Brewery: see text
Location: see text
ABV: see text
Source: Courtesy of MyBreweryTap.com

Back in November I posted about receiving a mixed case of beer from the generous folks over at MyBreweryTap.com and it’s really about time I covered what I thought about the individual beers in the box.

Breconshire Cribyn
I decided to start off with one from a brewery I’m quite familiar with, having already covered several of their beers and being, for the most part, impressed – the Breconshire Brewery from Powys in Wales. Cribyn is their 4.5% Best Bitter, brewed with Bramling Cross, Northdown and Challenger hops. It’s a pale straw colour with a light fruity aroma, and a doughy undertone. Taste is very much of zesty hops, a nicely controlled bitterness giving a very refreshing mouthfeel, and some malty notes in the background. Another fine ale from Breconshire and a pleasant start to the case.

Slater’s Ales Top Totty
Slater’s Ales was originally known as the Eccleshall Brewery, and has been based in Stafford, England since 2004. Top Totty is an award winning 4.0% blonde ale, so unsurprisingly is a pale straw colour with a light hoppy aroma. Flavour is of more zesty hops with a citrusy bitterness, and some malt pushing through on the finish, much better than the naff name and label would imply. Mouthfeel is a bit thin but it’s easy drinking and a couple of these would be quite refreshing on a warm summer’s day.

Old Bear Original
The Old Bear Brewery can be found in Keighley, West Yorkshire and have been in operation since 1993, with seven regular beers on offer. As well as making beer they also operate a bottle reclamation service, collecting bottles for re-use from pubs and clubs across West Yorkshire. Old Bear Original is 3.9%, is a dark toffee colour (or brown bear-ish) with a malty aroma of toffee, biscuit and toast. The flavour I must admit to finding a bit odd. There’s some caramel maltiness and some bitter orange/lemon hops, but there was an over-riding acetic quality which I found very off-putting and felt unbalanced the whole flavour. It may have been a bad bottle but I don’t see me seeking out another to find out.