Breweries "Visited"

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Today We Visit the Farm

Beer #159 Organic Real Ale / Laverstoke Park Farm, Overton, England

Now well past 40% of the way through this project and still going strong!  Still finding (mostly) great beers, really interesting breweries, and having fun along the way.  Today is another first, as we've drank beer from plenty of of brewing companies, brouwerijs, and brasseries.  However, this is our first farm - specifically, Laverstoke Park Farm and their Organic Real Ale.

This beer pours a light amber color in the glass with a very thin white head.  On the nose, wheat and grass stand out, and when you drink this you pick up light notes of caramel, biscuit, grass, and malt.  You pick up some hop flavors, but as is typical with English pale ales, it's fairly subdued.  An easy drinking beer at 5% ABV, this one will be good for the spring and summer months.  All of the hops and barley are grown on site (which is pretty cool in my book) and as the name certainly implies, this beer has been certified organic by all of the people who do such certifications.  Admittedly, I'm usually not too concerned about whether a beer is certified organic or not, as most of the craft brewers have such a close connection to their suppliers that I feel confident they wouldn't use anything but the best hops, grains, barley, etc. available.

Child Abuse is bad! Drinking is Good!

My only tiny complaint?  The artwork on the label looks more like a public service announcement on preventing child abuse. I prefer something a bit, I don't know, less drawn by toddlers.  Unless they're doing what cigarette companies did back in the day: make their product seem cool to kids too young to buy it, with the hope they develop a brand affinity ahead of time.  In that case, carry on.

Thing to Think About Today:
I love that this farm is working to grow their own raw materials and then brew a tasty beer.  If we're thinking about farms and great produce, then we should spend a moment and think about Three Springs Fruit Farm, near Gettysburg, PA.  Really awesome people who are committed to sustainability and great produce.  Frequent readers will note that I'm always fascinated by breweries with long histories.  We get that here, as these guys are the seventh generation to run the farm.  If you're in the greater Philly/Baltimore/Harrisburg triangle, click HERE and make sure to check out when they're coming to market near you.  Or visit their site to learn more about agriculture than you knew was possible.

Is there a connection to beer, you ask?  Definitely.  We've been lucky enough to sample some hard ciders from Ben's private reserve.  Awesome stuff, and maybe if we all ask nicely they'll start brewing and selling to the public....!

No comments:

Post a Comment