Utopia Revealed

“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at,"

Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

Apart from a brief flirtation with Grolsch in the mid to late 80's, I have pretty  much always been a cask ale drinker. So people who know me might be surprised that I am about to wax lyrical about a lager brewery.

Actually the Grolsch period is not my only experience of lager. In the early 90's, while on holiday in Brno (the second largest city in the Czech Republic), I discovered dark larger. Having previously been under the impression that all lager was a pale yellow, this was a revelation to me. Unfortunately it was a long time before I got another chance to drink dark lager as, even now, it is a rarity in the UK. 

More recently I returned to Czechia last winter for an early birthday present of a trip to Prague. As well as enjoying the craft offerings of The Craft House and The Craft Beer Spot, I also discovered that I absolutely love a well made Světlý ležák as much as a Tmavý ležák.

Enjoying a Czech Lion 13 at Pivovar Narodni

In fact that led to this exchange on Twitter shortly before the UK joined the rest of the world in Covid-19 inspired chaos. 

I don't know enough about the science, but I've not yet had an English lager that can hold a candle to any that I drank in Prague last autumn.

— Sean O'Reilly (@Uncruliar) March 9, 2020

To be fair I've never tried Donzoko Helles and I've only had L&G Keller Pils in a can, not on draught, so maybe it's not a fair comparison. But pretty much every lager I had in Prague had a body and flavour that was fantastic.

— Sean O'Reilly (@Uncruliar) March 10, 2020

But none of this gets us any closer to me espousing an English lager brewery. As with many aspects of my beery education the responsibility for this state of affairs lies with my good friend Ruth, known to beery Twitter as the @BeerFaerie.

I had never heard of Utopian Brewing before Ruth became their Head of Sales in January of this year. At that time I looked into them but paid little attention as they are 300 miles away from me in Devon and they are a lager brewery, which as I've mentioned isn't really my thing. In fact it is the Covid-19 pandemic which led me into taking more of an interest when Ruth invited me to join her at the #Utopi_Inn on Zoom. That was when I met Richard Archer, the Managing Director of Utopian, and Jeremy Swainson, the Head Brewer. By coincidence, Utopian beers also got mentions on several podcasts over the next couple of weeks, which eventually prompted me to place an order myself.

The Utopian mixed case including the dark lager, which is sadly now sold out.

Utopian was founded in 2017 by Richard Archer (Managing Director) and Stephen Cox (Chairman), with a vision to produce top quality lagers from 100% British ingredients in the most environmentally sustainable way possible. Using only British malt and hops obviously reduces the food miles (or should that be beer miles?) associated with drinking Utopian beers. Furthermore, all Utopian beers are naturally carbonated using the traditional German method of krausening. This means that, instead of using CO2 form a tank delivered by a lorry, a small dose of actively fermenting wort is added to the beer to carbonate it before lagering. The brewery is currently planning to add solar panels and biomass boilers with a view to becoming virtually self sufficient in electricity, and also a bio waste water plant to eliminate almost all waste production.

Krausening is not a process that is widely used by British brewers but it was the natural choice for Head Brewer, Jeremey Swainson. Jeremey, like many other professional brewers, started off as a homebrewer before serving an apprenticeship at Bolten Brauerei in Korschenbroik, near Dussefldorf. Bolten claims a heritage stretching back to 1266 and claims to be the oldest altbier brewery in the world. Jeremy also studied as a Brew and Malt Master ate the Doemans Academy in Munich, where he graduated top of his year. Clearly Jeremy has quite a pedigree when it comes to classical German brewing. However, he also has experience in the British brewing scene, having been Brewery Manager at Camden Town Brewery before joining Utopian in 2018.

Jeremy is passionate about traditional German brewing techniques. He explains that decoction mashing, used for all Utopian beers, produces more unfermentable dextrins which give body, and a slight sweetness, not found in lagers produced using a single infusion mash, which is the usual approach in British breweries. Decoction mashing is more labour intensive than infusion mashing and also takes more time but Jeremy has no doubt that the quality of the beer makes this worthwhile. The other time investment that is made at Utopian is in lagering for at least four weeks to produce beers with a clean crisp taste.

Utopian currently produces three core beers: the Czech influenced British Pilsner, a Bavarian helles style British Lager and an Unfiltered British Lager. They also produce a Bavarian dunkel style Dark Lager as a winter seasonal beer, which has sadly just sold out until it is rebrewed in the autumn. Their Unfiltered British Lager won South West Region Premium Lager of the Year, and also a National Bronze Award in the Keg Lager and Pilsner category at SIBA BeerX in February this year. It has a wonderful wholemeal bready body perfectly balanced by a grassy hop bitterness. Despite its unfiltered nature it has only the slightest haze, due to the long cold lagering process giving it plenty of time to clear.

In addition to the core range, Utopian has collaborated with Yeastie Boys on a Czech 10 style session lager called Gone By Lunchtime and certainly all gone from the webshops by now. They also have plans for further seasonal releases including a Vienna lager, and Oktoberfestbier, and possibly even a Radler for the summer. Their most recent release though has been Rainbock which was launched online on 14th May. I was lucky enough to join such luminaries as Roger Protz, Pete Brown, Adrien Tierney-Jones, and Emma Inch via the medium of Zoom to sample the beer together and to hear all about it.

Rainbock virtual beer launch at #Utopi_Inn

Rainbock is a maibock lager, a style of beer often associated with Spring festivals. It weighs in at 7% and is dangerously drinkable. The only hint of its strength is the honey sweetness which complements the bready body. This sweetness is countered by a herbal, minty, bitter finish, which tempts you back in for another sip. The beer has been produced in association with the Devon Community Fund and £1 from each can of beer sold goes to their Coronavirus Response and Recovery Fund. Rainbock is available from the Utopian webshop in cases of 6 or 12 cans, or as part of a mixed 12 can case alongside the core beers. I certainly wasted no time in placing another order as soon as the Rainbock was available.

To find out more about Utopian Brewery you can visit their website or you could join the Craft Beer Hour discussion on Twitter, which will be hosted by Utopian on Tuesday 26th May between 9 and 10. Use the hashtag #CraftBeerHour to follow and join in with the chat. There is also a Craft Beer Hour Tasting Pack, including a Utopian glass on the webshop.

Full Disclosure: I was sent two cans of Rainbock and a Utopian glass for free as a guest at the online beer launch. However, I paid for both of the mixed cases that I have ordered. I might not have written this blog if I hadn't been invited to the launch but the views I have given are my honest opinions.