London craft brewer, Meantime Brewing, is to launch a beer made using hops grown on its urban hop farm. The farm, situated on the banks of the River Thames, directly on the Greenwich Meridian Line, is the first permanent hop farm in London for over 100 years.
The Thames Hop IPA has been created to reflect the “true flavour” of the capital. The new brew goes on sale today and will be available in 330ml long neck bottles at a selection of pubs and restaurants across London, through Meantime’s online store and at the brewery shop.
Earlier this year, Meantime planted a total of 48 hop roots in 12 wooden planters on a site situated next to the O2 and across the river from Canary Wharf.
Designed by landscape gardener Kate Lonergan and her team, the space has been transformed from a construction site into an attractive hop farm as part of Meantime’s ongoing commitment to engage people with the art of British brewing. Thanks to ideal weather conditions over the summer months, the hops flourished and in September the brewery was rewarded with a bumper harvest.
The beer has been made using the freshly picked hops which were added straight up, rather than dried beforehand, to create a fresh hop style beer. Using the hops straight from the vine produces a grassy aroma that gives way to a strong hoppy taste on the palate, with slight bitter notes.
Meantime called upon their Twitter and Facebook audience to crowd source the name before settling on Thames Hop IPA. The limited edition beer brings the IPA story full circle, returning to its London roots where it first achieved fame. The beer was brewed at The Old Brewery, Meantime’s microbrewery in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.
Following the success of Meantime’s True Brew of London campaign last year – where hops grown by different people around the Capital were used to make a crowd-sourced beer – Meantime hopes that the farm will get more of the public interested in London’s brewing heritage, as well as with the modern craft beer industry that is thriving across the city.
Rich Myers, Meantime marketing director says: “London is an exciting place to be a brewer right now. The variety of ingredients at our disposal is huge and it allows us to pack flavour into our beer. More than ever the public are interested in ingredients and their origins, and our farm has really engaged people to discuss and take interest in how their beer is brewed and the ingredients that are used.”
Cinnamon Porter
Meantime Brewing Company has also launched Cinnamon Porter. Released as part of it’s ‘Brewers’ Collection’, this limited edition 6.5%abv festive beer comes in 75cl champagne bottles and will be available to purchase from the Meantime Brewery, online shop and a handful of retail outlets.
Offering drinkers a unique take on the classic London Porter, the seasonal taste takes inspiration from the old English tradition of adding spice to beer to keep drinkers warm during the winter months. It would make the perfect accompaniment to mince pies, Christmas cake or Christmas pudding.
19 November 2014 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor