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The beer is named in honour of Lord Curzon, a Viceroy of India, and an acclaimed restorer of historic buildings. While he was stationed in India he restored the Taj Mahal to its former glory. When he returned to England, he bought Tattershall Castle in 1911 and Bodiam Castle in 1916. He restored them and they passed to the National Trust when he died in 1925. He also set about restoring his family home at Kedleston Hall, which eventually passed to the NT in 1986.
It's fitting that a "restored" beer style such as IPA has been brewed in his memory. In spite of his elevated place in society, he was a beer drinker. In his memoirs, Leaves from a Viceroy's Notebook, he tells of a time he was trekking from Afghanistan to India on horseback and was hallucinating about beer. "As I rode down the grassy slopes, I saw coming towards me in the distance the figure of a solitary horseman...at that moment I would have given a kingdom, not for champagne or hock and soda, or hot coffee, but for a glass of beer!" When the horseman arrived, he pulled open his coat and handed Curzon a bottle of Bass Ale, a true India Pale Ale.
Westerham, National Trust Viceroy India Pale Ale (England) 
Westerham's bottle-conditioned beer has a honey colour with spicy hops, wholemeal biscuits and plum fruit on the nose. Tart and peppery hops, chewy malt and ripe plum fruit fill the mouth while the finish is bitter and spicy. Hops dominate but there's a fine balance of juicy malt sweetness and tangy fruit. Malt: high. Fruit: high. Hops: high.
The beer is on sale for �3 a bottle in National Trust shops that are licensed (see www.nationaltrust.org.uk) and from independent beer retailers in the south-east. From the brewery direct it costs �23 for a case of 12 bottles plus �7 post and packing. 01732 864427.
5.0% ABV, 50cl, �3, brewery website, independents.  | |  |
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