First published in BEER June 2007 as part of a piece about Threshers off licence chain’s Local Ale scheme.
ABV: 5.3 per cent
Origin: Sudbury, Suffolk, England
Website www.mauldons.co.uk
Threshers Local Ales: Alcazar Bombay Castle IPA, Mauldon's Black Adder, Three B's Shuttle Ale, Corvedale Dark and Delicious
A couple of decades back, home drinkers looking for life beyond Liebfraumilch and nips of Gold Label would turn to the high street off license rather than the supermarket. But the relentless expansion of the multiple grocers in the carry out sector has now squeezed off licenses’ market share to 18% as opposed to the supermarkets’ massive 66%.
Two survival strategies have emerged for the beleaguered off licenses. The first is convenience – the local offie filling the gap with popular brands when you fancy a drink at home but don’t have anything in. The other is specialisation at the upper end of the market, which until very recently meant fine wine, with the odd dabble in single malts and trendy spirits.
But as you may have read elsewhere in What’s Brewing over the past couple of months, the Thresher Group – now Britain’s biggest off license chain with around 2,000 stores – is experimenting with a new kind of offer to the discerning customer looking for quality booze that’s locally sourced: Local Ale.
The giant retailer is working with independent brewers’ organisation SIBA on a direct delivery scheme, enabling store managers to stock a modest range of locally brewed specialities alongside global brands.
A mouthwatering list runs to over 200 beers, almost half of them Real Ale in a Bottle, from over 100 breweries, tiny craft micros and well-established independents alike. If all these were available together in one place they’d pretty much wipe out the wants list of the average British beer hunter in one fell swoop, but the point is to keep things local, so you’d need to do a lot of travelling to collect the set.
Mauldon's Black Adder
From the list I’ve picked out four outstanding bottle conditioned lines that demonstrate the breadth of this laudable initiative, yet another sign that the big retailers are taking notice of the discriminating consumer interested in quality local produce, including decent beer. Check the brewery websites for details of other outlets.
Mauldon’s is a resurrected brewery: the family began with a brewpub in Sudbury in 1795 and built up an estate of 30 tied houses before selling out to Greene King in 1960. 22 years later, Peter Mauldon, himself a brewer with Watney, decided to revive the family business. Peter has now retired,but current owners Steve and Alison Sims still do the family name proud.
The strapline “The Black Adder Brewery” makes clear which of Mauldon’s excellent range of beers is the most widely celebrated: a dark ruby “bitter stout”, brewed from Maris Otter and Pearl pale malts, crystal and black malt and Fuggles hops.
A roasty, slightly salty aroma with a hint of olives and fruit introduces a milk chocolate palate that’s very light textured for the strength, with gravy, red fruit, coffee and spicy bitterness emerging.
An equally drying finish has big roast notes, slightly sharp hops and cocoa powder on the tongue. This is a great example of a big dry roasty beer, fully deserving of its star rating in the Good Bottled Beer Guide.
For more Threshers Local Ales see next post.
Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mauldons-black-adder/2905/
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