Thursday 24 September 2009

PGI status - II

The nice chap at the ministry returned my call this morning and set about setting us straight on the 'Kentish ale' and 'Kentish strong ale' PGI (protected geographical indicator) status. It appears the rules have changed between 1995 and now, and that those applications filed and approved before this change are waiting in line to be updated to the shiny new standards.

But what is the detail hiding in this bureaucratic explanation, I hear you mutter? Well, it turns out that the early versions of applications had only the summary publicly published and that the nitty gritty detailed definition was hidden to us proletariat, the knowledge being shared between the applicant and the manager only. Basically, I can't find out what constitutes a 'Kentish ale' until the definition has been made suitable for public release.

After that I'll be in a position to request an ammendment, should I disagree with the definition (highly unlikely) or apply to use a (presumably) natty little logo on my labels. In the meantime you'll have to trust me when I tell you our beer is Kentish, or beer of Kent. It is. Really.

1 comment:

Barry M said...

Kent argue with that!