How exactly does one describe a beer? Or perhaps a better way to phrase this Q is how does one describe the meaning attached to a particular beer? Like the feelings that arise when on drinks it or the role that a brand of beer has in a subculture. I feel like so often the flavor of beers can only be described with so limited words before it is just constant repetition – i.e. “hoppy, light, refreshing” etc. So the deeper meaning of a beer has to be something that exists outside of the dimension of taste. The feeling of drinking a beer, or at least a particular brand, is more based on the aesthetics of the beer or the social constructs that surround the beer. The feelings that arise when one regards a beer can be the result of things such as the name of the brand, the logos, and the advertisements – more or less the beer's marketing dictating how one should consider the beer. For example, Corona inspires images of the beach and require the presence of lime in order to truly perfect the vision of drinking a bottle. The addition of a lime slice with any other beer would likely do the same thing it does with Corona, adding this lime just feels like a corona signature. So I’m curious: how do we investigate the meaning behind the beer we drink?
I would like to approach this question through the case of Tennent’s. Tennent’s is the beer of Glasgow. A simple Lager est. in 1885 with 4% ABV all packed in a yellow can with a big red T on it. I propose that Tennent’s inspires the idea of Glasgow when one drinks it; it is a beer that is heavily linked to its geography. In short, I am going to describe how the meaning behind Tennent’s is quintessentially Glasgow.
The first time I became aware of Tennent’s was when I arrived in Glasgow. Never before had I observed the beer on a tap or in a can in the wild before. I encountered a giant factory in the East End of Glasgow during the first leg of my inaugural walk of the city, just hours after I had landed. I originally had no idea what the building was, but I quickly learned that it was the Tennent’s brewery. I walked past a collection of Murals on a wall that surrounded the brewery – the paintings on the wall each depicting the letter “T” and various adverts for the beer. Notably, I saw an image where Glasgow’s most famous icon, “The Duke” is shown enjoying a Tennent’s. Now I was well aware of The Duke and its meaning within Glasgow due to my traffic cone connections, but I had no idea what Tennent’s was. The factory seemed like a wonkaesque monument to a mysterious beer that had only just entered my consciousness. There was no better marketing than this, my curiosity was way piqued.
This thirst, both literally and metaphorically, was quenched later that day when at Oran Mor, a beautiful church modeled into a bar, I uttered the faithful words: “May I have a Tennent’s please”. The Bartender got out the tall pint glass (I would say the official Tennents pint glasses are on the more “highly” side) and he poured the beer. And my lord what a head on that pour. Once can’t deny it, the beer is quite photogenic, glistening gold and weighty foam with that perfectly symmetrical T. I returned to the table, cheered pints with my new companions (one of which would go on to be one of my best friends here, the other I have never seen since), and took my first sip.
Let’s just get it out of the way here: Tennent’s is not a good beer. It tastes really like any other light lager and I doubt I would be able to identify it in any blind taste test. There is nothing astounding or exceptional about it in the dimensions of taste and flavor. It’s the type of beer that brings me back to college, say PBRs, which I would drink without any discretion or analysis. The beer exists and one can drink it. Tennent’s is there, it’s present. And for that it’s perfect.
Tennent’s is not a good beer. It is, however, a great beer. And I think this is true from the bottom of my heart, in as such that their beer develops a bit of a culture around itself. It’s a geographical beer that forces one to think of Glasgow as they drink it. It’s a beer that is drunk on all the great roads of the city, served at all (most) the bars, and is, most importantly, the cheapest beer at nearly any venue. A dirty Glasgow street is not complete without at least one crushed yellow can with a red T. The beverage is able to embody the identity of the city in a unique way which I feel other city-brewed beers are unable to capture.
A major reason I think this is the case is because of the actual design of everything associated with Tennent’s. Back in Oran Mor, drinking that beer the first day. I noticed how after each sip, the foam from the head of the beer left a mark along that tall pint glass that records each sip, and how long each sip was. It is a living map of your time at the pub. This may not be unique to Tennent’s, but I think the combination of that heady brew and the svelte pint glass makes it extra observable. And then there’s the T. The T is simply such an iconic logo that, again, links the beverage with the city. One of my friends once described the Tennent’s logo as “fascist” due to all the right angles, how red it is, and its almost dystopic omnipresence. One cannot disagree with the comparison, the big red T looms, and seeing it outside of certain bars gives it almost a sort of coded meaning - this pub is a true Glaswegian pub. And this made me consider that there are few beers that’s branding excels exclusively through the logo alone: Bud Light is just the text “Bud Light”; Coors has to say Coors in full because the mountains alone are not enough to carry the whole brand; the Corona crown is too complex to be easily replicated and understood. The obvious outlier is the Guinness harp, but it definitely stands in a league of its own as the harp is very much a multivocal national symbol that cannot be claimed by Guinness alone. The Tennent’s T is unmistakably Tennent’s.
It’s not outlandish to claim that Tennent’s has a monopoly on Glasgow as the Scottish beer (Yes Innes and Gunns is there, but it holds no candle imo). I attribute this to the fact that the Brewery, as described earlier, is very much within the city limits. I am yet to do the tour but I hear it’s well worth the while. What I find just so exceptional about the Brewery, however, is its placement in such close proximity to Glasgow’s “spiritual hub”, The Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis - solidifying the beer as just an integral into the design of the city as the Glasgow’s most spooky tourist attraction and the story of Saint Mungo - core elements of Glasgow’s cultural geography. The brewery even overwhelms that giant cemetery on a hill because at key moments one can smell the fresh batch of beer wafting through the air as one strolls along the corridors of graves which really desecrates the whole experience in a hilarious way.
Now I’m not doing a whole historical or scientific approach to Tennent’s in this blog post; I’m sure there are super interesting layered histories and implications in the full story of Tennent’s that would be uncovered if one were to ever attempt to write a book. But I do think the beer does have some pure heavy sociological meaning that can be unpacked, and these are just my personal observations around it based on my own little experience drinking it almost exclusively for the past year while living in Glasgow.
Tennent’s is a beer that relies more on the deeper cultural meaning behind it than the taste itself; drinking it is a prop in the symbolic performance of being a Glaswegian denizen. And while I personally do enjoy the flavor of the pint, I know many a folk who would never order it unless it's the 4th drink in on a night out and the G&Ts are getting a bit pricy. The way I see it is that drinking a Tennent’s is drinking the idea of the city of Glasgow in some sense. Because I know for a fact, that if I ever have the opportunity to order a Tennent’s outside of the city in the distant future, I know it that within each traceable sip I will be reminded of my time in Glasgow, long after I had left.
Edit 11/27:
So I did eventually go on a tour of the Tennent’s brewery, and it was everything I could have hoped for and more. Honestly, a key thing to do in Glasgow. Not only did it show how central Tennent’s was in the unique development of Glasgow throughout the years, but it also brought up a lot of other interesting concepts such as the production of the beer, sustainability efforts, distribution practices, and jobs found within the brewery. Also, it brought up interesting concepts such as international reception and distribution of the beer, which is something I never really considered because I find it to be such a Glaswegian beverage.
On top of all that you got to taste unpasteurized Tennent’s which was just pure delicious beer as well as some Tennen’t beers which I simply did not know existed. The tour guide was also great and the gift shop was more than dreamy. Really the whole visit was more than worthwhile - educational, fun, and of course, tasty. Highly recommend.
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