Meantime has been
spending a Sunday each month in trendy Shoreditch, spinning choons
and aiming to entice the Hipsters with some of their limited-batch
beers. The venue for this is the Boxpark, a pop-up retail experience
constructed from shipping containers and scaffolding. Here, global
brands like Nike sit side by side with local start-ups and street
food outlets. On Bethnal Green Road, vintage cars cruise up and down, although the Hipsterati wouldn't be seen admiring them.
Meantime are doing six summer Sundays here, under the guise of
#hopsatthebox.
It would appear an
unlikely setting for one of London's more conservative craft brewers,
but is part of an effort to put their beers in front of what is an
increasingly important demographic for craft beer in London. Earlier
in July, Meantime launched their latest seasonal Pale Ale (Pacific)
at something called Frank's Cafe, atop a multi-storey car park in
Peckham. I was due to go, but got my dates mixed up, and anyway, an
online search of the place revealed this whole 'cafe' thing is a bit
ironic (what else?), with not a bacon or sausage sandwich to be found
on the menu.
I'd been invited to the
previous two Boxpark events, but hadn't been able to get along. What persuaded me
this time was the beer. Called Fool's Gold, a pilsner brewed in
'collaboration' with a listings magazine on the small Old Brewery
plant, this had been single-hopped with Citra. I'd not had a lager
with Citra before, so wanted to check it out. It's also my view that
Meantime's most recent seasonal lagers have knocked the socks off
their ales. Tandleman recounts his recent taste of the Friesian Pilsner here. While the Pale Ales are solid enough, I prefer a bigger
hop character, and a lager hopped with something as distinctive as
Citra needed to be tasted.
 |
| Alex Morgan. A Geezer |
So I did, in the
company of memorable Meantime Beer Sommelier Alex Morgan, a real
character who I'd met a few weeks earlier at one of Meantime's beer
dinners. All wide boy patter and a real and infectious enthusiasm for beer and food,
he was working his socks off getting tasters of the beer into the
hands of passers-by. In one of those moments of synchronicity you
find around beer, he introduced me to a young American couple on their first trip to London. Turns out they were from Berkeley, in the East Bay, an area I've visited a couple of times now. They were visiting London for
four days and were hitting as many beer venues as they could.
Admirable.
So. The beer. It poured
a delicate pale gold and, being quite chilled, didn't show much of
the distinctive Citra character at first, but as it warmed a little
some of the cattiness started to show. Berry fruits were in evidence,
too. The hop wasn't overwhelming, rather it made this a flavourful and
easy-drinking beer. I had several, and every one was refreshing and
went down nicely, without any gassiness or bloated feeling. And it's
named after a Stone Roses song, so what's not to love?
Meantime are a funny
brewery. Their regular beers are well-made but can seem a bit
unexciting. I'll happily drink their wheat beer if I can find it
fresh. As I said, their recent lager styles have been excellent, but
who'll be able to drink them? I'm off to this weekend's beer fest at
The Old Brewery, and I'm hoping that there'll be some Fool's Gold
left.
Disclaimer: Boggle paid
for all of his beer at #hopsatthebox and bought his own ticket for
the fest at The Old Brewery.
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