Meantime seem to have convinced pubs all over London to take what we’re assuming is a kegged London Pale Ale. Its green badge has been appearing on big tacky chrome fonts all over the city in the last few weeks, following a successful launch as a bottled beer in some supermarkets earlier this year.
We’ve always been fans of Meantime’s range and haven’t even minded that they don’t, on the whole, bother with cask conditioning at their pub in Greenwich, because their beer simply tastes so nice. But this keg product breaking out into the wild could be a problem: people who run trendy bars and gastropubs are likely to give up on cask ale altogether if they’ve got a decent-tasting, nicely marketed keg alternative.
Then again, have we perhaps moved to a point where the method of dispense, all though a good rule of thumb when it comes to quality, isn’t the be all and end all? There are some very boring cask conditioned ales that, although ideologically sound, taste much worse than some of Meantime’s kegged products.
Is it kegged as we’re assuming? Has anyone tried it? Is it the same beer that’s sold at the Union as Pale Ale, latterly known as “Late Hopped Blonde’? If you have any information, the Kilroy production team would like to hear from you.
5 replies on “Something to worry about?”
I’ve noticed this too but can’t answer any of your searching questions. I’m not so worried. I see it as a good option in places that don’t have the facility to provide cask and not as an alternative to cask conditioning. The cask products often seen in trendy bars and gastropubs are usually boring and/or poorly kept. And I don’t think the Wenlock will be ripping out their handpumps just yet.
A poorly kept real ale does no one any favours. It is so easy to put people off real ale with bad experiences. I suppose the Meantime option is okay for an outlet that can’t sustain a ‘real’ option. I thought their stout was reasonable when I tried it a week or so ago.
I’m not worried about it either, though not always that impressed with Meantime’s beer. I assume this is the same beer as is sold in Sainsbury’s?
Meantimes beers are average at best, they think that they can kid us with pretty bottles. Meantime should concentrate on improving the contents of their pretty bottles, their beers lack complexity.
I disagree. The IPA and London Porter are both excellent and among the UK’s finest examples of each style.