Feek's Friday Night Beer Thread (just one day late)

[Feek]

It's been a fair while since I did one of these, mainly because I've not had any new beers but partly because I've just not had much beer to drink when I've been at home.

Today I fancy some ale (http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=aboutale) though so YMF and I popped over to the local Morrisons (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&safe=off&um=1&q=morrisons&near=Clacton-on-sea&fb=1&view=text&latlng=51818901,1149728,6671953994752358524) for a twiggy purchasing session.

This little lot is what I ended up with.

http://www.ukrm.org/feek/2508007.jpg

They're all new to me, I've not had any of these before so I'm going to start off with some crusty French bread (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baguette) with very strong cheese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheddar_cheese) and a Scotch egg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_egg) before moving onto the beer.

Expect comments later :)

[Tak]

BeeWyched!!!! Gonna have to try that one - really hope it gets a positive Feek review :D

[Garp]

Wasn't a fan of Fullers. Loved BeeWhyched when I had it, but not tried the others.

[Feek]

"Valiant Alc. 4.2% Vol.
Classic Premium Bitter
Batemans, one of the FEW REMAINING FAMILY BREWERS, has been brewing since 1874 in their old windmill on the bank of the river Steeping and they still put quality before economics; the result is contained in this bottle!

A SUPERB PALE ALE bursting with rich malt and hops. Brewed with Maris Otter (w00t) pale and crystal malts and hopped with English Challenger and Golding combined with American Liberty, creating a tart fruity flavour with peppery bitterness. As it contains no fish based finings it is VEGAN friendly.

Valiant is an ideal accompaniment to CHEESE as it really brings out the flavour."

When I poured it, it almost sounded fizzy as it came out and once in the glass it is quite active. No real aroma to it as it poured but I am still suffering the aftereffects of a cold so may be a bit lacking in my sense of smell.

The initial taste is very malty indeed. I prefer a milder hoppy flavour so the taste is a little strong for my liking but it's certainly a nice pint. I can detect the peppery bitterness that is described and it has a warm aftertaste so all in all it's a good brew and one that I'd probably buy again. I'd not describe it as a pale ale though, it has the colour of a good traditional bitter.

[Feek]

"Fuller's Discovery
Delicious Blonde Beer

This superb premium blonde beer from Fuller's is the perfect combination of unbeatable flavour and refreshment. This brew has a unique blend of malted barley and wheat for a delicious malty taste bursting with rich biscuity flavours. Liberty hops give a distinctive zesty character and fruity bite whilst Saaz hops add gentle bitterness for a clean refreshing finish"

A huge head appeared as I poured this, but it settled down very quickly. It's called blonde beer but as per the Valiant, it looks no different to a normal brew.

Again, no smell from it, even holding my head over the glass and taking a big sniff only give a small hint of aroma.

My first taste is confusing me slightly. It's got something but I don't know what - Perhaps it is zesty but I can't detect anything like lemon flavour which is what I'd expect with that description. The second mouthful has brought it home though and I can definitely say that there's a fruit flavour there. The more I drink of this, (done half a pint in this paragraph) the more I'm liking it. It's a very nice clean flavour with very little aftertaste and I think I was just surprised by the explosion in my taste buds in the first gulp.

[Lomster]

I'm sure discovery is one Fay likes.

[Feek]

It's nice, I'm sure if I wasn't into twiggy beer that I'd not like it, but I did enjoy it.

Anyway on to..

"Black Sheep Yorkshire Square Ale
A golden premium ale with a refreshing clean taste with a long dry bitter finish "

Again, I can't see what's golden about this, it looks the same colour as the others. Interestingly I've discovered this is an ale exclusive to Morrisons.

It's very bitter, almost to the point of having a slightly burnt flavour. Quite a complex taste this, I can tell this is a Black Sheep brewery beer from the flavour as it's quite exclusive to them. It has a fairly malty aftertaste which lingers nicely in the mouth. At 5% it's a decent strength as well.

[Mark]

I see the tradition of the posts getting shorter as the bottles get emptied has continued. ;D

Tradition is good, yes? :)

[Feek]

:)

You knows it!

[Goose]

Good selection there Feek.

*ponders exploring more whiskey*

[Feek]

That last one slipped down a real treat.

Finally..

"Wychwood's BeeWyched Honey'd Ale

Buzzing with flavour this pale golden lightly honey'd ale has a delicate floral aroma and hints of citrus and dried fruit followed by the full bittersweet flavours of malt, honey and grapefruit.

Brewed using Chilean Fairtrade honey and Fairtrade sugars from Malawi alongside English pale ale malts and Challenger hops, BeeWyched is our first Fair Trade beer. "

I've never been a great Wychwood fan. Hobgoblin and Circle Master are the only two I've really liked and I feel they found a recipe they were happy with and made very minor tweaks to it to produce new beers.

This is different in that it's fairly sweet, sweeter than I'd expect for a 5% ale but that's not surprising considering it's a honey beer. However apart from that, it's nothing to write home about. It's not a bad ale, but it's really just more of the same from Wychwood and that's a shame because I'm sure they can do better than this. It's light in flavour, sweet and clean and not unpleasant. There is absolutely no aftertaste in my mouth at all.

I'm trying to put it into words. It's difficult! I'm enjoying the unusual sweetness to it, when a beer is like this it's often oversweet and far too strong but this isn't.

I'd happily sit and sup a few pints of this but I'd not go out of my way to look for it. It's the standard Wychwood brew, sweetened up a bit and it works.

The more I think about it, the more I'm actually enjoying it.

So.

This evenings beers in order of taste.

1) Square Ale
2) BeeWyched Honey'd Ale
3) Fuller's Discovery
4) Valiant