The IBD put on a talk about brewing history in London at the Sloaney Pony last night. I can't get enough of this sort of thing so no way was I missing it. The talk spanned centuries, though unfortunately an urgent call from work made me miss a few decades. But I was still there for the rise and fall of porter. And who'd have thought that brewers referred to their beer as 'mild' for decades after the public had been calling them 'porter'? It was also good to see Martyn Cornell and his blog get a big plug. Before and after the talk I manged to fit in a little light networking (three pints) and there was some interesting gossip to be had. I finally found out that the reason Elgood's did a Hawkwind beer was because the boss of a beer distribution company is a massive fan. And it seems Wells and Young's have followed my lead and brewed Courage Imperial Russian Stout. The also have the rights to the brand so this time its return will be official. I'm can't wait to get hold of some.
Very excited to hear about Courage Imperial Stout. Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteIt's great, isn't it? And long overdue. Bet it's not as good as my Tsar Top though! ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhat next, though? Ron's going to be in heaven if whoever owns the rights to Barclay Perkins gets in on the act.
ReplyDeleteNext time I brew Tsar Top I'm planning on moving back in time from the Courage days to a Barclay Perkins version. Don't know who has the rights to the name though.
ReplyDeleteThis type of thing occurs in pubs? No wonder they are all going bust. They want to get a dart board.
ReplyDeleteBP merged with Courage, it seems, so Wells and Youngs probably own the rights to that name too.
ReplyDeleteWould they care though? I don't think they'd even given any thought to Imperial Russian Stout until Tim O'Rourke's Great Baltic Adventure, and even then it was thought the rights were with Heineken. Still, perhaps it would be best to go back to Thrales...
ReplyDeleteI tried to see who owned to the name to try and but it. I went in endless circles about it. Still no luck. I have the recipe which is much more important. Many more 'courageous' names out there. ;)
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