English Beer

The history of brewing in England is somewhat unique in that it is the home of "cask" or "real" ale, which carries on fermenting in the container from which it is dispensed, leading to a greater complexity of flavours in the glass. However, the practice of allowing the beer to undergo a second fermentation in the bottle had all but disappeared until quite recently although it is commonplace in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and to a lesser extent France. Happily, this practice is undergoing a resurgence and there are now several hundred such beers available, although they are difficult to find outside the UK. We believe that bottle-fermentation is paramount in the production of good beer and aim to offer as wide a selection of such beers as possible. The UK is also at the forefront of organic (or biological) brewing and we aim to support this as fully as we can.