Ales, Beers and Pubs

Before I go to England, I want to review my options in the realm of beer.  I like fizz and I think a lot of British beer is flat and not very strong.

Real Ale

But first we should find out what the difference is between ales, typical beers of Britain and Belgium,  and lagers (also pilsners), the typical clean and crisp beers of the United States and Central Europe.  Lagers are brewed with the yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus which works at colder temperatures than the ale yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.  According to the Popular Science article, "What is the difference between a lager and an ale?", the lager yeast S. pastorianus, is a hybrid of S. cerevisiae and S. eubayanus, a wild yeast from Patagonia, and so understandably did not appear in Europe until the 1500s. The low-and-slow fermentation of lagers means that "lagers taste "clean" and lack the fruity esters characteristic of ales." S. pastorianus also cannot survive in a high alcohol environment and so the lagers are lower in alcohol than the ales, although British ales tend to be weaker than the Belgian ones.

According to Wikipedia, "England is known for its top fermented cask beer (also called real ale) which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation."  The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) began in the 1970s as a reaction against the homogenization of beer and its monopoly by big global conglomerates.  To help you find a pub that serves Real Ale, CAMRA has developed What Pub?, an online searchable directory of pubs in Great Britain, featuring 35,904 real ale pubs.  They also have a directory of pubs with historic interiors that you can search at Pub Heritage.

The Blackfriar

Apparently many of the pubs, even if historic, belong to chains like Wetherspoon, Fuller's, Slug and Lettuce, Nicholson's, Samuel Smith, Young & Co., Green King.  Like choosing a wine by its picturesque label, we can choose pubs by their picturesque names:   The Coal Hole (a 'song and supper club' where Gilbert and Sullivan performed regularly), The Blackfriar (a 'specialty sausage and chops house' with a wonderful interior), The Magpie (a specialty pie house), The Mudlark (named for scavengers who made a living in the Thames mud), The Porcupine (another specialty pie house), and The Moon Under Water (named after George Orwell's favorite fictional pub).  Then there are the pubs with "Arms" in their names which may refer to heraldic coats of arms or nearby alms houses, like the Harwood Arms and the Hollywood Arms which are near the apartment.

Nicholson's Ale & Gin Establishments has neighborhood Ale & Gin Trails that you can follow in London and you can also check out their seasonal Ale Library, with ales from various breweries in Ireland, England, and Scotland.  The majority of the spring ales are pale but they have some lovely names like Stiff Upper Lip, Light Brigade, Mad Goose, Fat Sprat, Pigs Ear, Juniper Rising, and Moonstone.  The most alcoholic is Yorkshire Dales Pale Ale at 6.5% so we shouldn't get drunk, just fat.  And if Penny would rather have gin, Nicholson's has a Gin Library too where she can pick out ones that are 'juniper heavy & robust',  'light & citrusy', 'floral & modern', 'sweet & fruity', 'savoury & dry', or 'something a little bit different' like rhubarb gin or sloe and mulberry gin.

I don't see that Nicholson's offers flights of ale or gin that would let you try a variety.  That would be nice.  Some of their pubs are "specialty pie houses" and offer an interesting menu of meat and non-meat pies.  Others are 'specialty sausage and chop houses' where you can get different kinds of sausages and toad in the hole as well as lamb chops.  Nicholson's also has specialty fish houses like the White Swan in Covent Garden that offers a special seafood menu.