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Real Ale in a bottle
It's a problem we all have to face from time to time. You're thirsting for a pint of real ale but for some reason - work or family, perhaps - you can't get to the pub. There is however, an escape route: it's called real ale in a bottle. It may seem like a contradiction in terms but, yes, you can have real ale in a bottle. Real ale is usually applied to draught beer but it equally applies to bottled beers which contain yeast and mature in the bottle (bottle-conditioned beers). Such beers need to be poured carefully to avoid the yeast sediment dropping into the glass but the yeast won't do you any harm even if it does. The net result is a beer that tastes fresher, is more complex and has a much lighter texture than ordinary pasteurised and filtered bottled beers.
When CAMRA began life in 1971, there were only five bottle-conditioned beers in regular production and only two still survive - Worthington's White Shield and Gale's Prize Old Ale. The good news is that these two stalwarts have now been joined by well over 300 other bottle-conditioned beers, from all over the country. The last few years have seen a remarkable revival in bottled real ale, thanks mostly to the imagination of Britain's smaller breweries and the opportunities provided by high street retailers, mail order companies, specialist beer shops, local craft centres and farmers' markets. The choice of bottle-conditioned beers is now staggering and CAMRA Books has the whole field covered in the new, third edition of the award winning Good Bottled Beer Guide (sponsored by Safeway). In its handy, pocket-hardback format, the book profiles all bottle-conditioned beers currently available in the UK and includes features on storing, serving and tasting bottled beers, plus a survey of easy-to-find bottled real ales from overseas. Compiled by Jeff Evans, eight-times Editor of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide, the Good Bottled Beer Guide is priced £8.99 (a remarkable £3.99 to CAMRA members if ordered direct from CAMRA before the end of October) and is available from good bookshops or (post-free) from CAMRA at 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans AL1 4LW; tel. (01727) 867201 (credit card orders accepted).
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 12.
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