The Real Mr. Keith
I need not tell anyone reading this website that one of the most infuriating bits of misinformation in the beer world is AB-Inbev’s insistence on calling Alexander Keith’s an IPA, despite the very obvious evidence that it is far from it. I have railed about this before, so won’t repeat myself here.
But I bring it up because my latest Planet S column tells of my adventures on the Alexander Keith’s Brewery Tour in Halifax. While in the old harbour city this spring, I decided on a lark to drop almost $20 to give the tour a whirl. You see, this is no ordinary beer tour. Located in the historic original Keith’s brewery by the harbourfront, they don’t just spin you around the brewhouse for a few minutes before dispatching you to a tasting room. They have instead constructed a living time capsule. The guides act as if the year is 1863 and anchor the tour around a much promised visit with Mr. Keith himself.
I found I quite enjoyed myself on the tour, despite its touristy kitsch. At least until the beer. You can read the details in the Planet S article. [UPDATE: You can now also find it in Vue Weekly, as it ran there this week.]
The choice of 1863 is ironically appropriate, I suppose. At that time Keith’s would have been a real IPA, produced alongside a porter and other ales.Too bad they don’t take the opportunity to come clean in that respect.
And of course, Mr. Keith never shows up and the much awaiting tete a tete between prairie beerguy and Scottish brewing magnate never materializes. Likely for the best, I suspect.
August 27, 2012 at 4:23 PM
Just over 2 years ago, a bunch of historical recipe info was released by the Oland family, then quickly pulled by Labatts.
You can still read about it here, including a copy of a published article that got pulled:
http://www.bartowel.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=5235
I also did a bit of analysis at that time on the recipes to come up with ballpark equivalent 5 gallon homebrew recipes. I’ll dig that up later tonight.
August 27, 2012 at 4:41 PM
That is totally correct, Mark. It was a Halifax-based beer writer who found it in the public archives. Not only did Labatt pull it, they threatened to sue everyone involved, making everyone sign a non-disclosure agreeement. They then retracted those records from the archives. Given that they put them there in the first place, no one had done anything wrong – making their over-reaction quite appalling.
The recipe, BTW, proved that in the 1800s, Keith was brewing a real IPA.
September 3, 2012 at 2:20 PM
Mark, thanks for posting the Oland – Keith’s post. Very interesting for a librarian like me. Jason – Oland documents are at quasi-public archives at Dalhousie vs fully public archives.
July 2, 2013 at 10:16 AM
Any pale ale can be called IPA.
July 2, 2013 at 11:23 AM
Chris, I am not sure what you mean. There is a difference between a Pale Ale and an India Pale Ale. Of course, Keith’s is neither – it is a pale lager of the standard North American variety.