Special birthday beer

It was my birthday on Easter Monday and whilst it might have seemed that there wasn’t much to celebrate, the fact that I’m alive along with numerous other blessings was enough. So being unable to go out for a meal with my family, or meet up with friends for a drink, I cracked open a rather special bottle of beer instead. 

The bottle in question was one I’d originally received as a Christmas present, but after noticing the  Best Before Date was the end of June 2020, I knew I ought to drink the bottle anyway, as whilst it was bottle-conditioned, this was no guarantee that it would last much beyond this date.

Marston’s No.1 Horninglow Street IPA 7.4%, is a limited edition, bottle-conditioned pale ale, with each bottle individually numbered. My one is Bottle No. 09601, from a total run of 32,000. For those like  me, who are interested in such things the beer is brewed using low-colour pale ale malt and then late plus dry-hoped with four different hop varieties. These varieties are: Sovereign, Goldings and Ernest from the UK, plus Cascade hops from the United States.

Fermentation takes place over 15 days, initially in one of the Burton Union sets of 24-linked, oak casks, and using Marston’s unique Burton Union yeast. This delivers a signature dry and fruity flavour with a touch of oak coming across from the Burton Union casks. The oak was quite evident in the finished beer, as described by my tasting notes below.

This is an excellent beer, although it doesn’t quite drink to its 7.4% strength. Presumably this is because many of the malt sugars are fermented right out. There is a hint of oak lurking in the background, but this blends in well with the dry fruitiness derived from the malted barley and the hops.

Pale amber in colour, the beer pours with an attractive, fluffy, white head. It is surprisingly refreshing despite its potency and is a beer I would definitely drink again – if there are any left that is.

Brewery Talk:

 No:1 Horninglow Street IPA is the first in a series of speciality one-off beers to be brewed in Marston’s legendary Burton Union system.

The Horninglow Street speciality beers have been named after the original brewery at which John Marston started brewing in 1834, the Horninglow Brewery in Burton Upon Trent. In 1898, the company moved to its current home, the Albion Brewery, in Shobnall Road. 

Marston's Albion Brewery was also where my very first brewery visit took place, as a student back in the early summer of 1974. Not just "Half the world away," as Oasis sang, but considerably more than half a lifetime away!