BitchBuzz is very much a fan of both the Covent Garden Real Food Market and beer, and that’s why I am so excited for the beer tasting event with Meantime Brewery in Covent Garden this evening!
As part of the Real Food Market’s Speakers Corner, the good folks from the Meantime Brewery will be showcasing their fabulously unique and award winning ales and beers tonight at 6pm.
One of London’s most promising up and coming micro-breweries, Meantime say that what sets them apart from all those other breweries is that, simply put, they’re better than they are.
Meantime have a wider range than all of the other micro-breweries who are usually just focused on traditional British ales. And in the, uh, meantime, Meantime are focused on their coffee and raspberry beers, while still brewing up a selection of wheat beer, India Pale Ale, as well as their Union beer and London Porter.
Aside from just their products, Meantime are very different in the way they think about their customers, and even about themselves.
While they reckon that they’re more similar to an American microbrewery as they’re much more “international” and “cosmopolitan” in attitude, Meantime are under no illusions that what they’re doing is actually that unique or terribly different.
Apparently people have been adding coffee to their beer since the 17th century, and much to my surprise, back in medieval times before hops were readily available, people were adding all kinds of herbs and spices to their beers to give them new and interesting flavors. Who knew?
But perhaps one of things I find most alluring about Meantime Brewery is their attitudes towards female beer drinkers.
When asked if they found that women are bigger fans of their raspberry and chocolate beers than their male drinkers are, they’re quick to point out that they don’t think of their beers drinkers in terms of sex.
Meantime Master Brewer Alastair Hook explains that when they sat down and decided to create a chocolate beer, they didn’t aim to make a beer that would “appeal to the feminine pallet”. They simply want their female consumers to enjoy quality beer, whether it be their Raspberry Grand Cru or their London Stout, and they insist that they’ll never be “patronizing” to women and “assume what they want”.
Refreshing, isn’t it?
Meantime aren’t after male or female drinkers, they simply want sophisticated consumers with sophisticated tastes. So! If you’re intrigued by this fabulous sounding microbrewery why not come down to the Covent Garden Real Food Market tonight and give them a try?
I’ll see you there!
A selection of Meantime beers can be bought at Sainsburys, or ordered online at livingbeer.com