The Best Guinness Alternative Beer?

When an email dropped in my inbox from Anspach & Hobday telling me they were looking at making a dent in the Guinness market with a similar product I have to be honest I thought “good luck with that one!”A couple of years on and I am happy to concede I was very wrong and their porter – London Black – is flying out of taps all over the UK. For a small indie to achieve this is something special so I caught up with the A&H team to find out more about their unique beer. But is it the best Guinness alternative beer?

Oli:

Is it fair to say London Black has taken the UK by storm, or is that too bold a statement?

A&H:

Haha, maybe not quite but it’s been a storm for us! Our creation was designed as is a local challenge to Guinness. We knew it was a very bold thing to try, bordering on madness, but we backed ourselves and we couldn’t be happier with how it’s gone. In a relatively short time since it’s launch we now have nearly 200 fixed house lines nationwide, to the point where this beer is now taking over the brewery! It’s making up 67% of our brewing, even in the summer, so it keeps us very busy. The most amazing thing is that it’s bought us, as a brewery, a bit of security and sustainability in a time for the industry where those commodities are scarce. With the economic climate being what it is a lot of breweries looking at cutting back, desperately changing things or God forbid closing. What London Black’s popularity has meant for us is we can continue to operate and expand with a bit of a buffer as we know our new house porter is in so many pubs and bars.

Oli

How did it all come about?

A&H:

As a brewery known for dark beers this just felt like it was a natural progression for us, we just had to pick the right product and timing. We did some research and felt there was nothing out there to stand up as a genuine and deserved local alternative to Guinness so we set about creating a sessionable London porter. The key difference to most other porters is the introduction of nitro gas, which we felt this was the key way forward and a way to make a mark.

With it we were able to elevate the traditional and classic porter to a unique drinking experience that is accessible to both macro and micro beer lovers – and that’s been key – it’s drink for craft drinkers and nerds and your average punter too.

Oli

So what’s the science, this isn’t a regular tap beer is it?

A&H:

No, the nitro in the beer is part of what creates that smooth pour and settle most people associate with this style. The most noteworthy effect of the presence of nitrogen in the beer is the tiny, cascading bubbles that result in its distinctively smooth mouthfeel and tight, creamy head. Due to the low solubility of nitrogen in liquid, and the low level of CO2 in the gas mix, the actual level of gas in the beer is very low. As a result, the bubbles that form in the beer are much smaller than you would find in a typical beer. Furthermore, the lower gas level means that bubbles do not spontaneously form. Instead, they need to be ‘initiated’ and encouraged to form and this is the role played by the diffuser plate found in a creamer tap nozzle (a special nitro tap.) By forcing the beer through tiny holes in the plate of the tap the gas is broken out of solution forming the tiny bubbles that create the head. A significantly higher serving pressure is required to force the beer through the diffuser plate successfully; typically 35psi and using special mix of gas that stops the beer over carbonating and keeps the beautiful silky smooth texture. You did ask for the science, haha!

Oli

Did you realise what you’d created? It’s a genuinely new and groundbreaking bit of tech and stands up as a genuine alternative to the big boys, so what next for London Black?

A&H:

Obviously we hoped it would work and we knew there was a gap in the market but we couldn’t have imagined how well it’s turned out. We’re just really glad we had faith in it and backed the product hard from the start. The most amazing thing is when people try the beer and like it so much it makes up their mind for them; we back our beer to speak fo itself. The future looks great but needs some more work but it’s all heading in the right direction. We’re still a small company and a small brewery in the scheme of things so it’s tricky. Despite how well it’s taken off the brewery owners (Paul Anspach and Jack Hobday) still do most of the London installations for the new London Black lines and all of the marketing for it at the moment as that’s just how things are at a small brewery. Maybe autumn and winter this year will be key time for us getting someone in to help market London Black. We already have a great distribution network set up which we didn’t before, so we’re not relying on just us to sell the beer it’s out there in the wild up and down the land. No matter where this beer takes us we’re already immensely proud of it and think it’s a belting alternative pint of “The Black Stuff”!