meantime philosophy
Meantime has a two pronged philosophy. We aim to produce world class beers, but we recognise that the drinker needs to be helped to understand the product if they are to appreciate it. Merely making good beer is not enough. Meantime therefore sets out not just to make great beer, but to explain great beer too.
A large part of our activity is centred around training, both for the public - see our regular masterclasses – and, most importantly, for the staff in the many and varied outlets who serve our beer – see our training pages.
Our attitude to brewing is very simple. It is all about working from first principles and letting the raw materials express themselves. By first principles we mean that we understand beer to be a beverage unlike any other. Over its 7,000 year history it has evolved in order to satisfy the changing needs of the people who drank it. Beer has always had a job to do. Understanding that job is key to understanding the origin of a beer style. This helps us ensure that when we make a beer it is as authentic as it is possible to be, not merely in terms of provenance of raw materials – we do that as a matter of course – but also in terms of faithfulness to the intentions of the original brewers of the style.
For example, our lagers tend to be more bitter than the majority of mass produced lagers. This is simply because the original lagers were more bitter than they are today. This is because they were produced in the days before accountants and marketers, rather than brewers, ruled the roost. Since then the world’s lagers have been dumbed down.
At Meantime we are acutely aware that London used to be the brewing capital of the world. The London brewers maintained their economic supremacy by maintaining their technological superiority. They were innovators and early adopters, and so we are we. Unlike much of the modern brewing industry, however, we believe in using technology to guarantee quality not in using it to cut corners, that is why we have just spent £2m on the largest new brewery investment in London since Giles Gilbert Scott built the Park Royal brewery for Guinness between 1933 and 1936. A fact you will already be aware of if you have spent any time on this website.
A large part of our activity is centred around training, both for the public - see our regular masterclasses – and, most importantly, for the staff in the many and varied outlets who serve our beer – see our training pages.
Our attitude to brewing is very simple. It is all about working from first principles and letting the raw materials express themselves. By first principles we mean that we understand beer to be a beverage unlike any other. Over its 7,000 year history it has evolved in order to satisfy the changing needs of the people who drank it. Beer has always had a job to do. Understanding that job is key to understanding the origin of a beer style. This helps us ensure that when we make a beer it is as authentic as it is possible to be, not merely in terms of provenance of raw materials – we do that as a matter of course – but also in terms of faithfulness to the intentions of the original brewers of the style.
For example, our lagers tend to be more bitter than the majority of mass produced lagers. This is simply because the original lagers were more bitter than they are today. This is because they were produced in the days before accountants and marketers, rather than brewers, ruled the roost. Since then the world’s lagers have been dumbed down.
At Meantime we are acutely aware that London used to be the brewing capital of the world. The London brewers maintained their economic supremacy by maintaining their technological superiority. They were innovators and early adopters, and so we are we. Unlike much of the modern brewing industry, however, we believe in using technology to guarantee quality not in using it to cut corners, that is why we have just spent £2m on the largest new brewery investment in London since Giles Gilbert Scott built the Park Royal brewery for Guinness between 1933 and 1936. A fact you will already be aware of if you have spent any time on this website.
