Feek's Friday Beer tasting service - Finally it's time for Part three. Yay!

[Feek]

After a break of a few weeks I'm pleased to announce the return of the Friday Beer Session.

I've been through all the beers in the local Tesco so a run to the local Co-Op was in order. It produced the following which I'll start consuming from left to right shortly.



K.

 

[Feek]

Ah McEwans no.1, i have a bottle of that in the fridge

NO, NO and thrice NO. Go and take it out of the fridge now.

Right, without further ado, I will start.

The Freeminer Brewery, Fairtrade Honey Ale.

Never heard of it, never seen it before.

"This full flavoured golden coloured ale is brewed exclusively for the Co-Op by the award winning freeminer brewery in the Royal Forest of Dean. Brewed using First Gold Hops from Worcestershire and Fairtrade honey from Chile, the beer enjoys a silky aroma of hops and honey and a long smooth finish."

Aroma? This 4.6% brew has no smell at all. It's very pale compared to other ales and ...... [sips]... Oh yes, this is very nice. I can't specifically notice a honey taste but it's a good brew. Technically it's an own-label Co-Op product but it's not bland. It's maybe more of a summer ale, but I could manage a few of these with no problems

K.

 

[Feek]

Oopsie, no. I'll look now.

K.

 

[Feek]

Batemans Rosey Nosey

It's Christmas Ale. It has Father Christmas on the front!

"This beer, with it's roasted barley and oven baked wheat will really compliment your turkey"

Well that says nothing about it at all. It's a 4.9% beer with no real aroma. Quite a dark brew with no visible head after being poured at an average speed.

Yummmm, this is a nice tasty brew. Much stronger flavour than the Honey Ale, it's a definate beer for dark cold nights, sitting around a roaring fireplace. Bothe the barley and wheat are noticable in the complicated flavour.

K.

 

[Feek]

Thwaites Strong Ale

A noticable and pleasant aroma as I popped the lid off this one.

"Co-Op Strong Ale is expertly brewed for the Co-Op at Daniel Thwaites Star Brewery in Blackburn.
The ale's rich, malty, full body and lightly hopped finish makes it the perfect accompaniment to game and strong cheeses"

5% and very dark this really does have a strong and nice aroma. It's effectively another own label beer. After the smell of it I was expecting a fairly strong flavour but it's actually not that full. I had all the expectations but it fails to deliver. An average, even bland taste. It's OK, but certainly nothing special and not a beer I'd consider buying again.

/edit - An update. When I take a slurp of this, I get some flavour but it vanishes almost straight away. Absolutely no aftertaste at all. Not exciting.

K.

 

[Feek]

Hmm, I missed the comment about the Monty Python beer - these three bottles are on the top shelf here....



I've drunk the Grail and the farmost bottle of Pig but the middle bottle is real - And many years out of date I don't think I'll be supping that one.

K.

 

[Feek]

Gold Miner

Another 'brewed for the Co-Op' beer.

"A hoppy, refreshing, golden coloured beer brewed by hand in the Royal Forest of Dean"

It looks like a bad homebrew. Slightly cloudy and quite light. This 5% beer is totally aroma free and it's not much better than that in taste. Very bland, very boring. Not hoppy at all but it has a tang that I can't place.

A bad choice. Don't buy it.

K.

 

[Feek]

Oi, enough of that in my beer thread

K.

 

[Feek]

I poured that last one away. It looked and tasted like a bad home brew with a really nasty aftertaste

Now I'm oin the White Shield and the bottle description is far too long to type!

It's a bottled live 'pale ale' which is far from pale. A 5.6% brew with a best by date just three days away.

Nice head upon pouring and a rather nice flavour. It's quite malty. Good.

K.

 

[Feek]

whats the holy grail and pig like? i cant seem to find any of the other threads

I can't remember - *checks date on bottles* - The Ail expired in April 2001 and the Pig in October '99.

K.

 

[Feek]

Best? Best just because it's the strongest, or best because it actually tastes the best?

I've just opened it.

Yada yada yada, absolute classic, dry fruity, yad ayada

6.4% of live ale.

Wow. It doesnt taste as though it's that strong. As has been the trend tongight, no real noticable aroma and in fact not a huge flavour. I was expecting quite a sweet brew but it's far from that. Not a very dark beer, the taste is not overpowering but it's noticably strong. I'd agree with the description and call it fruity.

Good.

K.

 

[Feek]

My favourite of the evening?

Rosey Nosey.

Get yourself to your local Co-Op and grab a couple of bottles. You won't be disappointed.

K.

 

[Feek]

Bluurrrggh. The Spitfire was awful.

I think I said that a few weeks ago. It's really good on draught in the pub near work but the bottle was terrible.

K.