Schnitt Brewing Co. collaborates with Thornbridge on Mandatory Glory

Mandatory Glory: 
A collaboration IPL between
Schnitt Brewing Co. in Israel and
Thornbridge Brewery in the UK.

The Schnitt Brewing Company and Restaurant in Tel Aviv has collaborated with a British brewery, Thornbridge, to produce Mandatory Glory, an India Pale Lager.  

Like Schnitt's earlier collaboration with the Lervig Brewery in Norway, the beer was brewed in Europe and shipped to Israel in cans.  Read about the Schnitt-Lervig collab, How's It Hanging?, here. 

At the Mandatory Glory launch in Schnitt, Thornbridge export manager, James Buchanan, introduced himself to the old blogger.  "You may not remember," he told me, "but we exchanged e-mails back in 2016.  I asked you to help me find an Israeli beer importer who might be interested in bringing Thornbridge beers to Israel."  My memory was faint, so Buchanan continued: "You were kind enough to send me a list of four importers, and one of them was Protary Marketing Ltd.  I contacted them, and they eventually brought Thornbridge beers to Israel.

"So in a way, you are responsible for this collaboration happening." 

Well, imagine that!

James Buchanan (right),
Thornbridge Export
Manager, was at the
Mandatory Glory launch
with Alon Schwartz (center),
Schnitt Brewmaster, and
Ronnie (Nika) Lipkin,
a Schnitt brewer.

So what happened is that Schnitt Brewmaster Alon Schwartz and Thornbridge Production Manager Dominic Driscoll put their heads together (long-distance) and decided to brew a light and clear lager with a strong citrus presence.  They used three hops known for their citrus aroma: Centennial, Citra and Mandarina Bavaria.  For extra measure, they added coarse orange peel!  For malt, they used Pilsner, Caramalt and Wheat, and the yeast was a Bavarian bock lager strain.

So this is all mixed together, and let's see what comes out. 

Well, it's crystal clear and very pale.  The initial aroma is a lot of malt, yeasty -- but to get the citrus, you have to use some imagination.  When you taste it, though, the full citrus comes out.  "More from the hops," said my fellow IBAV Taster Bat Sheva, "than from the orange peel."  We got orange, a little lemon and even grapefruit.  It's mid-bitter, and the mouthfeel is acerbic on the tongue with a light body.  Nothing interferes with Mandatory Glory being very clean and refreshing.

We thought it was a good beer, brewed for the summer, but no less drinkable as we get into the fall.  Schnitt seems to be on a foreign collaboration kick, and we wonder what interesting and delicious beverages are in the pipeline.