In a recent article by Jancis Robinson, she catches up with quality beer protagonist, Rupert Ponsonby, who was only too happy to share his thoughts on beer appreciation and its place in the good food restaurant industry:
He has, perhaps most uncharacteristically, also put his money where his palate? is. Ponsonby is a shareholder in The Meantime Brewery Company and farms 50 acres of malting barley? for sale? to the brewing industry. He is not interested in the indiscriminate dissemination of beer for beer’s sake? but rather its restoration to what he believes is its rightful place alongside the most suitable food. When I asked him whether he wanted to see a beer list in every restaurant he replied emphatically, “No, only every restaurant that is interested in serving good food.�
His crusade to this effect has been fought on several fronts, with consumers, brewers, the media, restaurateurs and chefs but a turning point came four years ago when he organised a beer tasting for 20 sommeliers at Aubergine? restaurant which today he thinks has an exemplary beer list. “They loved the beers and were extremely positive about the range of flavours? but they all voiced the same concern. How could they make the same margin on beer as they did on wine? They were used to multiplying the cost price of any wine by three but they felt that they couldn’t do this with beer,� Ponsonby explained.
“My initial response was that they didn’t make any margin on their bread or butter?? and perhaps if they showed some initiative on this front it would be rewarded. Once this initial enthusiasm was rewarded with sales, the most conscientious sommeliers have not only put on a range of different beers at different prices but also found particularly esoteric beers such as Deus, brewed in Belgium and fermented with a champagne? yeast? which costs £32 for a 75cl bottle. There is also the added bonus for the customer that even if they have a different beer with every course they are likely to end up with a lower bill than if they had had a couple of bottles of wine.�
How long will we have to wait before we can start taking a comprehensive beer list for granted in the same way as we do a wine one?
Personally, I can't wait for the day. Until then, I guess there's always Den Anker.