Best new beers of 2010…Military Intelligence

Yesterday we highlighted the Kernel Brewery for their fantastic IPA C.S.C. – one of our best new beers of 2010. Evin at the Kernel is also part of the London Brewer’s Alliance – a collective of a dozen or so producers from within the city. The founder of this group also produced a standout beer of 2010, this year being a breakthough year for black IPA’s.



Military Intelligence (6.8%)
Saints and Sinners Brewing Co, brewed at Brew Wharf, Borough
(cask, released August 2010)

Phil Lowry is certainly a busy man – being responsible for the online store BeerMerchants.com and being a part-time brewer to boot. Keen to push forward the idea of networking the growing London beer scene, Phil contacted as many producers as he could and formed the London Brewer’s Alliance. This group of like-minded souls come in all shapes and sizes – from giants like Fullers and Meantime through the small-scale operators like Kernel to cuckoo producers like Phil’s Saints and Sinners Brewing Co.

We’ve always said the term cuckoo implies some kind of malicious intent on the part of the smaller party – brewers like our hometown’s Robert Knops tend to dislike the term for that reason. But semantics aside, for people without the time, funding or space to put together a fixed-site brewery, paying someone else for tank time is really the only way to go. Phil partners with Steve Skinner as Saints and Sinners, the pair brewing essentially whatever takes their fancy – which must give fantastic creative license.

When I visited the Kernel Brewery back in August, Evin tipped me off about a black IPA that had just appeared at Brew Wharf in Borough Market – Military Intelligence. The next day I was again south of the river, so went along to the Vinopolis site to check it out. Utterly black with a minimal head, if I’d approached this without a heads up I’d have expected roasty malts and darkness – but the fruity hops charge forwards from the off. It turns over to mocha flavours later on the palate, but the sticky fruit is never far away. Extremely drinkable, it only hits you halfway down the glass that it’s 6.8% abv. One of the best IPA’s I’ve had for a long time – and a benchmark for the new wave of black versions arriving in the UK.

The London Brewer’s Alliance first collaboration beer – London Brewers Porter (5.3%) was released in September 2010 at a showcase hosted by Brew Wharf. Their second is currently being organised, and will be out next year. Join us tomorrow for our final best new British beer of 2010…

Saints and Sinners Brewing Co
London Brewer’s Alliance