Is This Father Christmas's Beer?
Now that Christmas is coming the kiddies will often think of the Arctic Circle and the jolly fat present deliverer who pops down the chimney on December 25th, but for a brewer in Edinburgh when he ponders on the Arctic he dreams of beer. That’s because in 2015 he lashed out £3,300 on a bottle of the brew. It was a very special ale that had been made for an 1875 expedition to the North Pole. The trip was to be made by Sir George Nares a naval officer of the true Victorian type. He’d built a career out of scientific endeavour so it was natural that he was chosen to lead HMS Discovery and HMS Alert in 1875 on the British Arctic Expedition. He was the first explorer to take his ships all the way north through the channel between Greenland and Ellesmere Island, but after that it was all a bit of as disaster as scurvy overtook his crew. Poor planning had been the basis of the failure. But one thing had been properly planned and that was the beer. Allsop’s Arctic Ale was a strong brew made in Burton-upon-Trent to fortify the men; yes they were all men, in the deep freeze of the northern polar regions. I’ve been well into the Arctic Circle myself and I can testify to the chill of the winter there. We had modern clothing so we were toasty, at least until the missus crashed the snowmobile in a blizzard.
The Allsop’s Ale was discovered in a garage in darkest Shropshire and the plan now is for the master brewer to open it and to recreate an Arctic Ale for the modern generation. The 9% strength of the brew will ensue it hasn’t lost its flavour and savour over the decades and a new limited edition of the beer will bring a flavour of a bygone age to our present uncertain times. I think I’d venture a sip or two myself.
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