The Albert is a Greene King pub, but it is also listed on the Timothy Taylor website's Pub Finder tool as a permanent stockist of their beers, so I knew that if nothing else took my fancy there would be something from Timothy Taylor as a guest beer. Sure enough, once I had squeezed my way through the crowd - something I loved about being back in the UK was seeing groups of pub-goers standing with pints on the street, I immediately spotted the Timothy Taylor Landlord pump clip and knew what I was going to drink.
From memory - taking notes in a crowded pub was very much not on the schedule - Landlord in The Albert was in good nick, wonderfully hoppy, and far too easy to down in a handful of mouthfuls. Landlord is a classic for a reason, and eventually I need to brew myself a clone recipe, especially taking into account the evolution of the Timothy Taylor yeast to require invert sugar - every other attempt I have made has been all malt, and I think that is a mistake.
One of my plans, which in traditional manner went agley, was to find a pub with Boltmaker on the pumps, but that never materialised for various reasons, I did however bump into Golden Best at the Sanctuary House Hotel, a Fullers venue just a couple of doors down from my hotel. It was the second day of my trip to London, and the first of the conference I was attending. I had spent the evening having dinner near Piccadilly Circus, with the incredible folks my company is working with on a major project, and had ambled my way back through St James' Park, with last orders nearing. Having ascertained that I had enough time, the last pint of the night was ordered.
Golden Best, despite the name giving hints in other directions, is a pale mild and a brand new to me beer. Despite having never had it before, it served as an inspiration for the pale mild, that I call Summer Mild, currently on tap on my downstairs kegerator - yes, there is also an upstairs kegerator. Anyway, to Golden Best, what a freaking delicious beer it was, in stunning condition, had I had time I would have had a second. I found it particularly interesting that a beer that, according to the their website, uses the same ingredients as Landlord is so completely different in flavour from its more illustrious counterpart. Say it quietly, but if both were available at a bar, I might actually be more tempted to Golden Best than to Landlord, which may just be heresy, who knows?
So while I completely failed to locate Boltmaker, and as such my clone recipe plan that I mentioned in a previous post has been postponed (unless of course Timothy Taylor are reading this and want to send me a care package, erm..."commercial samples"), one thing become abundantly clear, should I see a Timothy Taylor pump clip, whenever, and wherever, I am in the UK, I will be indulging.
No comments:
Post a Comment