Cinque, Shepherd Neame

Shepherd Neame Cinque

Shepherd Neame, England’s oldest brewery, based at the heart of the Kent hop fields, has launched a “five grain” premium lager, Cinque – a name that commemorates the historic Cinque ports of Kent and Sussex.

There were five ports – hence the Norman French for five but pronounced “sink” in English usage. The five grains used in the beer are barley, rye, wheat, maize and rice, with Strisselspalt hops from the Strasbourg region of France – an area that has been under German control on a number of occasions.

Shepherd Neame’s head brewer Richard Frost says: “Using five grains gives Cinque a complex flavour with a deep and satisfying mouth feel while the use of aromatic Strisselspalt hops lends a distinctive citrus note.”

The pale gold beer has an aroma of lightly toasted grain, lemon and lime fruit, and floral and spicy hops. The palate is a delicate balance of sweet but dry grain, lilting fruit and spicy hops followed by a dry and quenching finish dominated by tart fruit and floral hop notes with a fine balance of bittersweet grain.

The beer is available on draught in Shepherd Neame pubs and in bottles from August. 24x330ml bottles are available from the brewery shop: www.shepherdneame.co.uk. No price at present: check the website.

* The Cinque Ports date from the 12^th century and were given special rights and privileges in order to protect the country from foreign invasion. The original ports were Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich but New Romney was later replaced by Rye. Other towns and ports were part of a Confederation and were known as “limbs”, with Faversham being a limb of Dover. The ships used to defend the coast developed in Tudor times into the Royal Navy.