Beer #136 - Marks & Spencer Greenwich Smoked Bock

I picked this bottle up alongisde the Black IPA featured in my last post, the Greenwich Smoked Bock being another new brew for Marks & Spencers produced by Meantime. This is another new style for me so I don't really have anything to compare it to. It's pretty strong (for me) at 6.0%, although it seems it's at the weaker end for the style. It poured a darkish copper colour. The smokiness is strong in the aroma and it smells almost like smoky bacon. The smokiness is evident in the taste but it's nicely balanced by some sweet toasty caramel. I'm not sure that I'll become a big smoked bock fan off the back of this but I enjoyed it nontheless.

 

Brewery: Meantime Brewing Co.

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 6.0%

Beer #135 - Marks & Spencer Greenwich Black IPA

When I first heard about this new brew from Meantime, produced exclusively for Marks & Spencer I was very eager to try it having recently come across the concept of a black IPA in this article. Unfortunately my first visit to an M&S to pick one up saw me coming away empty handed, the shelves had been stripped bare. Due to my own laziness it took a while before I finally obtained and drank a bottle this weekend. A dark pale ale obviously seems a bit oxymoronic in name, it combines an initial strong hoppy hit with the toasted malts more familiar in a porter. This Greenwich Black IPA did exactly that. It pours a very dark brown with a tan head. The aroma and initial taste is smokey coffee with the hops providing a robust yet not over-powering citrus aftertaste. I felt that the smokey malts (which I'm generally a big fan of) tempered the bitter hopinesss (which I'm generally less of a fan of) delightfully. This is a really good beer and hats off to Marks & Spencer for working with breweries such as Meantime. If anyone would like to recommend other dark IPAs for me to try I'd love to hear about them, leave a comment or tweet @alovelydropblog.

Brewery: Meantime Brewing Co.
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 5.7%

Beer #115 - Meantime London Lager

Having recently tried a couple of lagers from some of London’s smaller breweries I thought I’d give Meantime’s London Lager a try. As a fan of their other beers I thought they’d have a fairly reasonable crack at producing a lager. I found this fairly unremarkable though. It’s clearly a step up from any mass-produced lager produced in the UK but I don’t think I did London Lager any favours by drinking at after the three beers in my three previous posts (which were full flavoured and far darker). I don’t really feel that its fair for me to pass too much comment on this given the above coupled with the fact that I’m not a huge lager fan, so I’ll leave it at that.

 

Brewery: Meantime Brewing Company

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 4.5%

Beer #95 - Meantime Yakima Red

Following our disappointing Fuller’s we moved on to theCastle, opposite Farringdon station. The pub has recently been refurbished and it’s been well done, they offer a pretty good range of beer too (although all but one casks were off when we arrived). One factoid about this place is that it’s the only pub in Britain with a pawnbroker’s license, apparently. I opted for a pint of Meantime’s Yakima Red which had piqued my interest when I read about it online recently. I’ve not had a bad beer from Meantime and this one was no exception. This is a fruity, bitter brew. There is a hint of citrus but not too much and a hint of sweet malt. Very drinkable. Apparently Meantime have just produced a couple of new beers for Marks & Spencers including a black IPA, which I’ll be keeping an eye out for!

 

 

Brewery: Meantime Brewing Company

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 4.0.%

Beer #74 - Meantime Chocolate Porter

Since I tried Sam Smith’s excellent Organic Chocolate Stout a couple of months ago I’ve been keeping my eye out for a similar beer. I was therefore delighted to spot Meantime’s Chocolate Porter in Islington’s Waitrose as I popped in to check out the beer selection. I’d had this one recommended to me on Twitter so didn’t hesitate to buy it; it was very modestly priced and also came in a beautifully shaped bottle. The beer itself was good. It’s very dark and yet quite thin, certainly a lot thinner than I’d expected. It’s also on the bitter side, the chocolate taste isn’t overly strong but it’s certainly there. All told it’s a really good drink, nowhere near as rich and luxurious tasting as the Sam Smith’s stout but still well worth a try and I’ll be drinking this again.

 Brewery: Meantime Brewing Co.

Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 6.5%

Beer #30 - Meantime Pacific Pale Ale

Meantime Brewing Co. has made something of a name for itself over the last few years and is one of the big players in the London beer scene. Located in Greenwich, which inspired the name, it is apparently the Capital’s second largest brewery (behind Fullers) following its change of premises in 2010. On the weekend I made my first visit to the much-hyped Frank’s Café, a seasonal open-air bar located on the top of a multi-story car park in Peckham. Whilst it might not sound like much, what really sells this place is the incredible of view of London (so much so that it’s persuaded me to break with convention and post TWO pictures with this entry). I was also encouraged by the fact that it exclusively sells beer from Meantime with an impressive array of taps at the bar. It’s not cheap at £4.50 a pint but it’s definitely worth going to once. The Pacific Pale Ale was a great accompaniment to a sunny Saturday afternoon, light but with lots of flavour despite the relatively low ABV.

 Brewery: Meantime Brewing Co.

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 4.0%

 

 

The view from Frank's Cafe