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Roger Protz: real ale revolutionary |
Land of hop and glory, fortress of the free house!
Allan Ledward – more of a Fosters sort of guy than a Fox’s Nob – talks to Roger Protz about his new book, which charts a career in beer and sets out to turn on a new generation of drinkers to the joys of ‘real ale’
WHILE my ideal evening is sitting at home flicking from X-Factor to Strictly Come Dancing, drinking loss leader lager from my local megamarket, about once a month my reclusive peace is disturbed.
Phil, a former work-mate, telephones with a set of oblique instructions on how to reach a clandestine boozer in the back streets of some other back streets. A real ale pub.
I get lost on the way and end up ringing, compass in hand, impatiently pleading with him to repeat the directions.
These “traditional” pubs – Borough and Old Street have been the most challenging expeditions – are always firmly in the “gritty” category, with curtains seemingly poised for a lock-in. The sort of place you don’t frequent unless you really mean it.
Three rounds in, my self-consciousness is diluted and I can finally order Phil an Old Fecker or a Fox’s Nob without inhibition – along with a tankard of ye olde Fosters for myself.
The real ale drinker’s commitment has to be admired. They are hardline and uncompromising, discerning to the point of pretentious, in their pursuit of a wholesome beer experience.
Roger Protz’s ale odyssey, a thinking man’s international pub crawl, champions the idiosyncrasies of the independent brewer and laments the insensitivity of when big business gets involved. (He jokes about the Campaign for Real Ale [CAMRA] forming a militant splinter group called RALF – the Real Ale Liberation Front.)
Protz examines the nuances of the brewing process, the casks and kegs, and the essential role played by flavouring hops and other ingredients sourced from the breweries’ local areas.
The journalist’s “career in beer” has taken him from the booziest days of Fleet Street to New York, Edinburgh and Soviet-era Czech Republic, as well as Trotsky’s final resting place in Mexico. And Burton-on-Trent.
He tells how social history is entwined with the story of beer, from parochial squabbling between rival companies, to religious oppression by neighbouring nations.
Protz tells me the real ale sector is experiencing rapid growth as drinkers turn away from the global brands. By way of an introduction, he urges Camden drinkers to sample beers at the “fantastic” Betjeman Arms at the new St Pancras Eurostar terminal.
“We can convert people by telling them that these are not drinks that have been taken half way round the world; this is not bland and fizzy, this is something that has character made with ingredients from your local area,” he adds.
With pubs struggling and concerns about cheap booze, it could be an apposite moment for the “real ale revolution” to step in.
Protz’s case for truly stellar pubs is a convincing one.
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