Guest Blog #5 - Graeme Hilton on Autumn 52wbc

I started my last blog entry with a little explanation of how great it is to get free beer, especially beer of this quality. The next step on from receiving beer is giving beer, which is what I was doing last weekend at the inaugural Woolston Beer Festival in Southampton. I was volunteering behind the bar on Friday evenings's sellout session. There was one customer who professed he was a lager drinker and hadn't a clue what to ask for. Great! A chance to demonstrate to someone what good beer is all about! He was duly given a couple of tasters before he decided on a Barbury Castle from Three Castles Brewery . This is a light, hoppy, easy drinking pale ale. Excellent starter at 3.9%. I had hoped the customer would return and say "That was fantastic, what else can I try?", but instead he said "That was fantastic! I'll have a pint of that." He returned to the bar five times and each time had the same beer. Now, I can't criticise because he was drinking and enjoying cask ale instead of his usual Fosters, but I can't help feeling he was missing out on tasting any of the other twenty real ales, three ciders and a perry that were on offer. That's enough from the soap box, on with the beer-tasting!

These five beers are in the mid-range of the autumn selection, going from Summer Ale through Golden Ale to Bitter. These are all slightly darker than the previous ones I've reviewed here.


1. Hawkshead Lakeland Gold
Even while pouring you can smell the enormous fruitiness of this 4.4% golden ale. It starts with a sweetness that soon gives way to a mellow bitterness. You can detect that these are the same hops as used in the Saltaire Cascade as it has the same zesty freshness combined with the fruits.


2. Crouch Vale Brewers Gold
This pours an extremely pale golden colour. The aroma reminds me of the Williams Bros. Good Times. The flavour starts very light with a slight sweetness going on to a gentle bitterness, but tempered by some tropical fruits. An extremely well balanced beer, as noticed by the judges of the Supreme Champion Beer of Britain competition in 2005 and 2006. As with the Lakeland Gold, this is one you won't get tired of.


3. Inveralmond Ossian
The third Scottish brewery that I've tasted in this selection, and probably the least well known of the three. Which is a shame because they produce some excellent ales. Ossian gives off a powerful aroma while you're pouring. On the first sip you notice there's a slight rawness to the flavour which I think comes from the wheat that's included in this recipe. The initial malty sweetness is carried away by a citrus bitterness that also clears quickly. Very drinkable.


4. Marble Manchester Bitter
A small brewery in Manchester which is making some fantastic beers. Manchester Bitter is a light golden colour that pours with a loose head which quickly dissipates. The aroma is chock full of grapefruit. I could happily sit all night just sniffing this, but I suppose I'd better taste it for you. As expected, grapefruits, but I also detect a hint of vanilla which is pleasantly surprising. As this is a bitter, you'd expect it to be, well, bitter, but I didn't think it was overwhelming so, unlike the next beer.


5. Mallinsons Station Best Bitter
This is a bottle-conditioned beer so be careful pouring it, and leave the last 1/2 inch or so in the bottle. Even so, so of the sediment escaped into my glass which is why the picture shows a slightly cloudy pint. With no head, and a cloudy appearance I was a bit worried about this beer. However, it smells and tastes of nothing but citrus. It's not as sweet as grapefruit, but definitely has lemons, possibly limes. At first I thought it was too much tartness, but as the level in the glass went down so did my worries. Stick it out, it's worth it.

Next time I'll have the last four beers from the case, the darker, more autumnal end of the spectrum.

Thanks again to Graeme for a great review, Graeme's thoughts on the remaining beers in the case coming soon!

You can sign up to the 52 Week Beer club here. This selection is also available as an individual mixed case here.