Co-Op Beers
If you can’t be arsed to go to town this weekend then try some beers from ya local co-op. Just a quick run down of the ones I’ve tried.
Your local Co-Op has some smashing bottled ales brewed by some well known brewers and all worth trying.
Firstly the Fairtrade Bumble Bee ale brewed by Freeminer brewery isn’t my cup of tea but I’ve never been a fan of honey beers so I’ll not say much on this if you don’t mind. If you’ve tried Waggle Dance from Young’s or Honey Dew from Fuller’s that’s the style and its not a bad effort but my least favourite of these bottled offerings though less sweet and clawing than the Fuller’s and Young’s honey beers.
We move on to the environmentally hip with the co-ops organic premium ale brewed in Scotland by the Caledonian brewing company. This tastes like Golden Promise ale from the same edinborough brewery though maybe not as complex but could do with a little more byte to balance out the malts. Pasturisation of this ale takes the body away from what could have been a substantial gulp.
Next is Co-Op strong ale brewed by Thwaites in Lancashire. This reminds me a little of Newcastle brown but a little sweeter and much nicer, good for the winter. If you’ve tried this style of beer in the north of England you should not be disappointed by this offering. What a lovely malt kick. Just a superb brown ale and well worth the money. More complex and darker than the above organic ale.
NB, these first 3 have Braille on the bottle! Way to go co-op!
My personal favourite is the bottle conditioned Gold Miner golden ale from Freeminer brewery in the forest of dean. Though it doesn’t have a Braille label it has a peel back section giving information on the beer which is comprehensive to the extent of being anal. I guess its interesting though and a snippet is below.
‘Ingredients: Water from natural sources under the Royal Forest of Dean; Barley grown
in the Cotswolds and hand malted by Warminster Maltings; First Gold whole hops grown in the "Three Counties" Yeast.’
A top draw drink and one heck of a thirst quencher. Reminds me a little of the wave of golden beer ale is offering its reputation on these days but with the bottle conditioning complexity is the watch word.
I’ll also briefly mention that the co-op best bitter at 4.2 in cans is brewed by Cains of Liverpool and very good value in fact a superb 4 pack of canned bitter for under 3 quid and with the cains hallmark jammyness as in the brewer’s best with not as much hop evident but more Chrystal malt to make up the flavour.
Changing style to a solid Czech beer you can’t go wrong with the co-Op’s own version. I’ve read on the web that its just a beer brewed at the large Staropramen brewery but don’t know how true this info is. Its not a Budvar but still lovely beer and good in the summer. Better than the tesco Praske Pivovar Vratislav Czech Lager but 20 pence or so more expensive a bottle..
Your local Co-Op has some smashing bottled ales brewed by some well known brewers and all worth trying.
Firstly the Fairtrade Bumble Bee ale brewed by Freeminer brewery isn’t my cup of tea but I’ve never been a fan of honey beers so I’ll not say much on this if you don’t mind. If you’ve tried Waggle Dance from Young’s or Honey Dew from Fuller’s that’s the style and its not a bad effort but my least favourite of these bottled offerings though less sweet and clawing than the Fuller’s and Young’s honey beers.
We move on to the environmentally hip with the co-ops organic premium ale brewed in Scotland by the Caledonian brewing company. This tastes like Golden Promise ale from the same edinborough brewery though maybe not as complex but could do with a little more byte to balance out the malts. Pasturisation of this ale takes the body away from what could have been a substantial gulp.
Next is Co-Op strong ale brewed by Thwaites in Lancashire. This reminds me a little of Newcastle brown but a little sweeter and much nicer, good for the winter. If you’ve tried this style of beer in the north of England you should not be disappointed by this offering. What a lovely malt kick. Just a superb brown ale and well worth the money. More complex and darker than the above organic ale.
NB, these first 3 have Braille on the bottle! Way to go co-op!
My personal favourite is the bottle conditioned Gold Miner golden ale from Freeminer brewery in the forest of dean. Though it doesn’t have a Braille label it has a peel back section giving information on the beer which is comprehensive to the extent of being anal. I guess its interesting though and a snippet is below.
‘Ingredients: Water from natural sources under the Royal Forest of Dean; Barley grown
in the Cotswolds and hand malted by Warminster Maltings; First Gold whole hops grown in the "Three Counties" Yeast.’
A top draw drink and one heck of a thirst quencher. Reminds me a little of the wave of golden beer ale is offering its reputation on these days but with the bottle conditioning complexity is the watch word.
I’ll also briefly mention that the co-op best bitter at 4.2 in cans is brewed by Cains of Liverpool and very good value in fact a superb 4 pack of canned bitter for under 3 quid and with the cains hallmark jammyness as in the brewer’s best with not as much hop evident but more Chrystal malt to make up the flavour.
Changing style to a solid Czech beer you can’t go wrong with the co-Op’s own version. I’ve read on the web that its just a beer brewed at the large Staropramen brewery but don’t know how true this info is. Its not a Budvar but still lovely beer and good in the summer. Better than the tesco Praske Pivovar Vratislav Czech Lager but 20 pence or so more expensive a bottle..
Labels: beer, beer review, co-op
posted by Martin at 7:06 PM
0 comments
