“But as English Bass is never quite the real article on the Continent, so Münchener is never quite the real thing in England. Whether beers have to be fortified or not for a voyage outside their own country they have a tendency to be both doubtful and dear. Bass is too ‘gassy’ on the Continent; Munich too biting in England… In its native beer-gardens Münchener is the prince of beers — brown and bland and soft, with a cream of froth like a beaten egg, a delicate flavour, cold, yet not icy, refreshing to the body, and comforting to the stomach…”
W.R. Holt, ‘Germans and their Drinks’, Daily Express, 04/09/1902
(Brown and bland — count us in!)
5 replies on “QUOTE: Dear and Doubtful, 1902”
“Comforting to the stomach”
I love this old-timey tasting notes. So much more fun to read than the “notes of rosehip freshly picked in a meadow while wearing a horse blanket” sort of thing so common this days. 🙂
In the past, “bland” didn’t have the negative connotations that it has nowadays and tended to be used to refer to an absence of harsh or off-flavours.
True.
Excellent, good find.
Gary
Reading this again, isn’t it striking how the writer finds Bass’s palate atypical outside of England? This would be due to the shipment and age of the beer. Yet, Bass was the classic export pale ale. In India, the palate, presumably even further evolved from the taste on the Continent, was considered classic for much of the 1800’s. I guess it is all relative…
Gary