Jo and I were up in Bury on Saturday lunchtime, so we nipped into the Robert Peel for a microwaved ready-meal (I know, I know, but the liver & mash wasn’t too bad…) and to give their Festival pumps the once-over. They had a reasonable showing of five Festival beers on offer, although one of them was stickered up ‘available soon’. Brains Dark was there again, alongside John Smith’s Heritage Ale, which didn’t grab my attention. But I did try the two others on offer.

Not being a big fruit beer fan at all, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Sharp’s Red Sloe Ale but what I got was a fresh, bitter, dark-amber ale that wasn’t at all fruity in the usual sense. The sloe (a small, astringent, plum-like fruit of the blackthorn, in case you were wondering) adds tartness rather than sweetness to an already hoppy brew, so the overall effect is closer to a citrus tang than a strawberry or raspberry sugariness. In conclusion: a quite palatable easy-drinker (at 4.0% abv) and one that I was happy to have tried it after all.

The second beer was – at last – one of the overseas guest ales: Wild Blue Yonder Oregon Amber Ale. This beer was brewed especially for the Wetherspoon’s festival by Bend Brewing Company‘s Head Brewmaster Tonya Cornett. There’s an interview with Tonya in the festival booklet which, once you get past all the completely unnecessary “that’s right, she’s a woman, get used to it fellas” schtick, makes Bend Brewing – and particularly their Imperial IPAs – sound rather interesting indeed.

Wild Blue Yonder itself is extremely tasty: a light, fresh, hoppy ale with a smooth mouth-feel and a nutty, caramel finish. At 4.8% it’s a definite easy-drinking indeed and it was certainly good enough to send me back to the bar for another on (and at £1.49 for a Festival pint up in Bury, why the hell not?) Again, I’m very glad I tried this one.

All in all then, my two visits to Wetherspoon’s for this particular Festival didn’t amount to a scooper’s triumph. I only got to try half a dozen of the 50 beers that were in the booklet, although to be fair, three of them were well worth the effort: Wild Blue Yonder and the previously mentioned Wooden Hand Cornish Mutiny and Thwaite’s Double Century. But generally speaking, it sounds like I need to get out more at Festival time…

Brewery: Purity Brewing Company
Location: Great Alne, Warwickshire, England
ABV: 4.5%
Version: Bottled
Source: Sainsbury’s

Picked this one up a while ago as part of a Sainsbury’s sweep. It’s a ruby-amber ale (as advertised) with a hint of caramel on the nose that offers a promise of sweetness to come. Pure Ubu delivers that sweetness, along with a hint of nuttiness, a touch of apple fruitiness and a faint after-taste of ginger.

It all combines quite nicely into a beer that’s refreshing, easy-drinking, entirely pleasant. I think I might have found a new quaffer to keep in the cupboard alongside the Hobgoblin (which, incidentally, is £5 for a four-pack at my local Sainsbury’s at the moment…)