In addition to the twelve bottles of Sainsbury’s 2011 GBBH beers I bought a couple of weeks ago I also picked up a couple more with the last weekly shop, making it fourteen in total. The last four are covered below (with the first two batches here and here) and there are a few reflections on this year’s selection down at the bottom of this piece…
Cotleigh Golden Seahawk 4.2%
A golden ale with a big frothy head, slightly effervescent. There’s a deep biscuity malt base to the flavour, with a gradually developing hop-finish, but nothing too sharp. A good mouth feel and a good all-round flavour make for a very pleasant bottled session beer indeed. I’d really like to try this one on draught some time.
Wye Valley Wye Not 4.5%
Wye Valley brew some truly excellent session ales – Butty Bach, HPA, Wye Valley Bitter to name three – but unfortunately this isn’t one I can add to that list. A golden ale with a mainly malty flavour and a decent hop finish, it was pleasant, easy-drinking, but not all that remarkable. So: Wye Not? Because even in a bottle, Butty Bach is better.
Oakham Ales Bishop’s Farewell 5.0%
A very pale bright gold in colour with a thin head and a good, citrus-led hop aroma. The citrus elements continue into the flavour, with sharp, fresh, bright hops and just a hint of lemon. There’s a good mouth-feel as well, which makes this one very drinkable indeed.
McMullen Stronghart 7.0%
A dark chestnut brown beer with ruby highlights and a thin head. The flavour profile is sweet and nutty, rich and malty; very reminiscent of Brakspear Triple, which is one of my favourite bottled strong ales. I could sup this one all night, although balance issues may arise as a result. Definitely a case of saving the best of the batch until last, here.
This batch was much stronger all round than the previous one and those last two were particular highlights.
The Overall Verdict
In summary, then, this year’s Sainsbury’s GBBH selection has provided several impressive highlights, namely McMullen Strongheart, Oakham Ales Bishop’s Farewell, Hunter’s Full Bore, Harviestoun Wild Hop IPA, Williams Bros Caesar Augustus and Cotleigh Golden Seahawk. I’d be strongly tempted to stock up on the Strongheart, Full Bore and Wild Hop IPA and I certainly hope at least one of those three emerges victorious and makes it onto Sainsbury’s shelves on a regular basis.
Most of the rest I could probably take or leave, although I’d be happy to try most of them on draught if the opportunity arose. I was hoping for more body and depth of flavour from the Williams Bros Profanity Stout (although I know a few other bloggers have rated it very highly indeed). And there was only one entrant (not counting the two that I left on the shelf in Sainsbury’s, one of which because it was a wheat beer, the other because it was a low-strength beer from Holt’s in a clear glass bottle, none of which sounded at all promising) that I was actually disappointed by: Oxfordshire Ales Churchill IPA, which was okay, but definitely wasn’t an IPA.
All in all then, a good all-round selection of ales that I enjoyed sampling my way through (for the most part). Roll on the Great British Beer Hunt 2012!
When picking out my last beer of 2011 last night, Sainsbury’s own-label ‘Celebration Ale’ seemed an appropriate one to reach for.
