A pre-choir pint in The Cask and Barrel Southside – what could be better to lubricate the vocal chords? Also gives me a chance to try out the Android WordPress App – who knows, this may spawn a whole new challenge for the year? Slipway, from the grandly-titled Captain Cook Brewery in North Yorkshire, is [...]
Posted by mobile phone:19 aug 1856 Another pint in the Bow Bar, another beer from far away – Isle of Mann this time, in the form of this pleasant bitter. Initial taste reveals background melon flavours, followed by the expected bitterness, and the somewhat less expected cigar notes. The aftertaste is long and dry, with [...]
Picked up a bottle of this at Morrisons, intrigued as I always am by beers flavoured with something a little bit wierd! This one, as you may be able to guess from the name, has the addition of some Canadian maple – which adds a delicious sweet maple tone to the nose. I was worried [...]
Posted by mobile phone:Just stopped into the Guildford for a quick pint before another choir rehearsal, and found something of a mini beer festival in full swing! Beers from Atlas and Sinclair (Orkney Brewery) on tap – sounds dangerous for just the one swift half! However, I soldiered on undounted and ordered a pint of [...]
Posted by mobile phone:
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!
Posted by mobile phone:
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.
