Brewery: Morrissey Fox
Location: Marton cum Grafton, North Yorkshire, England
ABV: 4.2%
Version: Draught
Source: Doggett’s Coat and Badge, BlackFriars Bridge, London

I’ve been wondering what the Morrisey Fox chaps have been up to since the initial splurge of publicity for their new brewery venture died down after the first airing of the Morrissey’s Risky Business TV series. I know that they’d produced another couple of beers to add to their initial Morrissey Fox Blonde Ale offering (according to their not always bang-up-to-date website they’ve produced a bitter and a couple of seasonal ales) but I hadn’t managed to encounter any of them – they certainly hadn’t turned up alongside their elder sibling on the shelves of Tesco’s real-ale-in-a-bottle section.

So I was interested to hear (via The Publican‘s Managing Editor Daniel Pearce ‘s @DanielPearce Twitter feed) that a new promo-venture was in the offing. The result is Proud of Pubs Best Bitter, brewed by Morrissey Fox (or, rather, under license from Morrissey Fox by a much larger operation) and publicised by The Publican to help promote Proud of Pubs Week, which runs from July 11th to 19th this year. And when my boss and I headed across the river for a working lunch at Doggett’s Pub last week, there it was on draught. Had to be done.

Morrissey Fox Proud of Pubs turned out to be a golden-brown bitter that poured with a decent head (even with the darn-sarf absence of a sparkler, unless they’d snuck one on for this particular brew) and had a rich, malty flavour with alight caramel-sweetness. It was very tasty indeed, definitely good enough for me to go back for a second pint and, frankly, one with the makings of an excellent session beer. Worth trying, especially if one of Mitchells & Butlers’ Nicholson’s or Classics pubs happens to be near you. Or worth having a word with your local real-ale-friendly landlord to see if they can get a cask (keg?) or two in.

So it would seem that the Morrissey Fox blokes have cracked it again by produced a beer that’s highly drinkable and, backed by a decent promo campaign, should do rather well for itself this summer. I’m not sure, to be honest, if it it’s a stand-alone brew or a re-badge of their Brunette best bitter, but at the end of the day, that’s probably not all that important. Because if it tastes good and encourages a few more people to take some Pride in their local real ale Pub as a result, then that can’t really be a bad thing, can it?