There are many, many great beers on the market today, and I sometimes pause to reflect upon how very lucky we beer enthusiasts are. Just a few decades ago, the selection of craft-brewed beer in the United States was unbelievably sparse. Quite possibly, that’s why there weren’t as many people engaged in the hobby of beer: there just weren’t that many beers to get excited about. Fortunately, that’s no longer an issue, and beer lovers everywhere now have incredible opportunities to find incredible and diverse beers to get thrilled about, both imported and domestic.

Today, I’m very excited about a very delicious beer: Riggwelter Yorkshire Ale. Riggwelter is brewed by the tiny Black Sheep Brewery of Masham (pronounced Mass-um), in Yorkshire, England. Riggwelter is a Yorkshire ale, a unique and idiosyncratic dark English ale prized for its deep malt flavors and notes of raisin and chocolate.

Before we get too far into our discussion of Riggwelter, it might be wise to explain the name. Here’s how Black Sheep describes it:

Riggwelter: from the Old Norse rygg-back and velte-to overturn. When a sheep is on its back and cannot get up without help, local dales dialect says its rigged or riggwelted.

Ok. That might not make immediate sense in a beery sort of way, but many fans of Yorkshire ale thought they themselves had been riggwelted a little over a decade ago when a classic example of the style, Theakston’s Old Peculiar, was acquired by industry giant Scottish and Newcastle. The managers of very large breweries often think they know best about everything, or they wouldn’t have gotten to be managers of very large breweries. As such, they sometimes like to tweak things, which is exactly what beer lovers feared they would do with Old Peculiar.

Some say that they did just that, and claim that Old Peculiar just isn’t the same as it used to be. The last time I tasted it was several years ago, and I was drinking the Scottish-Newcastle stuff. It tasted quite delicious to me, but not having sampled the original I can offer no analysis vis a vis the two. I can say that one good thing came of the takeover, since Scottish-Newcastle expanded distribution and made it available to more consumers.

Be that as it may, many still felt the Theakston sheep was on its back with the acquisition, unable to right itself without help. That help came in the form of Paul Theakston, a member of the family that operated the original brewery. In 1992, he founded the Black Sheep brewery in Masham, and the rest is history.

Black Sheep brews a number of beers, but the one nearest and dearest to the hearts of many beer drinkers is Riggwelter. It’s a classic Yorkshire ale that some prefer even to the original Old Peculiar. Yorkshire ales are among the rarest of beers, mainly brewed in Yorkshire, England. Their unique flavor is said by some to be imparted by the unique Yorkshire squares system of fermentation employed in the area.

Yorkshire squares fermentation is a traditional method practiced by few breweries. In contrast to the modern cylindro-conical fermenters used by most American breweries today, Yorkshire squares are square, flat fermenters comprised of two separate chambers. These chambers influence the way that the wort (unfermented beer) circulates as the yeast ferment it; this in turn influences the final product. Traditionally, Yorkshire squares are fabricated from stone, although some breweries today use more modern stainless steel.

Riggwelter Yorkshire Ale pours to a dark brown color with a thick and creamy tan head and a nose full of sweet, dark malt aromas. The palate is very complex, sweet and malty, packed with strong notes of raisin, toffee, chocolate, molasses, prune, butter, and rum-soaked plum pudding. The beer starts sweet but becomes increasingly hoppy, at first with herbal hints but then with an increasing bitterness. A light bitter buzz lingers on the tongue after sipping. Alcohol is slightly above average at 5.7% by volume.

Riggwelter is an incredibly complex and delicious beer. I find it to be similar to Old Peculiar in many ways, but with a much more pronounced hop character. Its like is not often found, and this world-class brew should not be passed upon.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

 



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