Brewery: Goose Island Beer Company [@GooseIsland]
Location: Chicago, USA
Style: Pale Ale / Brown Ale
ABV: 5.7 / 5.6
Version: Bottled
Source: MyBreweryTap.com

These are the first two bottles I’ve opened from the winter US 52 Week Beer Club consignment from MyBreweryTap.com (and as I drank them last Saturday evening, my first two beers of the year).

I’ve never had either of these before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Goose Island Harvest Ale turned out to be a toffee-brown ale with a lively head and a malt-sweet aroma. Fresh and refreshing with flavours of orange-citrus and a distinctly floral character. Sweet but not too sweet, light but not overly-hoppy. Very easy-drinking, even at 5.7% ABV, and all in all, quite delicious. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for this one in future.

Mild Winter was a much odder bird. A 5.6% ABV malty, dark brown ale, Mild Winter was nutty and slightly spiced, but had a slightly odd follow-through; the after-taste struck me as quite savoury for a beer that seemed like it ought to taste quite sweet. The tasting notes from MyBreweryTap suggest “spicy rye flavours” and the Goose Island website confirms that rye flakes were used in the brewing – perhaps that’s what I was tasting. Still, I have to confess that I wasn’t so sure about this one. It wasn’t bad, but it’s probably not one I’d rush back to.

Brewery: Freeminer
Location: Forest of Dean, England
ABV: 4.8%
Version: Bottled
Source: The Co-operative

The other week my missus came back from the Co-op with a couple of examples of their own-label bottled ale for me to try (in lieu of a birthday card, as it happens, thereby demonstrating just how well she knows me after all these years) and I’m drinking the first of them as I type this…

The Forest of Dean’s Freeminer makes Harvest Ale for the Co-op with a combination of barley grown on The Co-op’s own farms and Worcestershire Sovereign hops grown especially for the brewery, or so we’re informed by the back label. The bottle opens to release a wonderfully rich, toffee-malt aroma and the beer pours a deep, attractive chestnut brown with a thin head. Flavour-wise, it’s heavy on the malt (as promised on the label) but with a hoppy after-bite that cuts through the sweetness and there’s a nutty character that makes the overall taste experience a very pleasant one indeed.

I’d say Harvest Ale lies midway between Newcastle Brown and Wychwood Hobgoblin on the brown ale scale. Easy-drinking but definitely a winner, taste-wise, which makes it a good session beer candidate as well. I reckon I might be getting a few more of these for the cupboard next time I’m anywhere near a Co-op food store.