Arctic Ale means Christmas at The Blue Stoops
While all the hullabaloo around the extraordinary launch of our new India Pale Ale has been going on, a distant star has been rising in an eastern sky.
Christmas is coming!
And with it, the annual 1st December launch of Allsopp’s Arctic Ale (ABV - 11%), available in cask at The Blue Stoops for the month of December. While it is basically an exclusive for The Stoops, if you would like your local to stock it, let us know and we’ll see what we can do…
On the day I will be stationed at the bar (like a coiled spring) ready to sample this year’s brew. Should you wish to join me for a half (yes, it’s only sold by the half), I’ll be at the bar from c. 5.45pm. Like just about everything to do with Allsopp’s, there is a story attached to Arctic Ale.
In 1852, Allsopp’s was commissioned by Queen Victoria to brew a beer for her ships to take on exploratory expeditions to the Arctic regions. The result, Arctic Ale, was and is brewed to 11% to prevent it from freezing. Even now it is the definitive drink for keeping out the cold.
I can think of no better accompaniment for a seasonal celebration than this drink. Should you wish to learn more about the fascinating history of the beer and the expeditions it was taken on, here is an extract from a history of Allsopp's that we are working on. There is also a marvellous BBC series, The Terror, now available on Amazon, which dramatises the terrifying attempts by the British Navy to find the North-West Passage in the mid-19th Century. Arctic Ale features in the opening scene of episode 1.
