Devon dumpling

Name: devon dumpling

Brewery/ Company: bays, torbay

Where we found it: tesco or asda

Price: 4 for £5

Reason we got it: were torbay locals and have devon pride!

Alcoholic volume: 5.1%

Bottle size: 500ml

Looks: golden brown

Smells: nothing too exceptional but by no means unpleasant.

Tastes: a little coppery, head tastes like metallic- a bit like blood or pennies. Beer tastes light and crisp
Not the best aftertaste, quite sour
Hmmmmm not great

Can it be downed: easy peasy!

Badger Golden Champion

Name: Badger Golden Champion

Brewery/ Company: Dorset Ales

Where we found it: Tesco, but widely available

Price: in 4 for £5 deal

Reason we got it: has a badger on it and badgers are rad.

Alcoholic volume: 5%

Bottle size: 500ml

Smells: lagery and light, floral

Looks: golden light brown

Tastes: light, quite sweet, goes down pretty easy, second pour is much more bitter and sour, quite floral

Can it be downed: yeah easily but it makes you majorly burpy!

A summery tasting drink, light and easily drank. Ideal for a hot day, not so much for a winter night.

Makes crazy good shandy

Asahi Black Lager

Name: Asahi Black

Brewery/ Company: Asahi Breweries Ltd

Where we found it: Tesco

Price: part of 4 for £5 offer, usually £1.50 (i think)

Vol: 334ml

Percentage: 5%

Reason we got it:  We like Asahi and all things unusual so we thought we'd give it a go. Plus it was in the deal, boom.


Jon & Lise's Review

Very deep, dark, rich and malty taste

tastes a little bit like rye bread- probably due to it being brewed with barely malt maise and rice

thick like guinness, kind of similar in a number of ways

not sweet at all

nothing like normal Asahi

barely any fizz, not like normal lagers at all

can be downed

5/10. not what we expected but nice to try. Too thick and heavy for a lager. Expected more than a massively malty smothering.

lise says: tastes kind of German

Fraoch Heather Ale- Scottish

Name: Fraoch

Brewery/ Company: Heather Ale Ltd., William Bros Brewing Co.

Where we found it: Darts Farm, Topsham

Price:Under £3

Vol: 500ml

Percentage: 5%

Reason we got it:  Its brewed with heather, traditionally Scottish and just plain weird. The label said the hot ale is infused with heather flowers before being fermented in copper tuns.


Jon & Lise's Review

Smells clean and sort of like spring- definite hints of heather & lavender

definitely has aftertastes of heather, bit perfumey.

easy to drink but after a few mouthfuls youre not crazy about going in for more

a little hoppy but not overpowering and still quite light

golden colour- bit like seriously dehydrated wee or concentrate apple juice

the longer it sits in your glass the sourer it becomes. After half an hour it loses a great deal of it's charm, like im struggling a bit

can just about be downed but not so easy. (due to issue above.)


lise says: its nice but i wouldnt want to drink more than a bottle as its so perfumey and leaves a sort of parma violets tastes in your mouth.



6/10 for it. Nice to try something unusual and unique and wasn't in any way disgusting (as long as you drink it fast), but at the same time it wasn't overpoweringly amazing either so it swayed us just past half way.

Blue Yonder : Traditional Blueberry Ale from Devon

Name: Blue Yonder

Brewery/ Company: Blueberry Brothers- brewed by Atlantic Brewery

Where we found it: Dart's Farm, Topsham

Price: Under £2.50

Reason we got it: Its blueberry flavoured. That's wild. And its produced locally and were always keen to try whats nearby.


Jon & Lise's Review

Smells clean and fruity, not surprisingly.

Light, fruity taste with a hint of citrus, not too hoppy. Again, not exactly surprising stuff there.
You can really taste the blueberries in this, not like some fruit beers where they try and blend the flavours and just end up making some frankenstein mismatch you can only take down with a grimace.

Hints of cidery taste, but the best hints so dont be put off.

Crisp, slightly dry, light and very refreshing.

Would make an amazing spring/ summer beer

9/10 for it. Bit pricey and hard to source but well worth a try. Will be buying again

ALE TIME

I recently began drinking ales, this is a no nonsense look at different ales, ciders and lagers etc I can find locally and from further afield.

I am recruiting members to the ale team to give their own frank opinions of what we encounter.


ALL HAIL THE ALE