Celebrate Britain’s national alcoholic drink and spread beery love throughout the land by joining the National Cheers To Beer at 7 p.m. June 15th as millions of people across Britain raise a glass, say “Cheers to Beer” and post a message on social media with the hashtag #CheersToBeer. Beer Day Britain was founded by Jane Peyton, an award-winning beer sommelier, broadcaster and author, in 2015 and is supported by all major organizations within the industry. Regarding beer, Britain was notable in that for almost a hundred years, it resisted the tide of commercial lager brewing that swept around the world from Pilsen and Bavaria during the late 19th century. But in the 1970s Britain did succumb to lager, and cask ale was declared to be in terminal decline. Today, Britain resembles the rest of the beer-drinking world much more closely than it once did. For Peaks & Pints’ celebration of Beer Day Britain, we offer a five-beer flight of beer brewed in England and Scotland — a flight we’re calling Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Beer Day Britain.
Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Beer Day Britain
Samuel Smith Organic Strawberry Fruit Beer
5.1% ABV
One of the oldest operating breweries in the world, Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery has been brewing with the same derivative yeast strain in the same stone vats for the last 255 years. They even keep a small team of Shire horses — a breed that traditionally pulled brewery wagons — to deliver beer around its hometown of Tadcaster. But for all this tradition, Samuel Smith is remarkably modern. All but one of its beers is vegan and the brewery has an entire line of organic ales, including its Strawberry Fruit Beer. According to Samuel Smith’s, it’s brewed at All Saints Brewery in Stamford, England using all manually operated equipment. Barley and wheat are combined to make an ale, fermented and aged for an extended period, then taken to Samuel Smith’s brewery in Tadcaster, England. It is at this stage where they blend in pure strawberry juice to create a fruit-forward ale with malt and some bittering hops on the back.
Belhaven Scottish Ale
5.2% ABV
John Johnstone founded Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar in 1719. Belhaven means “beautiful bay,” named after the stunning coastal location in East Lothian on which it resides. The home of Scottish brewing, Belhaven brews with local Scottish barley, water from its brewery well, its own unique Belhaven yeast and the choicest of hops from around the world. Belhaven’s Scottish Ale is a solid beer with a nutty, sweet flavor and a touch of oak in the aroma. Because the can has a nitrogen widget, this scotch ale has an extraordinary long-lasting head, which also gives it a very smooth and rounded mouthfeel.
Harviestoun Old Engine Oil
6% ABV
Born in 2000, and winner of the first ever Tesco Beer Challenge, Harviestoun Brewery’s Old Engine Oil English porter is brewed designed to have a thick, dark, gloopy appearance. The Scottish brewery piles in the oats to smooth out the bitterness from the roast barley and the mash is brewed at a super-high-temperature mash to make the wort less fermentable. The result is a black beer that has a greater sweetness and fuller flavor than many other stouts and porters, as well as a surprisingly light texture. Expect notes of coffee, slightly buttered toffee, dark chocolate and earthy hops.
Mount Saint Bernard Abbey Tynt Meadow
7.4% ABV
Mount Saint Bernard Abbey is a Roman Catholic, Trappist monastery near Coalville, Leicestershire, England, founded in 1835 in the parish of Whitwick and now in that of Charley. The abbey was the first permanent monastery to be founded in England since the Reformation and is the sole Trappist house in England. Trappist beers tend to be named after the place in which the monastery is situated. Mount Saint Bernard Abbey calls their brewery “Tynt Meadow” to honor the link with the plot of land on which monastic life was re-founded in the Midlands almost two centuries ago. Being part of the great Trappist tradition, they chose to produce a strong dark ale, but one with a clearly English character. Tynt Meadow is mahogany-colored, with a subtle, warm red hue, and a lasting beige head. Its aroma carries hints of dark chocolate, licorice, and rich fruit flavors. The beer is full-bodied, gently balancing the taste of dark chocolate, pepper, and fig. It leaves a warm and dry finish on the palate.
Traquair House Jacobite Ale
8% ABV
Traquair House Brewery, located within Scotland’s oldest inhabited house, uses a 1738 copper kettle and oak fermenters to produce their Jacobite Scotch Ale. They also brew it with an ancient ingredient, coriander, for rich, deep flavors accented by the exotic coriander aroma. The malt profile is diverse with toasty, nutty, bready, grainy, slight cocoa, light roast, caramel, molasses, and a touch of smoky notes. Plums are bright and are joined by notes of raisin and prune.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
