Beer Review: Hopping Hare

So, after the success of Fursty Ferret over the Christmas period and because my local supermarket was doing an offer I decided to dive back into the joys of Badger brewery. Tonight I am attempting the slightly green Hopping Hare.

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Beer Review: Fursty Ferret

Tonight I shall mostly be reviewing a beer that, on the face of it, does not belong in the stable of Christmas beers that I am still working my way through. Ah, but, you see, it does! For this beer was the gift of Willow's parents to me for Christmas and very well received it is too! The very least I can do is review it!

So, it is another entry from Badger brewery, the same ones that gave us the curiously peachy beer from some point last year (which is a cheat and very vague as virtually every beer I can compare to was last year at this point) and it is endearingly named Fursty Ferret.

The bottle and label promise much in the way of yeasty beer, no idea why I think that, but that is the impression that I got. A characteristically clear bottle allows an appreciation of the chestnutty colour before opening and the snick of the cap tells you that they have added the carbonation to maintain pressure. The aroma is powerful, and is indeed yeasty, but not in a poor or overpowering way, just in a way that firmly and insistently reminds you that there is yeast and that this is the selling point. Not hops, not malt, but yeast. At 4.4% ABV it may well match that promise of yeasty power in the tasting.

First sip is awash with fizz and filtered through a surprisingly hoppy head that lacks the cream that I have come to associate with beer since I have a local pub I can walk to and buy an actual pint from a bar. This is a good thing, I'm not sure I'm a fan of creamy headed beer. This gives way nicely and swiftly to a spicy taste that warms the tonsils and matches the original aroma - in effect doing what I'd hoped Yule Love It was going to do. It remains heavy on that yeast, but pleasantly so, with a strong hops wave following before fading to a playful and soft malt that eludes any kind of classification or analysis.

Enjoy this one on its own of an evening or a late afternoon. It is a sessionable ale and needs no introduction. It would do well without any guests to break it up and would ensure that you didn't go mad and end up too drunk. I think it benefits greatly from being in a bottle rather than on draught and stands well for most times in the year. Perhaps more suited to a less wintery setting this worked well given the unseasonably warm temperatures at the moment and the clear skies around here. Much better than the last showing from this brewery and may well be repeated.

Beer Review: Golden Glory

Evening all, I am about to embark on a journey beyond time and space, I've left Crete and entered the Demilitar... I'm quoting Good Morning Vietnam. This is not a good start. I'm actually drinking a beer, so it's review time.

Tonight I am drinking Badger's Golden Glory.

With a name like that I should have guessed that this was a summer beer. I mean, I think the last time I had one of these it was the height of summer and it was long before I started reviewing beers, even in my head, back then I was simply having a different beer every week. Anyway, it was time to try it properly. It claimed to be "curiously peachy" on the bottle and boy, was it ever! On opening there was a definite peach aroma, very strong and easily pllaced. Not unpleasant, but a little unexpected. I half expected the taste to be so fruity that I would be drinking juice rather than beer.

However, it wasn't. At all. I mean, as you sip it the aroma gets in to the mouth and there is a hint of peach as you close your mouth. But it is gone, washed away in an instant, by the actual beer itself. And the beer is rather thin in taste. I mean, it's 4.5% ABV, so not incredibly weak nor particularly strong. It's in that zone that I rather like my beers to be in. But there's, I dunno, not a great deal of depth to it. It's just... thin. There's a zestiness to it, certainly, that builds a little and there is a nice element of fizz to it that allows it to dance quite well without stamping on your toes whilst doing so. But there's no fire in the belly, nothing to grab on to and instead just that smell digging in your ribs as you try desperately to pull this closer to you.

After-taste is interesting, but not a lot else. There's something to it, a sugary quality I suppose, a sweetness and lightness that speaks of a warm day that needs to be tamed or a nice meadow awash with flowers and humming with beers. I guess I was expecting something a little heavier, perhaps more honey, than what I got (though in fairness the bottle does not flag up anything that would have made me think so apart from the 'golden' in the title). It's serviceable and will no doubt serve for me this evening, but it lacked the 'punch' that I suppose I was looking for.

Drink this best in the summer, in the sunshine, on a warm day when you're looking to simply enjoy yourself. Drink it at whatever speed you wish but make sure you are thirsty first because this is actually a thirst quencher. Enjoy the smell, the pungent peach, because that is easily the best quality of this particular beer. It's like Rose wine - unobtrusive and light, the perfect accompaniment to a light lunch of salad and some croutons. Have a good dressing with those rocket leaves, bring in some toasted french loaf and a small amount, the barest hint, of brie.  Then be sure to follow it up with a proper shepherd's pie and some gravy and a big pint of something like 1698.

Though I must confess, the longer you drink it and the closer you get to the end of the pint the nicer the whole thing becomes.  It mellows.  Also, it's 4.5% and I'm a complete lightweight - make of that what you will.