Last week, we headed down to the completely renovated and shiny brand new site of Clays Kitchen & Bar, in Prospect Street, Caversham. We’ve long been friends and supporters of the team behind Clays, who make some of the best street style Indian in not just the county, but the country. 
To celebrate the upcoming opening of the new site, which is on February 1st, we hosted a beer and food pairing afternoon. Feedback was wonderful, and we had a great time. Look out on social media for both Clays and ourselves for the next one – you won’t want to miss it. Don’t forget to book into Clays soon, where you’ll find a bar stocked with Siren Craft Brew beers, as well as some amazing cocktails.
At the event, we welcomed everyone in with our brand new release – 3.4% Table Beer – How The Turntables.
The concept of a table beer is believed to have originated in Medieval Europe. At typically under 1%, these beers were literally for the table, for everyone to share – even the kids would enjoy it! They were generally parti-gyle brews. After a stronger beer was made, the grains would be washed with water to create a secondary, or even third brew at lower ABVs. These were known as Table Beers, Small Beers or Small Ales.
Because of the very low alcohol, it was perfectly acceptable for someone to drink several glasses, without the risk of becoming drunk. Some manual workers would drink large quantities as a way to both quench thirst and take on more needed calories for the energy to work. It’s also proposed (albeit debated) that a small beer was a safer way to consume water, which at the time may have carried diseases in its natural form.
Table, or Small Beers, are even mentioned several times in the diary of Samuel Pepys!
Nowadays, they’re much nicer beers – crafted to be light on ABV, but full on flavour. We hope you love our take on the style, which is available now.
As for February – we’ll have a fantastic “Spin the Bottle” on the website, where you can win prizes with every spin. We’ll also have tickets available for our 10th Anniversary party, which is taking place on March 18th – keep the date free and look out for more details soon.
Follow – @sirencraftbrew / @clayskitchenbar / sirencraftbrew.com
