Russian Imperial Stout: To Russia, with beer...

Just in case you were wondering, the reason that Catherine the Great was great was not because she reigned as the Russian Empress for more than 35 tumultuous years. Nor, indeed, was it because she died having hanky panky with a horse. That never happened; some scallywag made it up.

No, the reason Catherine the Great was great was because she drank stout. Lots of it - and not the pansy extra cold stuff you get these days either. Catherine the Great drank strong, strapping Imperial Stouts that would blow the foam Irish hats off the heads of Guinness drinkers. Today, if all women drank beer in the same way as Catherine then the British brewing business would be in far finer fettle than it currently is.

The Russian empress had a particular fondness for an Imperial Stout brewed by Thrale's Anchor Brewing in South London - Southwark, to be exact. Thrale's Entire (the contemporary name for Imperial Stout) was the most famous of the Imperial Stouts and, in the late 18th century, it would regularly embark on a hazardous sea voyage to the Baltic states.

Setting sail

So that it had the sea-legs to withstand the treacherous trip from London to Danzig (Gdansk) and then on to Russian ports - often having to weave its way through French blockades - the beer was full in body, high in hops and high in alcohol, rarely registering at anything less than 7.5 per cent.

It was sipped at the Royal Court by Russian Tsars and because, legend has it, it eased the pain of soldiers wounded in the Crimean War, it gained Royal Assent.

Thrale's was taken over by John Courage, who became the main British supplier until Russian trade began to wane in the 19th century and the flood of firkins heading for

St Petersburg slowly petered away to a trickle.

That is, until now. A brewer called Tim O'Rourke is breathing life back into the Baltic beer trade by setting sail on a 60ft clipper in May. Tim, whose 38 years in the beer business included a stint at the John Courage Brewery, is to embark on an epic ale voyage - the Great Baltic Adventure - from London to St Petersburg.

Tim has teamed up with 11 regional and craft brewers from the UK and is taking a dozen Imperial Stouts, especially brewed for the trip, on a five-week journey to Russia, where the beers will be judged by local brewers and beer experts.

Having previously set up a brewery in the Falkland Islands on behalf of Leicester-based brewer Everards and as the organiser of the annual inter-brewery regatta in the Solent, Tim is not averse to madcap mash-fork adventures.

"I love brewing, I love beer and I love sailing," says Tim, when asked why he is doing it. "But basically it's because I'm a bit of a nutcase and at a time when brewing is shrouded in doom and gloom I wanted to do something exciting, something for people to get enthused about.

"People are getting more enthusiastic about interesting beers and Russian Imperial Stout has such a marvellous story. Russian Imperial Stout is like beer's version of port, incredibly complex and cockle-warming, and while it's not a session beer, it's a fantastic beer style that deserves a renaissance."

Now a brewing teacher, Tim's organised a beer festival at every stop on the journey and has chartered the enormous boat with his own money.

"It's been a mighty undertaking but it's very exciting and we're still looking for sponsorship from the industry - not just for the boats but for several charities," he adds.

Volunteers needed

Tim is also looking for people to help crew the boat and take part in the great Baltic adventure. The five-week voyage is split into one-week legs and each leg costs £700. That gets you food, sailing gear, all manner of swashbuckling shenanigans and, one imagines, a few beers. "You don't have to be an experienced sailor, all we ask for is people who are enthusiastic and up for an adventure and an ale or two," Tim adds.

The boat will set sail in May from the Meantime Brewery in Greenwich - one of the 12 breweries participating in the adventure and situated just down the river from Southwark, where Thrale's Entire would have embarked from more than two centuries ago.

Alastair Hook, founder and head brewer at Meantime, said: "Although porter and stout were both born in London they were also made elsewhere. Russian Imperial Stout, however, is a specifically London beer.

"In particular it is associated with Southwark neighbours Barclay Perkins and Courage. As it is Meantime's mission to reconnect Londoners with their brewing heritage and we are natural inheritors of the London brewing tradition so it makes perfect sense for us to brew a Russian Imperial Stout for our aficionados' society, the College Beer Club. 

"Similarly it makes sense for us to send some on Tim O'Rouke's imaginative recreation of the export journey of this powerful beer, as the Thames was the main artery for London brewers shipping their wares all over the globe."

The original cask beers will remain unbroached until the boat reaches St Petersburg, but the participating brewers are also sending other beers in a bid to showcase the depth and breadth of flavour of British brewing.

Among the buccaneering beers there's Harvey's Imperial Stout

(considered the nearest in style to the Thrale's original) and Thornbridge Murmansk, the maverick brewer's interpretation of a Baltic Porter brewed with peated and smoked malts, four hop varieties and molasses. The brewer also produces a 7.5 per cent ABV Russian Imperial Stout called Saint Petersburg.

"Imperial Stouts are very interesting beers to brew as they can be the most flavourful of all beers," says Matthew Clark from Thornbridge Brewery. "Brewing these big beers with flavour and balance is a challenge for all brewers and it's one that I relish particularly."

To join for all or a part of the voyage please email gvz@oevyyvnagorre.pbz​ or register online at: www.thegreatbalticadventure.com ​

The Trip

May 14-15:​ The Grand Send Off

May 27:​ Arrive in Copenhagen

May 28-29:​ Beer Festival Copenhagen

June 3:​ Arrive in Stockholm

June 4-5:​ Beer Festival Stockholm

June 10:​ Arrive in Helsinki

June 11-12:​ Beer festival in Helsinki

July 5:​ Set sail to Tallinn & Turku City of Culture.

July 17:​ Arrive in St Petersburg safely delivering the Russian Imperial Stout and thus completing a trip which has not been attempted for 200 years…

Participating Breweries

• Meantime Brewery, London

• St Austell Brewery, Cornwall

• Wadworth Brewery, Wiltshire

• Shepherd Neame, Kent

• Elgoods Brewery, Norfolk

• Museum Brewery, Staffordshire

• Harveys Brewery, Sussex

• Adnams, Suffolk

• Black Sheep Brewery, Yorkshire

• Bartram Brewery, Suffolk

• Thornbridge Brewery, Derbyshire