Originally publsihed in What’s Brewing December 2002
Origin: West Hewish, Somerset, England
ABV: 6 per cent
Buy from some supermarkets, specialist beer shops, Wessex Craft Brewers (www.wessexcraftbeers.co.uk)
RCH Ale Mary
The revival of spiced beer brewing in Britain is one of the most interesting developments of recent years. Opening the spice cupboard for the first time in centuries has set many brewers on a steep learning curve but the folk at RCH have got pretty near the top.
Originally established behind the Royal Clarence Hotel in Burnham-on-Sea in 1983 and relocated ten years later, RCH now has a strong slate of bottle-conditioned beers marketed through Wessex Craft Brewers (see WB, November). Ale Mary began as a 1998 Christmas special and this year is enjoying a new lease of life with supermarket listings.
The beer is actually the brewery’s strong ale Firebox, brewed from pale and chocolate malts, Progress and Target hops, and then pepped up with the addition of ginger, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg and pimento pepper. The spices recall the cuisine of Elizabethan times, so it’s a shame that Mary Stuart has disappeared from the label, rendering the slogan “beautifully executed” rather puzzling.
The beer emerges rich coppery amber, with a lively bead and a large, foamy and very persistent white head which, combined with a generous sediment, made it difficult to pour clear (to negligible effect). The head concentrates the spicy aromas: before reading the ingredients, I detected cinnamon, ginger, herby hops, and scents of freshly crushed fennel seeds and liquorice.
If the seasonal packaging and spicing have led you to expect a liquid Christmas pudding, you’re in for a surprise: the palate is notably dry. There’s plenty of spicy complexity over a crisp malt base, with a fruitiness redolent of vine fruits and tangerine peel with hints of coriander. A subtle but warming ginger character then develops – this rhizome has arguably become a national characteristic of British spiced beers, reflecting its traditional use in the native cuisine.
The beer gets slightly softer on the swallow, leading to a long, rummy finish with spiced pear fruit, nutmeg and sage, warming ginger and a fine bitter-hop astringency puckering the cheeks. Treating a beer that was already well-flavoured to such a diverse and thorough spicing might not have seemed the obvious route to success, but the result is beautifully balanced, delightfully dry, and always intriguing, with a complex range of flavours making themselves heard without shouting. One to sip over the cheese footballs.
Try also: Museum Wulfric, Freeminer Shakemantle, Jopen Koyt (Netherlands), Anchor Our Special Ale (USA), Vapeur Saison de Pipaix (Belgium)
Read more at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/rch-ale-mary/11075/
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