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Catherine Fellows pulls a pint with the Real Ale , campaigners.
When the (ilasgow branch of (‘A MRA. the (‘ampaign for Real Ale. held its inaugural meeting in 197-1. there was not a single pub in the city w here it could lay its hands on a rculpint. It had to traipse all the way out to Bishopston to quench its thirst for the flavoursome and substantial brews of their l forefathers. the only fitting l fortification for their ensuing fight against the keg demons. the formidable Big Six. 'l'his real ale I must be inspiring stuff. because now '1 (‘AMRA boastsover7ll establishments converted to the cause in the first ever (ilasgow' Real Ale (iuide. The Dear (ireen [’1'er is | an endearing. pocket-sized volume i that can be unobtrusively whipped 1 out whenever the crusader feels a thirst coming on in an unfamiliar part . oftown. (lranted. this partial conversion of
Z the city has taken seventeen years. but it was a case of David and : Goliath: small groups of volunteers
attempting to reverse the policy of the six brewing giants (Bass. Allied. i Watney (irand Met. Whitbread. ; (‘ouragc and Scottish & Newcastle). Small. independent breweries were
alarming rate. and increasingly the only beer a drinker could find was filtered. pasteurised. pumped up. gassy keg‘ — dirty word to Alisdair Boyd of the (ilasgow guide.
"l’hey were trying to take our heritage away from us!‘ Boyd exclaims. full of righteous indignation. The battle is far from over. but things are looking better. Alerted to the rebellious feelings of many of their customers by (‘AMRA‘s lobbying. marches and alternative real beer festivals. the big breweries began to say things like
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‘we’ve always been dedicated to real ale'. and. more convincingly. to halt closure plans and re-introduce some brews worth the name ofbeer. Apart from the products ofsevcral independents such as Belhaven. Broughton. Caledonian and Maclays in Scotland. the 30,()()()-odd CAMRA members and the rest of the real ale-loving iceberg can now enjoy Arrols 8()/-. Ind Coope Burton and Tetleys Bitter from Alloa (the Scottish arm of Allied Lyons). McEwans 7(l/- and 8()/-. Theakstons Best Bitter. Old Peculiar and XB. and Youngers No 3 from Scottish 8: New-castle. Draught Bass from Tennents. and the very drinkable Directors Bitter from Courage.
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ldidn't dare reveal my ignorance and ask a CAM RA member what the difference between keg and real is. but I found out. 'l’raditional brewing is a complicated process that starts with the malting of germinated barley grains in kilns: the hotter the kiln. the darker the malt. 'l'he malt is then milled and mixed with water until its sugars are dissolved. 'lhe sweet liquid. or wort. is drained off and boiled with hops which add bitterness and flavour. but also act as a preservative. (Scottish brewers have traditionally used fewer hops than the English because they do not grow north of the border. ) Next. yeast is added. turning the sugar to alcohol and producing carbon
The Kalpna's Ajay Bharatdwai KALPNA
Edinburgh’s only exclusively vegetarian Indian restaurant has a formidable reputation in the city and beyond, but not only for exotic combinations ot nuts, cream and spices. ChelAiay Bharatdwai, equally happy preparing simple, totally authentic Gujarati dishes, such as this kidney bean curry.
Forlour people:
802 vegetable ghee or butter
1/2 dstsp cumin seeds
FLAVOUR 0F TH
E FORTNIGHT
6 cloves
2 large onions finely chopped
salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder (for a medium-hot curry)
2—3 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or a small tin
2—3 cloves garlic and one inch of ginger root crushed together
1 lb yoghurt
1 lb kidney beans (tinned or soaked overnight in hot water, rinsed, boiled in salted water lor45 mins or until tender and rinsed again).
Heat the lat in a large pan. When hot, throw in cumin and cloves. When they startto pop, add onion. Cook until golden brown, stirring from time to time, to prevent sticking. Add 1/2 cup hot
water, then stir in turmeric, chilli, salt, garlic and ginger paste and tomatoes. Keep stirring, letting it simmer until the lat rises. Add yoghurt, then kidney beans. It it is too dry add more hot water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmerlor 15 mins. Serve with a sprinkling of chopped fresh coriander. Kalpna, 2—3 St Patrick Square, Edinburgh, 031 667 9890.
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dioxide.
So much yeast is produced during fermentation that a lot of it is sold to people like Marmite. Some yeast still remains in the fermented ‘grcen beer' which continues to work on residual sugars. and eliminate roughnessoftaste. lixtra sugar is sometimes added at this stage. as is caramel to deepen the colour. linings. a glutinous substance made from sturgeon's bladder. clears the liquor of yeast and other particles. dragging them to the bottom of the conditioning tank. Real ale will enjoy the crucial cask conditioning ‘— a second fermentation in its destination vessel (a little like champagne. really) with more sugar and hops.
In contrast. after fermentation. keg beers and lagers are briefly conditioned under a blanket of carbon dioxide. artificially chilled. brutally filtered. and then pasteurised stone dead. Because of the lack of natural ( '( )_. they are injected with gas like the cheapest sparkling wine or buy lemonade. And these are the ones -» the canned and bottled lagers in particular - that we suckers for lavish advertising spend a fortune on. (‘AMRA is not opposed to lager per se. but poor quality fakes; like me. you may not have realised that ‘all the main brands‘ on sale here are British brews produced under licence. and imitations ofthe original (‘ontinental or Australian version. There may be times. for example after a run on a hot day or a rave in some frantic club. when nothing seems more delectable than a can of Red Stripe. but quietly contemplate the flavour and consistency ofa pint of real ale and there is no comparison.
[have discovered that it is very difficult to generalise about beer varieties; there are as many of them as there are wines. and each brewer will have different recipes and techniques. 'l‘here are a few pointers though. 'l'he Scottish shilling marks go back to the days when a whole barrel would have cost (ill ~. 70 - or St) -. Now. they give a rough indication of alcoholicstrength bf) - light. 7f) - heavy . St) - export 7- and correspond with linglish mild. bitter and best bitter. But. confusingly enough. light like mild. an older brew Aistraditionallydarkerthan the other two. final is. more dark. or highly roasted malt is added to the paleinalt that forms the basis ofall beer. Heavy and export are paler and more bitter because they are descendants of the original India pale ales brewed to quench the thirstsof colonialists in hot climes and strong on the hops becaiisc they acted as preservatives on long transit voyages. ()riginally ale had no hops in it at all; ironically in view of ('AMRA's battle cry . you w ill not find any real ale brewed any w here these days. Stout . or poi ter as it was known. dominated the market in the { lb‘th and l‘lthccnltlrics((itlinness
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