Brewery: Strangford Lough Brewing Co
Location: Killyleagh, Northern Ireland
Style: Session Bitters
ABV: 3.8% / 4.5% / 4.8%
Version: Bottled
Source: Courtesy of Strangford Lough Brewing Company

The folks at Strangford Lough Brewing Company very kindly sent me a four-pack of their beers to sample back in June – apologies to them for my tardiness in posting the Tasting Notes – which contained bottles of St Patrick’s Best session bitter and one each of their Barelegs Brew red-golden ale and Legbiter golden ale.

I tried all three varieties in one evening, the better to compare and contrast. Here’s what I found:

Strangford Lough St Peter’s Best Bitter, 3.8% ABV

Golden-amber coloured with a sweet, malty aroma, although that turned out to be slightly deceptive as the malt didn’t quite carry through to the flavour for some reason. Instead there was a pleasantly gentle hop-bite with a tangy, green-apple sourness and apricot tartness lingering in the background. A bit of grassiness as well, which presumably comes through from the shamrocks used in the brewing process. All in all: a pleasant quaffing ale, although after a couple of these I think I would probably fancy something a little sweeter and richer…

Strangford Lough Barelegs Brew, 4.5% ABV

…which is where Barelegs Brew comes in, offering more in the way of biscuity caramel flavours, with just a hint of chocolate – very similar to those Tunnocks caramel wafer bars, in fact – with a drier after-taste. Richer, sweeter and quite warming; a very drinkable brew and probably my favorite of the three…

Strangford Lough Legbiter, 4.8% ABV

…because Legbiter, whilst on paper the most promising, actually turned out to be the least impressive on the night. Slightly maltier than St Patrick’s Best, slightly hoppier than Barelegs brew and blending elements of both (including the Shamrock again, I think), Legbiter seemed to firmly occupy the middle-ground between the two, without really asserting its individuality, despite its slightly higher ABV. Which was a bit of a shame; high hopes not fully realised and all that.

To summarise: I enjoyed all three beers – to a greater or lesser degree – and would be happy to drink them again (in fact, I’d already tried a couple of them about a year or so earlier, on a trip to stay with friends who live a couple of miles to the south of Strangford Lough). And maybe the bottle of Legbiter I had just wasn’t at its best. Or maybe it’s just one of those beers that’s best enjoyed on draft. Although I’m not entirely sure it’s available on draft; as stated on their website, Strangford Lough Brewing Company is very firmly focused on the ex-pat Irish / US export market, much more so than the local Irish and UK markets, so I think theirs might be a bottle-only operation.

Thank you very much indeed to the good folks at SLBC from sending these over for me to try!