Royal out the barrel: Jubilee beers hit the pumps in time for big June celebrations

Three more beers will help raise a right Royal froth in June. Harvey’s of Lewes in Sussex have recreated their Coronation Ale brewed in 1952 to commemorate the crowning of the new monarch. The recreation (7.5% in bottle, 5% on draught) is called Elizabethan Ale and head brewer Miles Jenner has used the identical recipe from 1952.

He says Coronation Ale was based on the popular dark barley wines of the time. As well as pale malt, he uses black malt and flaked barley. Traditional Fuggles and Goldings hops include some from growers who supplied hops for the original brew.

Stuart Highwood brought samples of his hops from Collier Street in Kent for the recreation and watched them used in the copper boil. His family has farmed for more than a century and he says: “In 1952 we would have been picking by hand and drying hops in a coal-fired oast house. Today we have a modern oil-fired oast and picking is largely mechanised but they’re the same hops grown in the same soil”. Stuart is shown on the right in the main image with Miles Jenner. (www.harveys.org.uk)

Adnams in Southwold, Suffolk, have produced Diamond Ale (4.1), available on draught and in mini-casks for home consumption. It’s brewed with pale and cara malts and – a neat touch – hopped with the Sovereign variety. There’s also an addition of Suffolk honey and Scottish heather. The beer is pale gold with rich honey, herbs, spices and tangy hop resins on the aroma. Bitter hops dominate the palate with honey, heather and spices. The finish is bittersweet to start but becomes dry with continuing notes of honey, heather, spices and tangy hop resins. (www.adnams.co.uk)

Treetops (4.8%) is the first of three Jubilee beers from – fittingly – Windsor & Eton Brewery. The name recalls the occasion in 1952 when Princess Elizabeth, on a visit to Kenya, went to sleep at Treetops Safari Lodge and woke the next morning to find she was now the queen following the death of her father, George VI. The beer is a stout with an African twist: as well pale and dark malts and hops, it’s brewed with toasted yams, vanilla pods and ground coffee.

The dark brown beer, with a big fluffy head of foam, has an entrancing aroma of freshly ground coffee beans and vanilla, balanced by creamy malt and peppery hops. Coffee, roasted grains and spicy hops fill the mouth while the finish becomes dry with coffee, dark grain and peppery hops dominating.

Kohinoor (5%) from W&E takes its name from one of the most famous precious stones in the world and was the central gem used in the crown at the Queen's coronation. The beer is an IPA with a twist: alongside malt and hops, the beer has jaggery -- a raw cane sugar packed in hessian sacks -- jasmine petals, cardomon pods and coriander seeds sourced from the East Indies. The bronze beer has a powerful kick of coriander, honey/sugar sweetness, vanilla, toffee and hops resins. Honey and spices build in the mouth with juicy malt and bitter hops. The finish is bittersweet to start, but bitter hops and spices develop a dry finish, with continuing hints of coriander, honey, vanilla and toffee. (www.webrew.co.uk)