Meantime Brewing Company
London Pale Ale
4.3%
London, UK

To me when I think of successful craft beers and micro breweries none stands out more so than the Meantime Brewing Company. Founded back in 2000 by Alastair Hook it has become one of the most recognisable and well respected breweries in the world, let alone the UK. It has won several awards for its beer and has set the standards over the past 13 years for producing some of the best ale in the world.

The Meantime London Pale Ale is a bitter and dry tasting ale that paired with cheese is one of the best flavours you could hope for. It is very hoppy, bitter and has a bold malt flavour that really hits your mouth. The full flavour comes from the blend of American cascade and centennial hops. It is an amber colour that looks as pleasant as it tastes.

Despite the rather low 4.3% ABV it is very bitter in flavour. Despite suggesting the pale ale should be served chilled I think it is suited to serving at room temperature. Meantime is definitely one of the biggest breweries in the country and should be what every small microbrewery aspires to be like. Meantime have really ramped up their marketing and it is definitely noticeable on various social media channels the bullish approach to making the brewery as big as possible. I personally really love the Meantime branding and enjoy the ‘Londoner’ bottle top.

Meantime is now staple beer in all good pubs (and some bad ones).

BITTER: 4
SWEET: 2
DESIGN: 4
OVERALL: 4