BEER!

Occasionally I like to sample odd unusual beers I've not tried before.

A couple of years ago my local Morrisons had Jacobson Carlsberg Blond, which was a lovely full flavoured beer but was 7.5%, although it didn't taste stupidly strong. For some reason they stopped selling it.

Tonight I tried a J.W.Lees 'Moonraker' also 7.5%. The label caught my attention, and on reading the back I discovered the brewery is only about 10 miles away from where I live.

It's called Moonraker because farm workers used to try and rake the moon's reflection from the local stream. Strong beer indeed!

Anyway, it's a lovely beer, although the strength is much, much more obvious than the Jacobson Carlsberg.

I wondered if anyone else knows of a nice strong real ale to recommend? Preferably one that doesn't have the strong alcohol bite.

I'm very fond of Hobgoblin but it isn't nearly that strong.

K.

Brakespear Triple is very nice as is Fullers Golden Pride.
Both are favourites of mine

I've recently sampled the odd bottle of Fullers Vintage Ale which is also very very nice

I dunno if it can be called 'Ale', but you mentioned blonde beer... On a trip to France last year we found a bar serving Kronenbourg Blonde. I'd never heard of the blonde version but it was lovely, nothing like the normal wife-beater version Very smooth but very strong, no horrible pure alcohol taste. In France it comes in a blue bottle, but I've been told that over here it comes in a white or clear bottle.

My other recommendation (from the same trip, oddly enough) was a French lager called Angelus. Again very strong (there seems to be a theme here :blush but smooth with a great nutty flavour.

I enjoy drinking Belgian beers - Chimay [ both red and blue ] and Leffe [ though not all it's varieties ]

Fortunately I can get them over here too .

I did find a wonderful one in France - le Fruit Defendu - now that was really good - an interesting label on it too

Brakspear Triple is dangerously easy to drink! It's brewed at the Wichwood brewery in Witney, Oxon and I can heartilly recommend a tour if you're in the area. It's very interesting and they're not too stingy with the samples.

I have an occasional liking for "Old Tom", can't remember the name of the brewery, but it's a little on the barley wine side as far as flavour goes, and as such would probably get sickly after more than 1. It does contain more alchohol in a 330ml stubby than most beers do in a pint.


Not as strong, but if you like something a little unusual I can recommend Wells Bananna Bread (yes, it does taste slightly of Bananna!) and Badger Blandford Fly (a 5% ale with a ginger bite, now thats what I call ginger beer!). I also used to be a fan of Youngs Tripple Chocolate stout, but haven't seen it for ages.

Youngs Waggledance is also a favourite of mine, although that's more of a summer beer in my opinion. 5% with a hint of honey.

I'd forgotten about Waggledance - thanks for reminding me - I've not seen it for quite a while - as you say a summer beer

Badger Blandford Fly, now there is another favourite of mine, very nice when consumed ever so slightly chilled.
I think it's an ale that suits the summer months more than this time of year. Very nice

Last time I saw it, it was badged as a Wells beer. I think Wells bought Youngs about 2 years ago which has somewhat messed up the Youngs product line.

I also like the Fullers equivalent of Waggledance, Honey Dew. It has a little more Honey flavour than Waggledance and is probably the only example of a Youngs/Fullers competition where on ballance I prefer the Youngs version. Honey Dew is nice for 1 pint, but gets sickly, Waggledance I can drink all night.

Brakspear Triple is superb but as others have said is a bit heavy. Their Oxford Gold is lighter and very toothsome.

Another bottle-conditioned beer I love is Summer Lightning. The Co-op do quite a nice little range of BC beers, sadly Morrisons stopped theirs (I think),

I once came across a beer on hand pull at my local in Cambridge called "SkullSplitter". I have no idea what brewery it came from, but I remember enjoying it, although the evening gets a little sketchy towards the end....


And of course there's the old favourite, Theakstons Old Peculiar.

Timothy Taylor Landlord.

'nuff said.

There arn't many beers I don't like to be honest. Now what shall I buy on the way home tonight ? Something strong, dark and warming I think.

Cheers,

/Ian

Im lucky enough to have a fiance who works for Fullers. As a result I get to help her through her beer allowance from the brewery shop. Golden pride is a good strong one of theirs, as is 1845 (if you prefer one that has more body). I've got a few bottles of the vintage ale on the shelf as well - some of which are a good few years old now. they come out on special occassions and are good with Christmas pudding.

Personally I really like their Porter and 1845 for a strong heavy beer, and Discovery for a lighter one.

Landlord
Waggle Dance
Banana Bread
Shropshire Gold

Though as has already been mentioned, there is very little I would turn my nose up at.