Salopian Brewery - Entire Butt

There’s nothing like a good butt beer. “What did I just read!?” you say in your head. OK, here’s the story on this beer’s name: butt is a common term for barrel, as in a barrel of beer. Years ago in porter’s evolution (it is believed), it was called “three threads,” and was created at the pub as a blend of beer from three different butts (or barrels)—three different beers had to be blended to achieve its flavor, until an enterprising brewer finally managed to recreate the flavors of the entire three threads in one beer, which, fittingly, became known as ‘Entire.’ Popular with London’s blue collar porter workers (as in transporters or heavy lifters/shipping folk), it ultimately bore eternal reference to them, becoming known simply as Porter.

A Silver Medal winner at the 1999 Great British Beer Festival’s Beer Champion Awards, Entire Butt is brewed with an astounding 14 different malts (listed on the bottle label). So it’s fitting that the term ‘entire butt’ bears a secondary meaning similar to “everything but the kitchen sink.” Expect a dark, cola-like brown beer with garnet highlights capped by a billowy thick tan head. The nose presents a very engaging and complex array of malty characteristics. Look for notes of chocolate pudding, rum cake, coffee grounds, chicory root, and cola. There are faint spicy hop characteristics but overall, things are weighed down by the powerful malt presence. The flavor profile is even more complex than the nose. Creamy and full in the mouth, expect a cavalcade of malty notes. We found it opened on the sweeter side of things with milk chocolate, rocky road ice cream & cocoa, and then evolved into more bitter malt characters showcasing notes of dark chocolate and coffee. There are some notes of plum, but these are minor. The beer finishes with a mild bitterness with notes of Kahluha, coffee, pudding, figs and hot cocoa and chalk dust. First enjoy on its own, then consider a shellfish pairing.

The Salopian Brewery was established at The Old Dairy on the outskirts of the medieval town of Shrewsbury in 1995. It was at the time believed to be the second smallest brewery in the country for a commercial brewing outfit not attached to a pub. British microbrew, we have found you… Salopian is a term used to refer to the people hailing from Shropshire, and more specifically, from Shrewsbury. Why it took so long for the Salops to have ‘their own’ brewery, we don’t know, but better late than never as this relative newcomer has been creating some exciting, uncommon beers. This enabled the brewery to build up a good following among patrons of the more adventurous outlets for cask beer. In a few years time, they adapted to keep some of the atypical beers, but as a supplement to more traditional offerings that have become their mainstay—a team of young, inspired brewers keep British beer alive and well, while exercising some creativity. But let’s make one thing clear, lest you think they sold out in the process—they maintain their craft nature and their experimental nature. Their porter (featured below) is a prime example; a traditional British brew, porter is, but they upped the ante by using 14 different malts and three hop varieties. The result is a blend of creativity and tradition—one which is well suited to their mission. Clearly, producing a beer with 17 ingredients like their porter isn’t cheap. But it remains Salopian Brewery’s policy to source the best ingredients available. As they assert on their web site, “saving a few pennies on malt and hops at the expense of flavour is not a saving.” Indeed the brewery only uses expensive aroma hops to provide a more distinctive flavor than many other regional or national brewers. Clearly, they’ve been giving the people what they want; over the years the testimony received from their loyal customers has proven this, not to mention their strong showing at all the major brewing competitions. For more information, check out their website at www.salopianbrewery.co.uk