Friday 14 September 2012

Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt


It just so happens that a university friend of the wife's now does PR for Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt which takes place this Autumn. She got in touch and asked if I wanted samples and my answer was yes.

So finally after all these years of beer blogging, all these years of watching the young upstart bloggers haul in crate after crate of free beery delights I finally get sent some free beer (OK, it's my own fault really for not making much effort with social networking, plus beer blogging for the soul purpose of getting free beer is very bad practice).

So anyhow, six beers, six different brewers, my unbiased opinion, here it goes.

Nethergate Lemon Head 4%

Nethergate is a brewery I have rated highly for a long time. Both Umbel ale and Old Growler are old favourites of mine so I was expecting the 4% Lemon Head to deliver something at least decent. In short it certainly delivers on the lemon front, with a fair bit of ginger in there as well giving a nice bite to it. The finish is almost tonic-like with very subtle biscuity malt undertones. Great as a straight forward palate cleanser or one to knock back in the summer.

Wadworth Horizon  4%

Very pale gold to straw in colour, dry, savoury and almost pilsner-esque with a very faint hint of citrus. Drinkable enough, but other than that, not much going on.

Batemans Mocha Beer 6%

Promised much with the general description and a big mocha chocolate aroma (lovely volumptuous chocolaty stout like thing here we come). Not quite. Opens with boozy burnt grain in a heavy malt palate of dark chocolate and espresso notes. The finish gets taken over by that distinct powdered hot chocolate note you got in the aroma. Somehow its not quite all tied together and comes across almost artificial at times. Still a pleasent enough beer.

Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody's Blissful Brown Ale 4.6%

Light chestnut brown and laced with sweet nutty grain and a light creamy mouthfilling caramelised malt texture. Slight almond note in the finish and balanced with only a whisper of hops. Also subtle and tasting a fair bit lower than its 4.6%. A sound beer, yet worlds apart from the big coloured malt laden Brown ales of the North East region. None the less here is subtlty done well.

Williams Bros Prodical Sun 4.1%

Now here's a Scottish brewer with a fondness of the unothodox. They don't shout about it the way others do but Williams Bros brew in a style of their own using a fair number of odd-ball ingredients along the way. This beer is no exception, although by far not my favourite Williams Bros beer it doesn't fail to be interesting. The mid golden liquid offers a peculiar initially plush mix of strawberries and cream, grainy toffeeish chewy ovaltine and a lychee-like slightly hidden hop bite. Quite difficult to pull apart but the finish quickly tails off to airy dry spruce notes. It's certainly worth a try.

Blue Monkey 99 Red Baboons 4.2%

In short a deep reddish black porter cross mild hybrid. Rich chocolaty dark fruit dominates over some yeasty notes, English hops and a bite of burnt grain in the finish that turns it a touch sharp. All in all very flavourful and well brewed.  

It's good to see the supermarkets promote new beers. So remember folks Sainsbury's is a wonderful place. Their own brand ketchup is the finest around and occasionally they change their bottled beer range.

Don't miss the Great British Beer Hunt. There are 20 beers in the final which will be sold at stores across the country. Ten of those will go through to a Grand Final on October 5 when one beer will be picked as the best, and will go on sale for six months across the UK.



38 comments:

arn said...

Must try to catch up with some of the entries this year.
Although it doesn't sound like you think any of those above will storm it into the final top 3.

Mrs M said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rob said...

The Nethergate and Wye Valley entries are great beers. The rest are at least decent. Would be interesting to see which ones make it.

Anonymous said...

See what happens when they give you freebies...All objectivity goes out straight out the window.

Anonymous said...

I am regular visitor, how are you everybody? This piece of writing posted at this web page is actually good.


Feel free to surf to my weblog - Evgeni Malkin Jersey Authentic Evgeni Malkin Jersey Evgeni Malkin Authentic Jersey Evgeni Malkin Black Jersey Evgeni Malkin Black Jersey

Anonymous said...

Great blog you have here.. It's difficult to find quality writing like yours these days. I seriously appreciate people like you! Take care!!

Take a look at my webpage; Michael Kors Bags

Anonymous said...

Hello i am kavin, its my first occasion to commenting anyplace, when i read
this article i thought i could also create comment due to this brilliant piece of
writing.

My webpage ... louis vuitton outlet online

Anonymous said...

I feel this is among the most significant info for me.
And i am glad reading your article. However should commentary on some
basic things, The website style is great, the articles is truly nice : D.
Just right job, cheers

Feel free to visit my weblog :: article source

Anonymous said...

For most up-to-date news you have to pay a visit the web and
on internet I found this website as a finest web site for hottest updates.


Here is my page ... Wholesale Jerseys

Anonymous said...

WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching for tricolor

my website ... Cheap Louis Vuitton Handbags

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed, I have to admit. Seldom do I encounter a blog that's both equally educative and
entertaining, and without a doubt, you've hit the nail on the head. The issue is something which too few people are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy I stumbled across this during my hunt for something relating to this.

My site; Gucci Sito Ufficiale Scarpe

Anonymous said...

If some one desires to be updated with most recent technologies
afterward he must be pay a quick visit this web page and be up to
date everyday.

Here is my web site :: http://www.wiki-recos.ch/index.php?title=Anxiety_101:_Everything_You_Need_To_Know

Anonymous said...

Having read this I thought it was really enlightening.
I appreciate you finding the time and energy to put this short article together.
I once again find myself spending a significant amount of
time both reading and commenting. But so what,
it was still worthwhile!

Feel free to surf to my blog post :: Michael Kors

Anonymous said...

Greetings! Very helpful advice within this post! It is the little changes that produce the
most important changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!


My web site: Louis Vuitton Handbags Outlet

Anonymous said...

Excellent article. I'm going through some of these issues as well..

My website; Chaussure Air Jordan

Anonymous said...

Attractive component of content. I simply stumbled upon your website
and in accession capital to say that I acquire actually loved account your weblog posts.
Anyway I will be subscribing to your augment or even I fulfillment you get
entry to consistently rapidly.

My web site ... Mulberry Bags

Anonymous said...

I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the structure of your site?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people
could connect with it better. Youve got an
awful lot of text for only having 1 or two pictures.
Maybe you could space it out better?

Also visit my weblog: Louis Vuitton Handbags

Anonymous said...

I was able to find good info from your content.

my webpage :: Abercrombie Pas Cher

Anonymous said...

Excellent post but I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this
subject? I'd be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Thanks!

Here is my site: nike Free 3.0

Anonymous said...

Hi there everyone, it's my first go to see at this web page, and post is truly fruitful in support of me, keep up posting such articles.

Visit my web site: Nike Pas Cher

Anonymous said...

Stunning quest there. What occurred after? Good luck!

Feel free to surf to my web-site :: visit this link

Anonymous said...

Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images on this blog loading?
I'm trying to determine if its a problem on my end or if it's the blog.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

My blog post ... Abercrombie Et Fitch

Anonymous said...

Wow! This blog looks just like my old one! It's on a completely different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Superb choice of colors!

Check out my weblog: Air Max Sale

Anonymous said...

Fantastic blog! Do you have any hints for aspiring writers?
I'm hoping to start my own website soon but I'm a little lost on everything.
Would you advise starting with a free platform like
Wordpress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I'm completely confused .. Any ideas? Thanks a lot!

My blog post - NFL Jerseys Cheap

Anonymous said...

I visited many web sites however the audio feature for audio songs existing
at this website is actually marvelous.

my web page binaural beats

Anonymous said...

Thanks very interesting blog!

Also visit my site; Oakley Frogskins

Anonymous said...

excellent post, very informative. I'm wondering why the opposite specialists of this sector don't
understand this. You should proceed your writing.

I am confident, you've a great readers' base already!



Also visit my site - Sac Louis Vuitton Pas Cher

Anonymous said...

Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization?
I'm trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I'm not seeing very good results.
If you know of any please share. Cheers!

Here is my web blog: Air Jordan

Anonymous said...

Thanks to my father who told me regarding this webpage,
this website is in fact awesome.

Also visit my website - Nike Free

Anonymous said...

Great post. I was checking constantly this blog and I am inspired!
Extremely helpful info specifically the final phase :) I handle such info a lot.

I was looking for this particular info for a long time.

Thank you and good luck.

Here is my site: Sac a main Guess

Anonymous said...

It’s difficult to find educated people in this particular topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks harga glutera

Anonymous said...

What if they're unemployed and require money to produce
their mortgage or rent payment, electric or gas bill, or car loans
payment super real you need to stop according to cards so that you just
is not going to wind up in deep debt again a number of years on the road.

Anonymous said...

e cig reviews, buy electronic cigarette, smokeless cigarettes, e cigarette, e cig forum, electronic cigarettes

Anonymous said...

This article really helped me to understand what I do not know about the above. for the content of the article is very interesting and is able to read with ease. I hope this article can be useful to others as well.glucogen

jerawat pasir said...

Please let me know if you have any recommendations or tips for new aspiring jerawat pasir

cream pemutih wajah said...

Cara Menghilangkan Jerawat dengan Cepat 100% aman Ber BPOM baca selengkapnya di sini cream pemutih wajah

Cantiknya said...

This is a good topic, Thanks for your information, please visit my site: produk ertos dan produk theraskin

Cantiknya said...

This is a realy realy good topic, Thanks for your information and please visit my site: produk ertosproduk theraskin, and fair n pink boy serum