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20 December 2008
Who Drank All the Real Ale?
Why is it that whenever I pick-up an odd copy of Opening Times (a Camra magazine) that a fair few of the pubs mentioned in there do not serve any real ale when I visit?
I guess that the author strictly meant beers brewed according to Reinheitsgebot. As an aside, Opening Times is full of advertisments for Robinson's pubs, which sell products containing sulphur. These products do not accord to Reinheitsgebot.
But the conventional UK definition of Real Ale does not mean beers that adhere to the Reinheitsgebot. You will find that a large majority of the "real ale" sold in the UK contains adjuncts to a greater or lesser degree.
Also the sulphuriness of Robinson's (and Marston's) beers comes from the water, not the brewing ingredients.
Where is this conventional UK definition of real ale? I have looked here: http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=100330
It dances with the daisies with its use of terms such as 'traditional'.
Also, why does water quality (its impurity or staleness) or adding sugar that is not actually from the hop, fruit, etc., come into such 'definitions'? I am not picking, I am curious.
5 comments:
Any examples? Opening Times would never mention pubs favourably, or allow them to advertise, if they didn't normally serve real ale.
I guess that the author strictly meant beers brewed according to Reinheitsgebot. As an aside, Opening Times is full of advertisments for Robinson's pubs, which sell products containing sulphur. These products do not accord to Reinheitsgebot.
But the conventional UK definition of Real Ale does not mean beers that adhere to the Reinheitsgebot. You will find that a large majority of the "real ale" sold in the UK contains adjuncts to a greater or lesser degree.
Also the sulphuriness of Robinson's (and Marston's) beers comes from the water, not the brewing ingredients.
Where is this conventional UK definition of real ale? I have looked here: http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=100330
It dances with the daisies with its use of terms such as 'traditional'.
Also, why does water quality (its impurity or staleness) or adding sugar that is not actually from the hop, fruit, etc., come into such 'definitions'? I am not picking, I am curious.
Without thinking too hard: The George had no real ale when I went down after reading in Opening Times that it had some.
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