meat platters
£23.88/12x50cl. Woodforde’s, 01603 720353

4 Best Classic

Orval, 6.2% abv

Every beer list needs an icon; a beer that shows you know what you’re talking about; a legendary liquid that will appease beard-stroking, hop-fondling know-it-alls.

Again, however, it’s got to sell. There’s no point going for a gueuze or a gose-style beer because, really, only beer geeks drink them. Trappist beers, however, tick both the ‘authentic’ and ‘approachable’ boxes. While some Trappist breweries have let standards slip a little, Orval has recently rediscovered its hallmark hoppiness.

An intensely aromatic and uniquely intricate beer that’s brewed with bespoke specialist malt, dry-hopped using Hallertau and Styrian Goldings and tapped with the Brettanomyces wand of secondary fermentation. It’s made by monks. Monks are employed by God. So, if it’s good enough for him…

Serve in: Orval glass. Nothing else
Match with: Sunday roasts
£19.85/12x33cl. James Clay, 01422 377560

5 Best Cellar Beer

Greene King Strong Suffolk Vintage Ale, 6% abv

Much like wine, beer is capable of ageing, changing and developing greater character and complexity when laid down in a cellar for a serious bit of slumber action. With a bit of help from the right yeast and bacteria, Old Father Time can smooth out harsh flavours, furnish a beer with funky fruit flavours
and present a beer at its genuine best.

Robust barley wines, old ales, porters, stouts and strong barrel-aged beers are all good cellar beers. Strong Suffolk, brewed in Bury St Edmunds, is a beguiling blend of Old 5X, a 12% old ale matured for at least two years in 100-barrel oak vats, and Burton Pale Ale – a full-bodied ale no longer available on its own. Think liquid fruitcake, vanilla and ripe autumnal fruits.

Serve in: Snifter
Match with: Cheese
£24.33/12x50cl. Greene King, 01284 763222

6 Best for Refined Refreshment

Weihenstephaner Hefe-Weiss, 5.4% abv

It doesn’t matter whether it’s Belgian or Bavarian, wheat beer must be on any self-respecting beer list. In Germany, wheat beer must be brewed without the addition of extra ingredients like coriander and orange peel – often seen in Belgian versions.

At the Weihenstephan Brewery in Bavaria, the oldest brewery in the world, they deftly cajole banana and clove character from the yeast to create an awesome, unfiltered beer.

Serve in: A tall wheat beer glass
Match with: Salads, Thai dishes
£16.75/12x50cl. Branded Drinks, 01594 810261

7 Best No-Brainer Beer

Pabst Blue Ribbon, 4.7% abv

Sandal-gazing beer talk tends to get a little bit boring, and sometimes people just don’t want to think while they drink. Step forward Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR), the blue collar lager currently enjoying a cult revival across the Pond, and more recently available over here thanks to importers Pierhead Purchasing.

Dating back to 1882, PBR is a stateside classic. On both the east and west coasts of America, Blue Ribbon is the beer for hipsters with its easy-drinking allure and underground, undersold image. It’s a decent drop and scooped a gold medal at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival in 2006.

Serve in: The 35.5cl bottle
Match with: Salty snacks
£25/24x35.5cl. Pierhead Purchasing, 01322 662377

8 Best for the Myopic Mainstream Drinker

Pilsner Urquell, 4.4% abv

Like it or not, the consumer thirst for a pint of Stella or equivalent remains reassuringly extensive – despite the fact the brand’s star has waned. Big budget brands well-placed to pick up Stella’s slack include Heineken, Peroni and Estrella Damm.

But if you want premium as well as provenance, then Pilsner Urquell is one to consider. Rich in history and wealthy of owner (SABMiller), it proudly stands as the original pilsner from the town of Pilsen. While it’s a more challenging sip than Estrella and Peroni, it’s got some similarly gorgeous glassware and a sub-5% abv to suit the more moderate mainstream drinker.

Serve in: Branded glass
Match with: Cured meats
£22.62/24x33cl. Matthew Clark, 01275 891400

9 Best for a Hop Head

Thornbridge Jaipur, 5.9% abv

It’s easy to brew an extremely hoppy beer. All you do is add heaps of hops into the brewing process. It’s harder, however, to brew a beer that is big on bitterness, yet not bereft of balance or, indeed, drinkability.

The clever chaps at Thornbridge have done just that. Inspired both by the amplification of India Pale Ale in America, and the tempered, traditional take on the British beer style, the herbaceous Jaipur sings resinous notes of citrus, grapefruit and marmalade.

Serve in: A white wine glass
Match with: Spicy food, curry
£17.18/12x50cl. Thornbridge Brewery, 01629 641000

10 Best for Spirit Drinkers

Harviestoun Ola Dubh (various expressions), 8% abv

While most brewers store their beer in steel, the brewers’ art is increasingly being framed in wood. These alchemists are exploring beer’s relationship with oak, birch and cedar; marrying beer with barrels previously used by winemakers and distillers, and meddling with myriad lengths of maturation and blending barrel-aged beers.

Harviestoun Ola Dubh is a voluptuous, velvet-smooth black beer that, unlike some barrel-aged beer, isn’t one dimensional in its wood or whisky character. Aged in casks that previously held various versions of Highland Park (ranging from 12 to 40 years), it’s a vortex of vanilla, peat and spicy chocolate.

Serve in: Whisky snifter
Match with: Crème brûlée
From £30/12x33cl. Harviestoun Brewery, 01259 769100

Editorial feature from Imbibe Magazine – January/February 2012