OnTap Magazine

I am a bit out of touch with British beer brands. I left the UK more than 20 years ago and back then I was very much a lager drinker. So, each time I head home I ask the British beer community on social media for recommendations on which beers to seek out. I always specify that I’m interested in that which I cannot find in SA. I don’t want to taste hazy IPAs or pastry stouts – I want the traditional British styles that so few people brew in South Africa, and I want them from a cask. Every time I ask, the same name is offered up from beer lovers and illustrious beer writers: Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. I’d already had a couple of pints in pubs around the region, but I wanted to visit the brewery to find out what makes this beer so special. The brewery isn’t usually open for tours but through contacts I managed to arrange a visit, kicking off in the boardroom with CEO Tim Dewey. I asked what sets Landlord apart and this clearly isn’t the first time he’s been asked. “We are 100% family owned,” he told me, “and we have a real pride in what we do.” He explained that the beer is still made in the same way as when it was first introduced in the 1950s, with the same ingredients. “We never compromise on ingredients to save money,” he says. “And we have never engaged in price dropping. The beer is special quite simply because it is better!” The public agrees. Sales of cask ale are declining nationwide, spurred on by the shift to at-home drinking during the pandemic, but when it comes to Timothy Taylor’s, the opposite is true. In 2014, one in every 50 pints of cask ale purchased around the country was a Timothy Taylor’s. Today it’s one in every 20, something TimDewey attributes to “our absolute focus on quality”. We donned safety shoes, white coats and reflective vests and headed into the brewery where this legendary beer and its somewhat less revered siblings are made. Entering the malt room and you can somehow smell the quality in the air. Landlord is brewed using 100% Golden Promise malt, which is malted to Timothy Taylor’s specifications. Resisting the urge to grab a handful to taste, we moved on to the brewhouse where a batch of Landlord was mashing in. Mashing in a batch of Timothy Taylor's Landlord Open fermenters at Theakston A Timothy Taylor's taster tray at The Brown Cow Tap list at Black Sheep Brewery The cask marque sign denotes excellent cellarmanship True story Whole hops ready to go into a batch of Landlord Hop sniffing at Theakston Bold words at Black Sheep Brewery WORLD OF BEER 28 | Spring 2023 | ontapmag.co.za