Brewskie
In 5: Sweet, Full-bodied, Fruity, Tasty, Grand slam
We most certainly aren’t alone in our belief that as a general rule Scotland is pretty pants at sport; unless you count competitive eating as a sport… Or the annual “most ridiculous thing to deep fry and sell in a chippy” competition. But lo and behold if you turn on the Beeb during June and July you will be confronted by an old Scottish man trapped in the injury-prone scruffy body of Andy Murray prancing about with a tennis racket on his epic quest to never win a Grand Slam. Well we recently discovered a beer just a rare as a Scottish wannabe champion, a lager brewed in Glasgow meeting the purity laws of Germany?!
We were equally as intrigued, so here is our tennis themed review of St Mungo (the Patron Saint of Glasgow if you’re interested).
Much like a Glaswegian on a night out who’s had a Drop too much and is giving you a Volley of abuse, this beer Smashes you in the chops from the off.
It has a Baseline full-bodied fruity nose and the explosively sweet-tasting Serve of Andy Roddick with the classy counters of a peppery Roger Federer. You really get a sense of the Germanic about it as like Steffi Graf the taste lingers long after you expect and it just keeps on winning you over. Once you make a start you will want to Turnaround plenty of bottles of St Mungo instead of your usual Deuce of choice.
Don’t put up with the Racket, simply sit back, relax and call Time on your day at work with this beer, best Served cold and, if unfinished, Return to the fridge.
Serving suggestion: With strawberries and cream of course.
This article is copyright © 2012
Brewskie
In 5: Sour, Fruity, Honey, Bitter, Tinny
This was another beer we picked up from the Micro Bar in the Manchester Arndale and we were hoping for great things as there were obviously only a few carefully selected beers on offer. Unfortunately we were a little disappointed by this fruity brew.
We were promised a ‘zesty aroma and a fruity flavour’ and I suppose we did get this to some extent but for us it just didn’t seem to work so well. We got the high notes from the fruits and a little bit of honey to bind it together but there was something not quite right. It left us feeling a bit bitter about the whole experience and particularly sour too. There was a slightly metallic or tinny aftertaste that lingered and annoyed like sitting next to a music class full of year 9 kids with the xylophones out.
We were drinking this with a wonderful home-made vegetable curry and tarka dal that Mrs Brewskie lovingly prepared for a house party. So maybe it’s not a great one with a curry and that interfered with our experience somewhat, we hope so, because we were expecting more.
This article is copyright © 2012
Brewskie
In 5: Fruity, Mellow, Flat, Consistent, Amber
Finally, a hooker the Mrs won’t mind you bringing home!
We Hooked up with this ‘beauty’ in Aldi this morning; they do say people are meeting the love of their life in the supermarket more than anywhere else these days, so we were initially quite hopeful. At just £1.49 and with there only being a couple of Hookers left; our hopes were soon replaced with concern that there was probably something wrong with this Hooker and our relationship was doomed to failure.
When she finally escapes from the bottle you’re met with a burnt amber coloured pint (“it looks like apple juice” was the Mrs decent contribution), with surprisingly little head, very surprising considering the name! It took a while to pin down its aroma but we eventually settled for a sort of caramel/biscuit scenario, a little bit like millionaires shortbread if you will. The taste follows the nose with similar flavours coming through, very much a whole mouth experience, very rounded and very defined. You’re left with a slightly bitter after taste which we thought might go away towards the end but stayed throughout the whole deal. From the first mouthful to the last, the flavour is unwavering, this hooker certainly won’t leave you with any nasty surprises.
Overall, it was a decent drink but we’re not sure we’ll be getting Hooked anytime soon.
This article is copyright © 2012
Brewskie
In 5: Cakey, Fruity, Full-bodied, Strong, Drinkable
Ringwood, the maker of probably our favourite summer beer, Boondoggle, launched their Old Thumper way back in 1979 and it’s gone from strength to strength since then, winning the CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain in 1988. It’s pretty easy to find nowadays in most supermarkets and in little multi packs of real ale you get in your Christmas stocking from Aunties and Uncles. If only everyone would just get us beer we’d be guaranteed an excellent Crimbo every year. I’ve tried drinking a sock; it’s not nice and you end up with a mouth full of fluff.
So how did they manage to bottle up their ‘beast of a beer’? Well I reckon it wasn’t quite as difficult, or anywhere near as much fun to watch as Old Thumper the wild boar on the label makes you dream up it might have been. They probably just used the same big machine that they use on most of their other beers… Yawn.
The first thing that struck us after pouring into a glass was the smell of brioche this beer seems to emanate. You certainly won’t get Boared as its taste changes and grows mouthful after mouthful. You discover new aspects of its flavour with a different fruit coming through with every sip. Its all round body is definitely strong enough to handle a BBQ (or a curry for that matter), which makes me think… If Old Thumper were to accidently end up on a spit, and then someone were to say, place a little bit of fire underneath him that happened to roast him up, a pint of Old Thumper would certainly make a wonderful companion to the any hog that were roasted as a consequence. Just don’t forget the apple sauce, a hog roast needs apple sauce; that is a fact that cannot be changed.
So is it a ‘beast of a beer’? Well in a ‘I’m stronger than you’ contest, it would probably thump most beers straight out of the Ring-wood.
This article is copyright © 2012
Brewskie
In 5: Bananary, Savoury, Fruity, Enjoyable, Sickly
“This is 29, Acacia Road. And this is Eric, the schoolboy who leads an exciting double life. For when Eric drinks a banana bread beer, an amazing transformation occurs. Eric is Bananabreadbeerman. Ever un-alert for the call to action.” Now wouldn’t that have made an interesting cartoon? A drunk adolescent stumbling around town in silly clothes, oh hang on a minute; that already happens in real life and it’s not great to watch.
We have no idea how they managed it, but somehow, Well’s have taken a loaf of banana bread, liquidised it, sprinkled in some magic dust and turned it into a delicious beer. If you don’t like bananas don’t bother, if you don’t like bread, are you mental? What do you eat for lunch?! You wouldn’t want a massive session on these but as a special treat it’s well worth picking one up next time you’re in the supermarket for one of your 5 beers a day.
This article is copyright © 2012
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