Empire Strikes Back

Burton Bridge Empire pale ale is an IPA. In case you have ever wondered, IPA stands for India Pale Ale. It doesn’t originate from India, and is not Indian Pale Ale but I believe has its roots in sending British beers overseas. To endure the journey, they were brewed stronger than your average beer, and that should still be the same today.

You see a lot of beers boasting the title “IPA” these days but I’m not always convinced they are true IPAs. In my book, two things are true about a proper IPA. 1) They are pale and 2) they are brewed strong (perhaps to the 6%+ range but certainly 5.5%). You see plenty of examples in the supermarkets and elsewhere of ale that are dark and weak, and yet still claim to be IPAs. Not so in my humble opinion!

The Burton Bridge Empire pale ale is both strong and pale, and an excellent example of what I think of when I hear the term “IPA”.

About the beer

Burton Bridge Empire pale ale – my fourth beer on the 300 list and is classed as an IPA – you may have guessed.

It is pale and golden, and if I had to sum it up in one single word, that would be “rich”. This is truly a “rich” beer, and its sumptuous taste doesn’t disappear as soon as you swallow it. You don’t get punched with bitterness, as some IPAs can, but rather the richness of the malt and hops fades leaving a lingering bitterness on the tongue. It really is a splendid beer!

Referring to my previous post about not wasting your units; this is furthest from doing so. A pint or bottle of this beer could last you a fair while if you savour it. At a hefty ABV too, you won’t need too many before you reach the recommended daily alcohol limit!

Alcohol: 7.5% (that’s 3.75 units for the 500ml bottle and above the daily intake recommended by the new guidelines)

My rating: 7/10

 

This is a great beer, and one I’ve not had before. If you get a chance to try it, I’d recommend you do so. It’s brewed by Burton Bridge brewery, in Burton-on-Trent and if you can get to their brewery tap and try it, you won’t regret it. For those of us who don’t live in the area, you may find it harder to come by.

Where did I get mine? Believe it or not, I bought it from Amazon! They don’t just stock CDs, books and the like these days, and actually have a fair few brews to choose from. You have to watch the delivery prices, as they can really sting you if you’re not careful, but a pack of six Empire ales was a little more than £20 delivered. That may seem quite expensive, but don’t forget how strong this beer is and you won’t find it on 4 bottles for a fiver in your local Asda!

More on where to get your beer in a future blog I suspect!

A final word about bottle-conditioned beers. Empire ale is an example of a beer that is bottle-conditioned and what this means is that there is live yeast in the bottle and it will therefore have sediment in it. If you don’t pour it carefully, you will get a cloudy beer. This is worsened by buying online, as it will only get shaken up and disturbed on route to your home.

Again, more on bottle conditioning in a future blog. But for now, if you procure one, just make sure you pour it slowly and carefully, and where you can see the beer clearly. Stop pouring if you see the sediment coming out! It won’t hurt you, but could affect the taste of your beer.

Don't waste your units

There’s been a lot in the news of late about alcohol consumption and the UK government changing its advice about how much you should and shouldn’t drink. Given the subject of my blog, I felt I ought to throw in my opinion – in case anyone’s interested! I know it’s a detour from the 300 beer list, but relevant right?

The previous advice was that a man could drink 3-4 units a day and a woman 2-3 and be at a lower health risk. I’ve often wondered why men were “allowed” more than women, but never found out the answer. The new guidelines have corrected this and the new advice is that the risks increase above 2-3 units per day, irrespective of whether you are male or female. They recommend that you should not exceed 14 units a week, and have at least 2 days every week where you don’t consume any alcohol. All in all, these new guidelines are much tighter than the previous ones.

Are they right to do this? I’m not a doctor, and I can’t honestly say whether the new guidelines are necessary or what the real impacts of drinking small (or otherwise) amounts of alcohol are. I’ve not delved into the depths of the science behind the recommendations, but do know how difficult it is to study such things. The impact of drinking alcohol would need to be studied over a lifetime, and this is extremely hard to do. It’s also very difficult to exclude other factors which can affect your results.

The issue is that the NHS (in the UK) have to spend a great deal of money on treating people whose illnesses are in some way linked to alcohol. Whether we are talking about an alcohol addiction or a one-off trip to A&E on a Saturday night after a heavy session, there is a cost associated with it – and this cost is rather large. The government have to tackle the issue in some way, and you can make up your own mind whether this is the way to go about that.

The truth is, drinking any amount of alcohol can affect your health. I can’t argue with that, and it all comes down to the lifestyle choices we make. You can’t force people to stop drinking any more than you can force them to go to the gym. All you can do is offer the best advice possible and let them make up their own minds.

So where do I stand, writing my beer blog and having said all the above? There is a risk to drinking alcohol, I make no secret of that and urge everyone to do so responsibly.

If you are going to drink though, make it count! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean go nuts and binge yourself into a walloping hang-over, I just mean emphasise quality rather than quantity. Don’t waste your units. Set yourself a limit you are happy with and stick to it. Don’t guzzle the cheapest or weakest beers or wines without thought.

When I turned 18 (ish) I drank the standard lagers on offer in my local pub. Don’t judge me too harshly, I just didn’t know any better! Nowadays, I choose what I want to drink and would rather have one pint of a quality and delicious beer than guzzling down any old rubbish on offer.

If you limit yourself to one pint (or whatever you choose), then make sure it’s a good one!

 

To finish, as a guide, one pint of a good quality ale at 5% equates to 2.8 units.