Beer Review: London Glory

To celebrate nothing whatsoever it is time to have a beer.

Tonight's beer is London Glory by Greene King, whose IPA I have an affection for from back in 2011 when I started drinking a beer a week and a good work colleague of mine bought me a couple to say thank you for covering for him whilst he was ill.  Nice of him.  Good beer too.

This one was on offer, having been put in a ridiculous patriotic jacket for the Olympics, and was described as a Great British Beer.  The augurs were not good.  However, it had a lovely rich brown colour to it and fizzed pleasantly as I opened the cap.  Not too much head and not a horrid smell either.  There was the fruity and slightly sour tang of the challenger and golding hops that I rather like in the air and the taste did not disappoint.  Not as a fiery or strong as fuggles but it makes you sit up and take notice.  It put me in mind of bars and pubs down sidestreets in the height of summer, with small outdoor areas.  It smelled of beer gardens in my youth, quite a feat considering how long its been since I went to one!

Weighing in at 4.0% ABV and tasting like a childhood memory makes this a pretty good choice actually.  It worked with the takeout that I had with it (pizza, ham and mushroom if you must know) and suggested that it would be a good accompanying beer to any meal.  I liked the mustiness of the flavour that gradually grew as you took more sips.  You could not insult this by having it down in one or anything quite that vulgar.  There was an underlying breadiness to this that puts me in mind of mead, but less sweet, and reminded me why beer was popular as an alternative to fruit liquors in the middle ages.

Drink this pretty much anywhere and at most times of the year either alone or with friends.  It works well as a winter warmer but would also be very much at home in the sunshine of a British summer underneath an umbrella in a beer garden somewhere in Lancashire after a day out playing in a stream.  Don't lie now, I know you do it too!  You make dams in streams to make them overflow.  Yes, after a day of doing that, retire with this.  Maybe have a second pint if you're having a first, after all, you won't be driving.