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: Tasty, Full-bodied, Sweet, Refined, Quality
¡Ay, caramba!
We discovered this little beauty on a little Brewskie night out in Liverpool and absolutely loved it. Ever since, we’ve been on a mission, scouring the supermarkets and specialist shops looking for the distinctive yellow label to brighten up our day. It took a few months of hunting but we finally managed to track it down and bring some home for a sampling and by Jove are we glad we did. I think we picked it up in our local supplier, Carringtons in Didsbury along with some Dunham Massey Deer Beer (review to follow soon!).
It’s not often we try a lager and something stands out so much that we think, wow, this is truly great stuff. It’s sweet, fizzy and a real mouthful of joy that would taste as good on a boiling hot day as a cold, dreary winter evening. A lovely foamy head stays throughout and it’s hard to believe that a lager can be so full bodied and bold, but refined and refreshing in equal measures. It oozes quality and it really makes you wonder why it isn’t lining the shelves of the pubs and bars of the UK in place of some of the other tripe.
It certainly brightened our evening and having tried quite a few South American beers recently this is certainly up there amongst the best of them. A fantastic start for the South American beers on Brewskie, hopefully there will be some more great ones coming our way soon!
Hasta pronto, Pacífico Clara!
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
Belgium
Germany
Malta
Mexico
Morocco
Myanmar
New Zealand
Philippines
South Korea
United Kingdom
United States
