Some words on quality
March 13, 2008 by knutalbert
There is a discussion over at ratebeer right now concerning the views in the beer community of the beers from Fuller’s of London. Opinions differ, but there is one argument that I tend to support - they might not be the most adventurous of brewers, but they have a consistent quality, both for their bottled beers and the cask ales sold in pubs.
As I have stated earlier, I am all for exciting and extreme beers - I will try most beers once. But, on the other hand, there is a lot of bad stuff out there as well.
To make some sweeping generalisations, the very top beers often come from small brewers - Jämtland in Sweden, Mikkeller in Denmark, Nøgne ø in Norway, BrewDog in Scotland. They make inventive and exciting stuff. Not too everyone’s liking, but they put a lot of care and knowledge into their products.
On the other hand, there are micros who have won fame among family and friends with their home brew, buy some equipment and think they can scale up everything and then be in business. They often make spectacular failures. We had one micro here in Norway that had 4 (!) different Christmas beers listed at Vinmonopolet, the state monopoly stores, last year. Not a bottle turned up. Even their two standard beers taste miserably of failure in organic chemistry.
It is tragic for those who have tried to establish a micro to make a living. But it of broader concern, too, as Vinmonopolet will be even more vary of dealing with upstarts. And the casual consumer will reach for the labels he knows to make sure the contents are drinkable on Friday night.
So I will continue to take the risk of getting bad beers on occasion. But if I want to offer a guest a beer at my home, I will make sure it comes from a brewery that has consistent quality. And the bottled Fuller’s ESB is a good example that it certainly does not need to be Carlsberg or Heineken.
We have two Fuller beers at “the government store” as standard imports in cans for 2.50 CND and they are exceptional value - London Pride and Porter. No one said that extreme beer has to be a long standing trend or even, at the end of the day, very interesting at all once you have tried a few. Beer is bread for the most part and the workhorses of the fine brewing world need recognition for what they are.
I’d take Fuller’s over Mikkeller. Well, if it was Porter or 1845 - two exceptional beers. The two Mikkeller beers I’ve had - Beer Geek Breakfast and Jackie Brown - were car crashes. Pretty close to undrinkable. The flavours were far too intense to be any fun.
Hear, hear.
Mikkeller is very overrated, I think. I’ve tried a few and none of them are close to being balanced. Even the Struise one!
I too have had problems with Mikkeller although the jury is still out. The problem is that they’re so expensive here, you can’t get used to them. A 500ml bottle of Jackie Brown is £6.50 at this week’s London Drinker festival!
£6.50 is dirt cheap. You’d be lucky to find a pint of lager over here for that price.
Anyway, I’m off to Riga next week, where I have a feeling the prices are more moderate…
We get the Fuller’s vintage, too, now that I think of it. Around $6.50 CND for the box and bottle, which is about half a Jackie Brown and less than half the costs of a regular lager pint in Norway.
I had a Chiswick bitter and a Fuller’s Festival for the first time yesterday and thought both were ditchwater-dull. Most every other Fuller’s beer I’ve had I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, with the exception of Old Winter.
I still have a lot of respect for what Fuller’s do. I get the impression they still care about the beer.
Bottled ESB always impresses me — at its best, it’s hard to believe it’s not bottle conditioned. Gentle carbonation is one part of its appeal, I guess. There’s no fizz.