The list of decent English quaffing ales is endless and I'm no more trying to put together an extensive archive of them than I am of Belgian beers. My most recent discovery is Fuller's ESB, a light tannic bitter with a slight tea-like flavour, reminiscent of Theakston's, though with a stronger dose of hops.
Bury St Edmunds (the BSE of the title, in case you thought I was suggesting bitter as a cure for brain disease) brewing giant Greene King make an ale which is definitely not for quaffing: their Strong Suffolk Vintage Ale. This is an almost flat, deep red beer which gave me three distinct flavour notes: caramel, smoke and toffee. It's not complex, as such, but it's definitely interesting and worth savouring.
3 months ago
I certainly wouldn't describe ESB as "light" in any sense - it's a serious brew. For me, ESB was very much a gateway beer because it is widely available in London. However, these days I prefer to go for a lighter, golden bitter and leave the heavy stuff until the end of the night.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Sussex Strong isn't very complex, but then I'm not sure Greene King are capable of producing a decent beer anymore. Cheers!
Perhaps "slight" might be a better word than "light", in this context. It's the sort of beer I could drink pint after pint of without filling up.
ReplyDeleteGreene King may indeed have become a producer of the bland and industrial, but for those of us unfortunate enough to live in the deep, cold shadow of Diageo Ireland it looks like a paragon of craft brewing. Yes, the vast majority of Irish beers are that bad.