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Another tasty tipple enjoyed in The Melville Inn, which seems to be in a rich vein of form at the moment in terms of its guest ale selection, with Kew last week. This brew is very light gold in colour – a really nice hue for a tasty summer evening pint. The taste is very nice too – smooth over the tongue, with a bitter, lingering finish and aftertaste. A nice new discovery, as it’s my first Adnams but I’m sure not the last!

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For the first time I found Wildcat on tap at the Caley Sample Room. The Caley is usually spot on for keeping beer in decent condition, and I’ve previously enjoyed Wildcat out of a bottle direct from the brewery. It’s a bit of a conundrum therefore why I didn’t enjoy this particular pint.
Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood or the right frame of mind for such a relatively strong (5.1%) ale on a Monday after work? However, the Bitter & Twisted I had afterwards slipped down a treat! I found this Wildcat a little to viscous (not a typo!) to be tamed! It seemed too sweet, too cloying for my taste. I’m a great lover off full bodied beers with balls, but this just wasn’t the right mix for me.
It was disappointing – I’m a great fan of the other beers from Cairngorm, and perhaps my previous experience of this beer from a bottle provided enough fizz in to counter the sweet flavours?
Not for me – but it certainly won’t stop me from reaching for a Trade Winds or Sheepshaggers Gold in future!

The label on the bottle gives a full description of the story behind the naming of this beer.  Beer dates from around 3100BC, when it was also known as liquid bread – the base ingredients between bread and beer being very similar.  The banana part of the name comes from the addition of fair trade bananas during the brew.

The latter ingredient is immediately obvious when the top comes off – a full bouquet of fruit fills the nose.  The taste is sweet, but not sickly.  A really very pleasant experience indeed!  Widely available.

Marston’s is brewed in the home of real ale brewing in the UK – Burton on Trent – and, in line with their ‘Marston’s Don’t Compromise’ byline, has reverted back to a more genuine IPA style to create Old Empire. It’s brewed to be stronger than a standard ale (5.7% ABV), has a typical pale colour and is bursting with hop flavour and citrus notes. The nose is beautifully pungent with rich hops (too much for Erin to stand – she hates when I first open a bottle of this) and while the strong flavour may be too much for some it is very quaffable in the hands of an expert. Or me.

This is a reliable standby in the caravan in Eyemouth – the local Co-op always seems to have this stocked! Not seen this on tap as yet, but hopefully will see it around. As with most bottled ales which are not cask conditioned it may well be fizzier than the real thing – so hunting down a cask version is very much on my list of must-do’s! I’ll let you know here when (not if!) I find it.