Tasting Notes: Williams Bros 80/-

Williams Bros 80/-Brewery: Williams Bros
Location: Alloa, Scotland
ABV: 4.2%
Version: Bottled
Source: Sainsbury’s

One of the 15 finalists in this year’s Sainsbury’s beer competition, Williams Bros 80/- (confused? It means ’80 shilling’, an explanation for which can be found on Wikipedia) poured a lovely dark ruby colour with a frothy head. It tasted sweet and spicy, with flavours of red cherries and plums. There were whisky and port wine notes swirling through the rich malt as well, and just a hint of pepper on the after-taste. And the mouth-feel, which the Williams Bros website describes as “toffee-ish”, was certainly very pleasantly chewy.

All in all: a rich, flavourful, quite delicious brew; definitely the sort of session beer I’d be delighted to find on draught. I picked up a couple more bottles from Sainsbury’s yesterday evening (our local branch still has some competition stock left) to keep me going in the meantime. Highly recommended.

Williams Bros 80/- around the Beerblogosphere

  • http://www.tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com Tandleman

    What you encounter in this beer is fine, well and good, but what you didn’t encounter one little bit is a traditional – that is in the last 40 years traditional- Scottish Export Ale. Too dark, too malty without balancing aromatic hops. More like a souped up 60/-.

    Not bad, but it didn’t do what it said on the tin.

  • http://www.darrenturpin.me.uk Darren Turpin

    Hi Tandleman – I finished reading Pete Brown’s Hops and Glory last week he mentions that a number of Scottish brewers got into the India Pale Ale trade during the C19th – is that more the sort of thing you have in mind re: an Export Ale?

  • http://www.tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com Tandleman

    Darren – probably – sort of. To me it just wasn’t what I’d see as a Scottish 80/- or Export beer. It was too dark and too malty. Like a better version of McEwans Export. That’s not a proper 80 bob either. Think McLay’s or Belhaven for good examples or the late Diamond export from Alloa.

  • http://www.darrenturpin.me.uk Darren Turpin

    Ah, interesting. I’ll have to mention it to our man Joe (he’s based up in Edinburgh), see if he can track down something a bit closer to the mark.

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