XB me

A shortcut through Marks & Spencer the other day took me across the booze ghetto that all Irish supermarkets have now established under threat from the government of being forced to erect physical barriers between the alcohol and all other stock, as allowed for in last year's Intoxicating Liquor Act. On my way, I noticed a staff member unloading a trolley full of Sussex Bitter onto the shelves. It's one of M&S's bottle conditioned range and a beer I'd not seen on sale before. There was no price tag on the shelf, but an opportunity to give two fingers to the government's attempt to stamp out impulse buying of alcohol in supermarkets is not to be passed up. I took a bottle to the checkout.

It wouldn't scan. The cashier went off to investigate and came back in deep discussion with a troubled colleague. The gist of their conversation was that this wasn't on the system, that it was only for sale in the UK, and that it should never have been shipped to Dublin, never mind put on display. So, after waiting patiently for five minutes for my beer I was informed they couldn't sell it to me. And I know that if I asked someone higher up why the beer I wanted isn't available to Irish customers I would be told that there's no demand for it. Reasoning as circular as a tub of M&S mini scotch eggs.

The fact that, according to Thom, Hepworth's M&S Sussex Bitter is actually worth drinking barely factors at all. Back home I sought consolation in a bitter from my stash of personally-imported English ales.

Theakston XB does not share my bitterness. In fact, the dark amber ale is surprisingly sweet -- filled with strawberries and redcurrants. The aroma is heavy caramel, but the beer itself is quite light, almost verging on thin, I'd say, with an unfortunate amount of fizz for a bitter. Still, there's the caramel and the earthy English hop character that reminds me a lot of Old Peculier, but in a lighter, 4.5% ABV, mid-week kind of way.

And at under £2 in Sainsbury's it was a hell of a lot cheaper than the Sussex Bitter would have been. The thought of all that M&S beer sitting in a yard waiting to be collected instead of being enjoyed is galling, however.