Potato varieties

A discovery by Algernon

I recently needed a new pair of glasses and noticed a picture of the building that housed the Optometrist .

Well, OK, this one’s in Charlotte North Carolina, but you get the picture…

The picture circa 1900 showed that the building once owned by Trotter and Sons, now that got me thinking, could this be the Trotters famous for their fine ales, so it challenged me to find out more.

Now my research found the Trotters and Sons where potato importers to the landed gentry for a number of years. They in time managed to branch out into the production of fine ales and spirits. They had family connections in the past to Jack Spires who had renown for producing Ales at nearby Kissing Point.

The family had become wealthy on potato importing, Cecil Trotter, the family Patriarch had married Gertrude (nee Spires) many years before. They had several children including sons Bert, and Cedric and daughters Philomena and Pearl

They imported many potatoes including Golden Wonder, Belle de Fontenay, Irish Lumper, Kerr’s Pink, King Edward, Stobrawa, Ratte, Pink fir apple, British Queens, Bintje, Almond and Zapatona.

With Spires help the Trotters looked to produce a range of fine ales like:

Trotters Vintage a heady brew not unlike a Belgian Trappist beer,  was a beer for laying down for a year or two.

Trotters Strong Ale – the longer you leave this the stronger it gets including the after taste.

Trotters Scotch ale was one for wondering what a Scotsman wore under his kilt

Then there was Trotters Best – a cleansing ale for the day after the night before.

Trotters Pale Ale was well so pale it looked like water but beware of the kick.

The Trotters tried experimenting with Potato Ale though I’m not sure that it actually caught on, though it did have a pink hue to it perhaps.

Wedge

I also found that they were trying to perfect the potato wedge, these Trotters appeared to be a family ahead of their time, marrying the potato wedge with their range of fine ales. However I’m yet to ascertain if they’re the family that started producing the beer that the Pigs Arms relies on.

I’ll admit that my research is only in its early stages given that I’ve only had the new glasses since Thursday and I’ll admit that its only in its early stages however, I’ll keep the patrons informed on what I find.