Celebration indeed!!! (Shepherd Neame 1698 Celebration Ale)

Member Name: grahamt

Product:	Shepherd Neame 1698 Celebration Ale
Date:	10/12/01 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Suitable for most occasions

Disadvantages: You can't drink too many at a go

Shepherd Neame is one of my favourite brewers. It has a long and illustrious history and remains an independent family brewer despite pressures from the money market and the unfair treatment of smaller brewers by The Chancellor in the way that excise duty is raised on alcoholic drinks.

Not only this but Shepherd Neame has also been unduly affected by cross-channel shopping, Kent being the starting point of both the Channel Tunnel and most of the ferries. It has been said, not entirely tongue-in-cheek, that St Omer is the biggest selling beer in Kent. The St Omer brewery is in Northern France!

The brewery was founded in 1698 in Faversham, Kent by one Capt Richard Marsh. This beer is in commemoration of that event and, although we are now a few years beyond it’s 300th birthday, the beer is still available, if not in draught form then bottled, as I bought my supply from Safeway.

The brewery passed into the hands of the Shepherd family in 1741 and adopted its current name in 1864 when Percy Neame became a partner. The current Chairman, Robert (Bobby) Neame joined the firm in 1956. He has been a tireless campaigner on behalf of the small independent brewer for tighter controls on cross-channel smuggling and on a fair deal on taxation.

1698 Celebration Ale is not a bottle-conditioned beer and so strictly speaking doesn’t qualify as a Real Ale. The beer is fined (cleared) in the brewery before bottling and so the taste is fixed at that point and does not develop any further in the bottle.

This is a high strength beer at 6.5% abv. You won’t want to drink too many of these in a session. The strength is reflected in the taste. It has that certain warmth typical of high alcohol content.

However, the one factor that dominates the taste is an unusual malty sweetness, balanced by just enough hop bitterness. Don’t get me wrong, this sweetness is in no way unpleasant, in fact, it is quite en
joyable and a change from the often astringent bitterness of beers of this type.

All in all this is a very pleasant beer, one to enjoy on special occasions. I can see this one accompanying Christmas Dinner as a very acceptable alternative to wine. I think it would even be a suitable accompaniment for Christmas Pudding!

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