April 2008 Archives

This is a light bitter from the Badger Brewery. It is 4.5% ABV.

Although this beer is one of Badger’s ridiculous animal themed bitters, it is an excellent example of hoppiness done well. Hops are added to the brewing coppers three times: two lots of Super Styrian hops and one of Styrian Goldings. I believe the lovely, almost sweet aroma comes from the final batch, while the potent bitterness comes from the first two. The malt is very subdued in this beer, most of the flavour comes from the hops. And yet they are not astringent.

I’m not sure how they manage to create beers that are so hoppy and bitter without the bitterness being unpleasant. More to the point, why is it that some beers are astringent and make my tongue curl, while beers such as this one are just as bitter but taste lovely? Is it just the variety of hops used? My notes so far suggest that Goldings hops might be the cause of the flavour that I don’t much like. Perhaps they only work when blended with others, as in this beer or Tribute. On the other hand, there are many different types of Goldings hops - how similar are they all to each other? Clearly more research must be done.

Golden Champion is a light, golden ale brewed by the Badger Brewery. It is 5.0% ABV.

This beer has a light, fruity flavour (just like it says on the label on the bottle) but at the same time it tastes quite strong. I couldn’t quite place the slightly floral smell and flavour until I read the label on the back of the bottle and it said it had an “elderflower aroma”, which I think is about right. It is noticeably more bitter than some darker beers but not in a bad way, it rather accentuates the fruit flavours.

I’ve never understood why Badger (or rather their taskmasters, Hall & Woodhouse) sell their best beers in bottles only. Sometimes, around Christmas, they produce a few casks of Champion or Golden Glory, but never very many. Usually you can only get their Badger Best, Sussex, Tanglefoot or one of their stupid animal themed beers on tap. Tanglefoot is nice but why don’t they put their best beers on tap more often? Why did they cancel the King & Barnes IPA? It was pondering such deep questions as these that I spent my time working behind the bar in a Badger pub. That and drinking.

Tribute is a light, amber coloured ale brewed by the St. Austell brewery. It is 4.2% ABV.

It has a delicate taste and aroma. It smells of fruit, maybe fruit blossoms. The taste is interesting - at first it seems quite watery and bland but then it develops into a citrusy, hoppy blend on the tongue. It would make an excellent summer beer, so perhaps I should have drunk it outside in the afternoon, when the sun was shining, rather than waiting for the chill evening. I usually do my beer tasting inside, after dark, with a pipe and a good book or film. I think Tribute would have done better in a beer garden during the day.

I did like the label on the bottle, which lists the hops and malts used. I wish more beers listed their ingredients. In this case, the hops were English Fuggle, Oregon Willamette and Slovenian Golding. The malts were Maris Otter and Cornish Gold.