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