Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you’ve probably heard about the revolution in canned beer. No longer limited to mass production, mass market guzzlers, cans now hold some pretty impressive brews, from the craft canning leader, Dale’s Pale Ale of Colorado, to well-respected, larger production brands such as the Czech legend, Pilsner Urquell, and many a German lager. Even Bavarian hefeweizens have been spied in cans.
This is nothing less than a sea change in beer drinking attitudes, given than canned beer has long been considered synonymous with cheap beer. or even bad beer. And I confess that I have been a selective advocate of the tin for some time, buying my Pilsner Urquell, for example, exclusively in the half-litre can, rather than risk the possible skunkiness of the brand’s trademark green glass bottle.
Still, when push came to shove, I had to admit that my can preference was a preventative measure, and if canned and bottled Pilsner were tasted side by side, my preference would run to the bottled beer 9 times out of 10. In fact, I’ve actually tried this in controlled, blind tastings with more than a few brands, and the bottle almost has proven remarkably resilient as the superior of the two. At least, until now.
Last night, I opened one of the first cans of Fuller’s London Pride I have ever purchased. I did it almost absent-mindedly, selecting the beer as a suitable end-of-the-day quaff from among the numerous different brands and styles stocked in my beer fridge, and was expecting a decent, if subdued best bitter for my efforts. And then I tasted it, and tasted it again. And my eyes widened.
Here I should note that I have visited London, England, home of Fuller’s, on more than a one or two occasions, and have supped cask-conditioned Pride many, many times, including once at the brewery and several occasions at brewery-owned hotels and pubs. Where packaged London Pride is concerned, however, I have always been a slightly disappointed bottle drinker, longing for the true taste of the great bitter rather than the still delicious but somehow slightly bland bottled brew. Again, until now.
I can honestly state that never before have I tasted a beer that came so close to the cask-conditioned perfection of London Pride as did this can of ale. The hopping was fresh and vibrant, the slight tannic note present in the cask-conditioned version also apparent, and the dry maltiness in perfect harmony with the ale’s balanced bitterness. Even the carbonation seemed somehow more in keeping with the cask than the bottle. In short, it was the finest packaged Pride I have ever tasted. And it came in a can!
