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.