Skip to main content

Advent Calendar Window 7 - Christmas Ale

"When you were putting up the lights this year, 
Did you notice one less pair of hands? 
I know this shouldn't be a lonely time, 
But there were Christmas' when I didn't wonder how you are tonight
Because there were Christmas' when you were mine"

Shepherd Neame. 

The brewery that started it all.

I suppose it is strange to imagine that there was a time when the clear bottled, unconditioned, liquidised malt burps presented by this brewery in bottles were a pinnacle of great beer for me. Like many, the famous oldest brewery in this country were a solid foundation of my love of beer. I was never a convert; I loved “bitter” and “ale” from the beginning of my drinking days. But some were sought after and, being the famous big southern brewery, Shepherd Neame weren’t seen on cask in my parts as often as you would think.

This is where my frightening memory comes in once more, as mentioned in Window 4. I am going to share with you my very, very specific Shepherd Neame memories as this is my platform for such hedonism. I could tell you about a site that boasts to have been brewing since 1573, but what beer bloggers don't know that story?


I remember sitting in the Common Room of my Halls of Residence in 2005, drinking a Bishop’s Finger and exclaiming to a non-plussed room, “If God was made of beer, he would be made of Bishop’s Finger.”

I had the incredibly wrong Bishop’s Finger advert on my wall at my house in Leeds in 2006, possibly something I shouldn't admit but I was once naive and stupid.

I recall seeing Late Red in bottles in a Hartlepool supermarket in 2008, getting excitied, and finding it exquisite.

I remember my first solo trip to London in 2009. As I wandered from King’s Cross, before Maps were so available on every smartphone, I stumbled into a nearby pub, only to be joyous that it was Shepherd Neame owned (something my northern innocence had never experienced.). I ordered a Bishop’s Finger and cooed over it like it was the best beer the capital could have. I convinced myself that it was a different, more refined taste on cask in that pub.
 
Sadly, what I have little memory of is a bottle of Shepherd Neame's Christmas Ale given to me as a gift in 2008. It was a small 330ml bottle, with a blue label, that was clear. It’s empty bottle sat on my beer shelf (that I finally dismantled in February this year) for over 5 years. Had I not kept the bottle, I might have thought I'd never had their Christmas Ale.
So we come to my Advent Calendar Window today where we find Shepherd Neame's Christmas Ale lurking. This one was given as a Christmas gift in 2012 so has been waiting for its moment for two years. Now with a ruby label and dark glass bottle, this could be a different experience altogether - or at least a memorable one.


It pours that glowng robin red breast scarlet that looks so beautiful in a  glass at this time of year; a flashback to days when seasonal ales were seasonal. It smells festive too; booze-soaked fruits, allspice and there's something like cider vinegar in there, but not in an offputting, vinegarish way. The taste is smooth and not a yuletide pot pourri liquidised mess like some. This beer builds subtletly, starting off a little lifeless and flavourless, but then a warmth starts to rise and festivity appears over sherry soaked berries, a hint of ginger, mace, pepper and a surprising amount of apple.The finish is long, oily and decadently fruity. I won't be asking Father Christmas for more this year, but I would happily return annually. It's solid, it's tasty, so why don't I love it?

One can only assume it's due to preconception. Despite all those happy memories mentioned at the beginning of this post, this brewery's more recent gifts are a mess of clear bottled horror  and skunked, malty detritus. I don't want to like this beer. But it's quite easily the best thing Shepherd Neame have ever put in bottles (No, I wasn't a fan of their India Pale Ale.)

Christmas Spirit Rating: 60%. Put a Christmas Pudding on my head and crush baubles in my face. Let's see where that gets us.

Revisit: Enghein Noel from December 12
or
Mary Christmas from last year 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

WHEN CELEBRITIES DIE - THE INFINITY OF PUBS

    Recently I was stood outside Huddersfield Railway Station waiting for my Replacement Bus Service. I was eating much needed food from a nearby fast food outlet and contemplating my next move. Other match-goers had gone home but I had over 50 minutes to wait for my bus. We’d already been to a few of our post-match regular spots and so I was contemplating somewhere new or different to pass the time now.   I stood in St George’s Square, behind the statue of Harold Wilson, and pondered where I should waste my next hour. And pondered and pondered. After deliberation that ate into much of my allotted time, I walked down to the familiar setting of The Sportsman, realising that there wasn’t anywhere different to go at all.   But whilst I deliberated, I cast my eye over the currently scaffold-covered George hotel opposite the station; a place I had been in once with my Dad. It’s downstairs public bar had stood as a firm and available option to match-goers fo...

The Pubs of Stalybridge Part One: The Stalybridge Seven.

And a touch more ...  Rififi Nightclub - once the town's cinema - has stood empty and unused for four and a half years This is the continuation of my posts of regular pub crawls to try and get myself in more pubs and discover more. Whilst I grew up in an old hamlet that most were quick to distance themselves from, my address clearly stated that we belonged to Stalybridge. However distant the town centre felt I was a Stalybridger, a Stalybridgian, a Stalyian: you know I don’t think I’ve ever heard us given a name before. I’m going with Stalyian. After a few moves around the country and through various relationships, I didn’t expect to find myself still local to the town in 2017. Whilst my address hasn’t stated Stalybridge for 3 years, I still spend plenty of time in the town – not least as it houses my “local.” To many in the north-west, it is famous for its nickname of Staly Vegas , that came about (as far as I’m aware) through its late Nighties-through-to-N...

Advent Calendar Window 14 - La Goudale de Noel

"Keep my distance, but you still catch my eye, Tell me, baby, do you recognise me? Well, it’s been a year, that doesn’t surprise me" La Goudale is an interesting French enigma. I searched for this under the label Brassee a L’Ancienne believing this to be the name of the brewery. After some fruitless searching, I learnt that this is not the name of a brewer, but rather a French saying that, roughly translated, means “Brewed in a Traditional way.” La Goudale is actually from the Brewery Gayant based in Douai, North-east France that aleso houses other well-nown brews such as Amadeus and La Biere Du Demon.  The real reason I find them an enigma though is for the discovery the other day that two of their beers – the Abbey and Wit – are sold in Aldi. They are in 750ml bottles and are £2.49 and £1.99 respectively. Housed here, the repugnant snob in me thinks they look cheap and unappetising on these shelves and managed to slightly put me off my La Goudale...