Sunday, November 27, 2016

Mutiny - Too niche?

Great News! This little guy has been picked as CAMRA's Champion Bottled Beer of Britain, for 2016.  I know it's getting on for 2017 now, but you will appreciate that the CAMRA mill grinds exceedingly slow.   What with the members votes, regional tastings and what have you, leading up to the final (held in a safely roped-off area at the NEC surrounded by the BBC Food & Drink Fair) it's taken this long for the organisation to strain, purple-faced, and plop out a result.

We're pleased, of course, and genuinely consider this an honour. Say what you like about CAMRA, but decisions like this come out of a huge collective wealth of beer drinking experience, expert as well as enthusiast, unswayed much (we like to think) by considerations of trendiness.

So thanks to everyone who helped get us here - particularly those folks who knew the beer was special without being told - and bought it.
And now, let's answer a few questions:

Barrel aged?
No. It matures in a Stainless Steel tank for a minimum of 3 months.

Oak?
Nope.  We tried oak chips a few years ago, but it was a waste of time.

Coffee? Chocolate?
No. It's beer.

Vanilla?
No, seriously, it's beer. Vanilla is for ice-cream. Or cake. You could have cake, or ice-cream, as well!

Is it really bottle-conditioned?
Yes, it's bottled pretty much flat with a dose of sugar and a dab of fresh yeast.  Then it has 2 weeks warm-conditioning.  Then (finally) we can sell it.

A "dab" of yeast?
Er, yes. Actually, we target something like 600k cells/ml. Which is considered rather a lot round here.

Why do you have to make it so strong? I mean, 9.3%, sheesh!
OK, consider, what we call large glass of wine  is probably 250ml. So that large glass of Malbec your mother is drinking delivers more alcohol. Are you calling your mother a drunk? Shame on you.

Of course, some of the flavours we're after depend on the alcohol to develop. So I'm afraid you'll have to grin and bear it.

That said, we have considered blending the Mutiny with our regular Dry Stout. You could try that.

Well, then, why don't you bottle-condition your weaker beers?
Because we don't believe it adds anything to them.  We don't do this just to be eligible for CAMRA awards. It's about the beer.