NEWCASTLE EXHIBITION ALE

Beer Book — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:27:48 +0000

Scottish & Newcastle
UK, 3.8% ABV

There is an old football chant that was popular among the rougher elements of travelling Newcastle United fans back in the 1980s. These fans would turn up en mass at various away grounds – nowhere flash given Newcastle’s lack of success during that decade – and the chant would invariably rise up: ‘We drink Ex, we drink Brown, now we’re going to smash your town.’ Not the most endearing of ditties, certainly, and to be fair not many towns were smashed up, but plenty of Ex and Brown was undoubtedly supped; Brown being, of course, Newcastle Brown Ale, and Ex being Newcastle Exhibition. Both beers are brewed by Scottish & Newcastle, but while Newcastle Brown Ale has a mythology swirling around it and is sold all over the world, Newcastle Exhibition has always been something of a little brother (despite having an interesting history of its own, having first been brewed in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee). Exhibition was given quite a marketing push by S&N a few years back (via a series of TV ads that ended with a woman proclaiming, ‘Ex, Ex, Ex – that’s all you men think about!’) but these days the beer is mostly enjoyed by those who’ve stuck with it over a period of time through thick and thin. These stalwarts can now only enjoy the beer on draught (cans of Exhibition were discontinued a few years ago), and their loyalty is rewarded with a very decent ale which has a pleasant maple aroma and aftertaste. And hopefully it won’t make them want to smash up any towns. RM

NEWCASTLE BROWN ALE

Beer Book — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:30:22 +0000

Scottish & Newcastle
UK, 4.7% ABV

The last true bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale was brewed in April 2005, after which S&N’s Tyne brewery was closed and demolished. So Newcastle Brown Ale is now brewed across the River Tyne in Gateshead, at the Federation Brewery. Unsurprisingly, this has caused something of a hubbub on Tyneside, with Brown Ale as quintessentially Geordie as stottie cakes, pease pudding and Alan Shearer. The situation was not helped when an S&N spokesman ill-advisedly said, ‘Most people think Newcastle and Gateshead are the same place anyway.’ The European Union didn’t agree, cancelling Brown Ale’s precious Protected Geographical Indication status. Indeed, having already closed their Edinburgh brewery, the closure of the Newcastle plant saw cynics begin to refer to ‘Scottish & Newcastle’ simply as ‘&’. But such geographical disputes will hardly matter to Brown Ale’s legion of fans outside of Geordieland. Known in some parts as ‘Newkie Brown’, and in the US simply as ‘Newcastle’, Brown Ale is one of the world’s most famous and bestselling beers. Created by Colonel Jim Porter in 1925, Brown Ale quickly found favour, winning four gold medals at the 1928 International Brewers’ Exhibition. The medals were incorporated into a commemorative label design, which remains pretty much unchanged some 90 years later. The label’s famous five-pointed blue star refers to the five brewers who came together to form Newcastle Breweries. ‘Broon’ Ale is also known as ‘Dog’ in its city of origin, as in, ‘I’m off to see a man about a…’ PB

Non-Beardy Beer » N

NEWCASTLE EXHIBITION ALE

NEWCASTLE BROWN ALE