Mathers Black Beer, Ginger Wine and Egg Flip - Happy Christmas!

[Draggletail 58]

What was Mathers black beer? I'm sure it was non alcoholic, black as can be and sweet, could be served warm or hot.... what was it made from?

Do they still make it?

 

Tell me about Mathers Black Beer, and the forgotten drinks of Christmas past

 

What is your favourite Christmas drink? Warm mulled wine or just the normal pint/glass of wine/

[diggory comp 10]

mathers black beer originates from leeds. it does contain alcohol (8.5%) and is widely used as a mixing ingredient. if memory serves me right it is a by product from various brewing processes (slops). it can be mixed with many different beverages my favourites are with milk or with lemonade which creates what is usually known as sheffiield stout. it is very high in vitamin c and is very nice and is also quite inexpensive at around £2.00 per 750ml bottle. it is well worth a try.

[happyhippy 11]

A SHEFFIELD STOUT!

 

Black Beer, milk and rum if I remember rightly ...... only decent thing to come from Weeds, bar t'M1 South!

[chem1st 10]

But a month ago I came across this thread. I was having a Sheffield stout, and even though I'm prolific poster, for some reason I did not post. Perhaps it was the 1200 degree duty free rule applied to black beer that stopped me. I wish I had posted now, so I/we could have heard HH's opinion.

 

I raise a sheffield stout to happyhippy.

 

And a glass of ginger wine and lemonade (a regular tipple).

 

I look forwards to an xmas egg flip.

 

To happyhippy, a sheffield stout! You will be missed my friend.

[qazitory 10]

Just tried to get some from Morrison's and been told them don't stock it any more. Anyone know where you can get it from?

[taxman 12]

Just having my first rum and Stones ginger of Christmas.....sorry, make that the second!

 

I'll also be doing the usual snowballs.

 

When I was younger I'd have blue lagoons and martini rosso and tonics.

[I1L2T3 10]

Black beer is a fortified malt liquor.

 

Mix it with lemonade and you get something that tastes like a guinness shandy. Some people mix it with milk and other things.

 

Very nice. Used to be about £2 a bottle, lasted for months.

[qazitory 10]

I've just rang the supplier and they stopped making it a few months back

 

RIP Black Beer

[chem1st 10]

I've just rang the supplier and they stopped making it a few months back

 

RIP Black Beer

 

Indeed. There should be another few threads on it (Mathers black beer). I've wrote a few over the years, I don't know why they have been deleted?

Or perhaps they have been moved to an archive? Is there anyway of finding them?

 

One regarding it being a Yorkshire drink, and another regarding it being duty free and calling for other drinks to be duty free, and one in 2012 lamenting it's imminent demise due to the Tories.

 

George Osbourne killed it off, I recall writing a thread on here titled "RIP Mathers black beer ..." in 2012, I posted about the history of it being exempted from tax (alcohol DUTY) in the 1930s depression, else it would have been discontinued then, and lamenting a future where it ceased to exist if the company making stopped production, because of the proposed tax change by George Osbourne.

 

The tax was not brought in, in the 1930s because it would not have collected any tax, in the first place, it would have caused production to cease, jobs to be lost and a British (& more importantly Yorkshire) product (and a part of Yorkshire culture) to disappear.

 

I was advising people to stock up and arguing for it to be exempted from tax again.

 

There should be a campaign to make black beer tax exempt, so that production in Yorkshire can be restarted, restoring/creating jobs and allowing the public to once again purchase and consume the traditional and medicinal beverage.

If black beer was once again exempt from alcohol DUTY, then more tax would be collected (income tax, VAT etc.), and the product could also be exported bringing in much needed foreign currency, helping to address the balance of trade, albeit only by a small amount, anything to narrow the trade deficit we have with the rest of the world should be welcome because we haven't had a trade surplus since 1998!

[Robin-H 11]

Indeed. There should be another few threads on it (Mathers black beer). I've wrote a few over the years, I don't know why they have been deleted?

Or perhaps they have been moved to an archive? Is there anyway of finding them?

 

One regarding it being a Yorkshire drink, and another regarding it being duty free and calling for other drinks to be duty free, and one in 2012 lamenting it's imminent demise due to the Tories.

 

George Osbourne killed it off, I recall writing a thread on here titled "RIP Mathers black beer ..." in 2012, I posted about the history of it being exempted from tax (alcohol DUTY) in the 1930s depression, else it would have been discontinued then, and lamenting a future where it ceased to exist if the company making stopped production, because of the proposed tax change by George Osbourne.

 

The tax was not brought in, in the 1930s because it would not have collected any tax, in the first place, it would have caused production to cease, jobs to be lost and a British (& more importantly Yorkshire) product (and a part of Yorkshire culture) to disappear.

 

I was advising people to stock up and arguing for it to be exempted from tax again.

 

There should be a campaign to make black beer tax exempt, so that production in Yorkshire can be restarted, restoring/creating jobs and allowing the public to once again purchase and consume the traditional and medicinal beverage.

If black beer was once again exempt from alcohol DUTY, then more tax would be collected (income tax, VAT etc.), and the product could also be exported bringing in much needed foreign currency, helping to address the balance of trade, albeit only by a small amount, anything to narrow the trade deficit we have with the rest of the world should be welcome because we haven't had a trade surplus since 1998!

 

Why should a drink that is 8.5% alcohol be exempt from alcohol tax? (Genuine question)

 

Also, are you sure it isn't being made anymore - Sainsbury's seem to be selling it here, or is this not the same thing?

 

http://tinyurl.com/gwe98ft

 

---------- Post added 06-11-2016 at 17:00 ----------

 

Why should a drink that is 8.5% alcohol be exempt from alcohol tax? (Genuine question)

 

Also, are you sure it isn't being made anymore - Sainsbury's seem to be selling it here, or is this not the same thing?

 

http://tinyurl.com/gwe98ft

 

Having just checked the above link on my laptop I can now see that the product is not available. On my phone it gave me the option to buy it weirdly.

Edited November 6, 2016 by Robin-H

[medusa 16]

Indeed. There should be another few threads on it (Mathers black beer). I've wrote a few over the years, I don't know why they have been deleted?

Or perhaps they have been moved to an archive? Is there anyway of finding them?

 

 

I'm sorry, but I have no answer for you on that because I can't find any other threads anywhere, apart from a mention of it in a History & Expats thread as being a cure for something. All of our threads right back to 2003 would come up on a search if they're still around on the server.

 

All I can think is that there was a reason why they were removed (can't tell you what though) and it's been long enough that they were hard deleted from the server.

 

Sorry.

[apelike 10]

Having just checked the above link on my laptop I can now see that the product is not available. On my phone it gave me the option to buy it weirdly.

 

But you can brew something similar yourself. I still have 6 litres left as it is an occasional drink because of the strong taste and mine is only around 7.5%.

 

This is what I brewed;

 

http://www.home-brew-online.com/beer-kits-c1/muntons-hand-crafted-old-conkerwood-black-ale-kit-p109

 

I added some black treacle and cut it down to 20 litres.