A superb new book about beer – but due credit to Derbyshire would be ideal
COLSTON CRAWFORD enjoys Matthew Curtis’s book Modern British Beer but doesn’t like the moving of Thornbridge into Yorkshire...
MATTHEW Curtis has written a superb new book about beer. I heartily recommend it… with a “but”. Modern British Beer, commissioned by Camra in the consumer organisation’s 50th year, seeks to explain how beer, drinkers, brewers and the places we drink in have evolved in the last two decades.
And it pays due homage to the huge role of Derbyshire’s Thornbridge Brewery in that evolution… with a “but.” More of that later.
Matthew is a skilled writer and nails a subject which is hugely complex and nuanced, noting that he is in “no win” territory given how entrenched some views on the subject are.
He’s very much a modern beer drinker, as likely to be sat at home with a couple of cans of trendy craft as sat in a local drinking bitter. He does both.
He understands the longstanding traditions of our beer culture and sees that it’s important to preserve them but is also open-minded about the present and future of brewing and consumer trends. I hope I’m broadly the same.
He explores the relationship between Britain and other beer drinking cultures, notably the United States, explaining how we exported ideas to them and then imported ideas back and how a multiplicity of beer styles emerged from that cross-fertilisation.
The book sees him attempt to define modern British beer, then he launches into telling the stories of 86 of them.
It is also – and I think this is important – a beautifully produced book, well designed, easy to read. Camra have not skimped on the production and printing side.
I can’t get away from the “but”, though. Rather unfortunately, if you’re reviewing the book for a Derbyshire-based column, as I am, Matthew appears to have a blind spot about our fair county.
Naturally, I searched the book when I first got my hands on it for mentions of Derbyshire and, initially, it seemed there were none.
I am biased, of course, but we still have more breweries, per capita, than most parts of the country and some of the longest-established of the modern small brewers are here.
Finally, I discovered that three Derbyshire breweries are included but all have been placed elsewhere: Thornbridge is now, apparently, part of “Yorkshire and the North-East” and Buxton and Torrside (New Mills) are in “Manchester and the North West.”
In the case of the latter two, I can see why; we are in “stone’s throw” territory. Matthew knows Thornbridge are in Bakewell, a good 18 miles from the nearest Yorkshire border and seeks to explain himself.
“Despite being brewed in the town of Bakewell, south of the Yorkshire-Derbyshire border, the spiritual home of Jaipur, as for all of its parent brewery’s beers, is Sheffield,” he writes.
“I confess that when I originally drafted this book I placed Jaipur in the Midlands chapter and felt decidedly uneasy until it had been relocated. Jaipur is a beer resolutely northern in character, if not necessarily in flavour.”
He further argues that many people start a Sheffield pub crawl with a Jaipur at the Sheffield Tap, on the railway station and that’s no doubt true but many also start a train trek across the Peak District after the minor inconvenience of crossing the border to Sheffield station.
Having pushed my Derbyshire-sensitive buttons, he proceeds to be spot-on about Jaipur’s and Thornbridge’s influence. Jaipur was first brewed in 2005 at the brewery’s first home, Thornbridge Hall (in, er, Derbyshire). That was a very long while ago in modern beer terms.
“In terms of British brewing at the time it was wildly radical,” he writes.
“We as a nation of drinkers are fond of sessionable beers that can be drunk with regularity over several hours… a beer of this strength, and voluminously hopped to boot, was running directly against the grain. But just like a classic British ale, it was incredibly drinkable – some might say ruinously so.
“It could be claimed this beer started a revolution within British brewing, ushering in a tsunami of North American influence that would forever change the UK’s beer landscape.
“It’s impossible to understate its impact on British brewing culture.”
I absolutely concur – and I’ve had a ruinous night or two on Jaipur, too! – and I really do recommend the book. Treat yourself to a weekend in Derbyshire some time, Matthew, drink Jaipur in classic surroundings such as the Holly Bush at Makeney or the Pack Horse at Little Longstone. Try some of our county’s other great beers, too. You won’t regret it.
It could be claimed that Jaipur started a revolution within British brewing. It’s impossible to understate its impact Matthew Curtis
Modern British Beer, by Matthew Curtis, Camra Books, £15.99.