This week's 1981 Royal Wedding beer is Young Rowley brewed by Paine & Co in St Neots, Cambridgeshire.Another 275ml brown bottle with foil top and crown cap. It is common for beers in this period not to have the ABV on the label.
The beer poured a very dark red colour but was completely flat and had bits floating throughout.
The aroma was stale and not pleasant and , although the taste did have some subtle hints of fruit and sweetness, I decided that a couple of sips was more than sufficient.
This beer was called Young Rowley. I believe that this is a nod to the fact that Charles II was nicknamed "Old Rowley" which was the name of his favourite horse, Prince Charles thus being nicknamed "Young Rowley" by Paine's Brewery.Some background from A Century of British Brewers published by the Brewery History Society : James Paine acquired the brewery site in St Neots in 1831. The company was renamed Paine & Co in 1896. The business was taken over by a group of travel agents in 1982 and was eventually acquired by Tollemache & Cobbold in 1987 when brewing ceased.
The 1982 Good Beer Guide suggests that 15 of its 23 houses sold real ale plus many free trade outlets.
2 comments:
That one looks really cool, sounds like it wasn't to taste though, which is always a shame. It's always very interesting to open bottles like that though. I'm thinking of cracking a 'strong lager' from 1981 brewed to celebrate the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer. if you can pronounce the name of the brewery i'd be inpressed - llwncdestyn teyrngar? (I think)
Fascinating - I still have a bottle of this unopened and always wondered what it'd be like!
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