Brewery: Wells and Young’s
Origin: Bedford, England
ABV: 4.8%
Version: 500ml bottle
Source: Sainsburys

Young’s Kew Gold is (so it says on the neck label) “inspired by hops grown at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew” and a donation from the sale of each bottle goes towards rare species conservation.

The beer itself is a bottle-conditioned, amber ale with a warm, sweet aroma backed up with a satisfyingly fresh, hoppy and flavoursome taste, with hints of citrus in both. It pours fairly flat but a slight effervescence keeps the flavour alive and I’m sure on draught it would make for a very satisfying pint indeed, particularly on a warm summer afternoon in a beer garden somewhere. I don’t think it’s one I would stay on for a full session, but I’m definitely glad I tried it.

In a review in the July edition of CAMRA’s Beer magazine, Des de Moor suggests it would be “a good entry level Real Ale in a Bottle for the lager drinker.” Can’t argue with that.