Meantime College Beer Club

There is no doubt that the twelve deliveries of two 75cl bottles of special and rare beers as part of the College Beer Club membership will prove to be excellent beers. However, at a chunky £350 for an annual membership, the guys at Meantime know that they will need to offer something additional in order to get people to join and more importantly renew for a second year.

Their idea is to make the Club more collegiate and to bring to members something a little different than just pubs and beer and to include a number of exclusive member benefits and events.

The launch event was held a couple of weeks ago at the Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House, SE1 where members of the club were invited to a private viewing of one of Manet’s last great paintings, the Bar at the Folies-Bergère, painted in 1882.

About fifty members ventured out on a very cold evening and we were guided on arrival into the main gallery which is packed with major Impressionist works by leading artists such as Van Gogh and Gaugin. We eventually gathered in front of Manet's iconic painting where we were addressed on its merits, its context and its historical importance by Emeritus Professor John House, a leading authority on such works.




The only beer in the gallery was the two bottles of Bass that are in the painting of the Bar at the Folies Bergère - one thought is that the famous venue was a tourist trap attracting wealthy Brits who were drawn to their favourite beer - served warm from the bar - before legging it with one of the ladies of the night. Alternatively, the Bass could have been such a world famous beer that it sold well among the chilled champagne and fine wines.

After a full illustration of the painting we were led to the foyer where Peter Haydon of Meantime gave a talk on the history of brewing in London, the Bass application for the very first trademark and the tales that all beer - whether IPA, Stouts and Porters and indeed Pilsner lager all emanated from London.

We were all drawn into the stories with copious amounts of Meantime IPA, London Porter and were sent home with a bottle of the most tasty, Meantime London Lager.

A very enjoyable evening in good company that will hopefully set the scene for the year ahead. I am looking forward to the next event almost as much as the next delivery of beer.

It is hoped that the next event will be a talk on some of the famous Hogarth etchings that are in the John Soane Museum while the next beer will be a 7.5% Scotch Ale.

College Beer Club from Meantime

This week I am going to share some ideas for Christmas presents for the beer drinker. First up is probably the most extravagant gift of the season, an annual membership of the College Beer Club launched in time for Christmas by Meantime of Greenwich.

An annual membership brings two 750ml corked and wired champagne bottles of specially brewed and aged beers couriered each month to your door. The first beer hopefully delivered in time for Christmas will be a 13.5% imperial Russian stout, aged for ten months in whisky casks and described as liquid Christmas pudding. This will be followed by monthly deliveries of wood aged beers, historic beer styles from previous centuries, recreations of lost recipes plus innovative new brews all created by the fair hand of the Meantime brewmeister, Alastair Hook.

I am not going to deny that £350 for twelve deliveries of two bottles is not a large amount of money, each bottle working out at just under £15 a bottle. However, with membership limited to 500 these beers are going to be scarce. Once they're gone, they're gone and compared to some of the special imports from USA and Scandinavia they represent some value.

I have spent my expenses as London Ale Taster on my membership which I think is a rather neat virtuous beer circle.

I am also rationalising spending that much money by comparing it to the investment made last year in Brewdog. Some of us sent Brewdog money last year when they went through a fundraising to grow the business. There was no beer involved, just an investment, a chance to share in the future growth of the company and a feeling of being involved with one of the country's most innovative outfits.

I see much in common with the College Beer Club. A chance to support Meantime's move to modern new brewery in Greenwich, a feeling of kinship and brotherhood, a chance to feel involved. Instead of a share of future growth, there is the chance to try some great beers over the course of a year.

This College Beer Club "investment" is only for one year and I may be proved wrong but I am guessing that it will be more rewarding and more enjoyable than the future of my Brewdog investment.

So there you have it. An extravagant Christmas present for the beer lover in your life though something with instant payback and enjoyment and a gift that will keep giving throughout the coming year. I look forward to seeing some of you at the launch party in January.

Meantime - amended

Yesterday, I took a trip to Waitrose to check the details of my previous post only to find that the two Meantime beers mentioned had increased in price to £3.99 for a 75cl bottle.

On reflection, I guess that the price of £2.66 before Christmas was a 3 for 2 offer (yes, I can do the maths) although it was not advertised as such.

£3.99 is still good value (in my opinion) for beers of such quality - and strength - but obviously not the bargain that I suggested - Sorry.

Meantime have not had much CAMRA recognition over the years as they supply very little cask beer to pubs even though pretty much all of their bottled beer is "real".

They are a brewery that CAMRA London tries hard to support within those confines and hopefully we will see some more of the excellent cask versions at some beer festivals in the coming year.

Meantime

One of the highlights of my Christmas was finding two of the best bottled beers around at my local Waitrose at a very keen price.

Large (750ml) corked bottles of Meantime London Porter and Meantime India Pale Ale are now sold in Waitrose at £2.66 a bottle. Considering I just paid close to £10 for similar bottles from Lost Abbey, admittedly imported from California, I thought £2.66 an absolute bargain and "filled my boots".

Meantime London Porter is brewed at 6.5% to a 1750 recipe using seven different malts and fuggles hops. It is a ruby coloured, dark beer and is bottle conditioned giving rounded coffee flavours and aromas.

Meantime India Pale Ale is also brewed to a traditional recipe at 7.50%, with maris otter malt, fuggle and golding hops. Hop levels are high but not too overpowering. The beer is also bottle conditioned, slides down smoothly and has a long fruity aftertaste.

Both of these beers are among the best available on the supermarket shelves and I commend them to your attention. Each one is not too much of a belly full in one sitting but they are also perfect for sharing.

Meantime are experts in brewing traditional style beers for the adventurous beer lover. These are not bog standard beers, they are crafted with care and attention to detail and at this price they are a steal.