Meantime Brewing Company

Who are they?

The aim of Meantime, according to founder Alistair Hook, is to create a great lager brewery in Britain to rival any in Europe ­ and to provide a range of lagers that offers something mainstream brands don't.

Hook opened the brewery in Greenwich, London, in 1999 after heading the Freedom Company brewery in Fulham and the Packhorse Brewery in Ashford, Kent.

After being inspired by real ales as a teenager, Hook learnt his craft at Herriot-Watt University in Edinburgh then embarked on a postgraduate brewing course at the University of Munich, Germany.

"I came back to England from Germany and saw how disastrously pitiful English lagers were," he explained.

Hook vowed to do something about this.

He said his approach has been influenced by that of New World wine producers, combining traditional knowledge of the brewing process with modern technology to recreate the styles of lagers from around the world, particularly from Germany.

The range includes a Pilsner lager called Golden (5.4% abv), a citrus-flavoured Bavarian-style wheat beer called White (5%), the raspberry-flavoured Red (4.5%), and Chocolate (4.9%).

All the beers come with tasting notes .

Meantime produces 15,000 hectolitres per year and sells around half of its brands to the on-trade, mainly in premium bars in London.

Main brands: White and Red are the biggest sellers.

Employees: 24 in the brewery.

Don't mention: Tied houses, big brewers and pubcos.

Hook says they have all restricted access to well-crafted lagers for pubs and the public.

He criticised the production of mainstream lagers and the "cost-cutting" of big players, who pasteurise their brands to speed up the process.

"By definition, lagers need to be stored for a minimum of four weeks at a low temperature," he said.

To combat this, Hook started the World Class Lagers campaign, which has received coverage from writers like Roger Protz.

Plans for the future: Meantime rolls out new beers all the time, says Hook.

Future releases include a strawberry beer and mint-flavoured Mojhito lager.