Merry Valentine’s Day! I do hope you all had wonderful evenings; rushing to the card shop after work and then squishing into a packed restaurant. Or perhaps you’re one of the lucky ones who just went straight home and pretended it was like any other day?
Usually we wouldn’t do anything, but this year I’d managed to bag a couple of tickets to the Meantime Brewery Tour so off we went for a romantic night of pint quaffing.
Now that’s a table display.
Usually we wouldn’t do anything, but this year I’d managed to bag a couple of tickets to the Meantime Brewery Tour so off we went for a romantic night of pint quaffing.
Now that’s a table display.
The first hour of the tour was taken by Al, a larger than life character clearly incredibly passionate about Meantime and a great spokesperson for the company. His enthusiasm was absolutely contagious and exactly what we needed after a long week at work.
Al took us through the history of Meantime with short breaks to try their various offerings. We tried 5 during that first hour (third pints, obviously, or we’d all have been on the floor): London Lager, Pale Ale, Union Lager, Smoked Porter and my absolute favourite, Yakima Red. I remember the first time I tried Yakima Red; I knew from that moment that it would always be up there with my top brews, a proper session beer.
Once we’d sunk that lot, Jethro took us through to take us around the brewery.
He’s a good lad is Jethro. Very knowledgeable and very passionate about beer. If you can make a Mash Tun interesting then you know you’re probably in the right line of work.
I think he was probably throwing someone out in this photo.
I’m not going to tell you about the brewing process from start to finish and I’m not going to tell you everything else we did. Why? Because you should go yourselves, people! Honestly, if you are thinking of going on a brewery tour, just click here and book yourself a place. It’s suitable for aficionados and novices alike. We took the classic tour, but throw in a few bob and you can get a pie too; what’s not to love?
We arrived on Friday tired and a bit damp and we left smiling and excited. Yes, we’d had a few pints, but ultimately it was down to Al, Jethro and Adam. It says a lot about a company when the people that work there want to (or at least do a really good job of pretending) be there on a Friday night, sharing their knowledge and love of craft beer.
Good work, lads!
The Crafty Beeress 