Eco-illogical

I was a little disheartened when organic beers was chosen as this month's Session topic. I've had quite a few organic beers over the course of this blog and very few have been memorable. To the best of my knowledge, Ireland has only ever produced one organic beer: a lager in Celtic Brew's late Finian's range. I don't remember much about how it tasted, just that it was gassy as hell and a bugger to pour. There are some real stinkers from Britain, like Honey Dew, Whitstable Bay and Lomond Gold, though redemption comes in the form of St Peter's Best and a number of beers from the Marble Brewery in Manchester.

New Zealand's Green Man Bitter stands out as the first organic beer I tried and actually liked. It seems that most of the organic hops we get in these parts come from Down Under and this beer uses them in spades. New Zealand also provides the green for the beer I'm actually reviewing for this Session: Broughton's Angel Lager -- not something I'd be running to try normally, but the only organic beer I could find that I hadn't already tried.

Leaving prejudice and apprehension aside, I'm rather enjoying it. It's a dark gold colour and every bit as crisp and dry as one would expect this style to be. There's plenty more, however: a heavy aley body for a start, and an interesting hoppy spice which leans towards a mediciney bitterness. This runs in parallel with some sweet malt and diacetyl butterscotch notes. There's a lot to this, which is always good to find in a pale lager, not to mention in an organic beer

All that said, I have to wonder what the point of the organicness is. There's nothing in the flavour that couldn't be achieved with non-organic ingredients and I can't help thinking Mother Earth would prefer us to use chemically enhanced Hallertau from local German farms instead of flying nature's own from the other side of the world. The overall environmental benefits of most of the organic beers we get is questionable.

If it's not going to save the world and doesn't taste any better, why are we doing organic beer? Could it be that the Soil Association badge is just another marketing gimmick to appeal to a certain sort of drinker?

Not-so-new year beer

Is that the time? 10th of January already and not a peep out of me all year. No, I'm not doing one of those principled January detoxes, I've just been away for a while and have been putting my life back together since I returned. A report on where I was and the beer I found will follow after I've tried the two bottles I brought back with me. It's all about completeness and coherency, see?

So, just to mark the start of a new year of beer, and to demonstrate that I'm still alive and drinking, a review of a random untried beer from my stash: St. Peter's Organic Best Bitter.

It pours a lovely cloudy amber colour with only the lightest skim of a head. The aroma is citrus and candy in equal proportions. The caramel candy hits the palate first, followed close behind by a quite sharp and acidic bitterness. Neither flavour lingers on very long, however, and soon it's time for another sip.

This is a well-balanced session bitter, and with its toned-down flavours is much more to my hop-wuss liking than Landlord or any of the other bitterer bitters. It also ticks the boxes I found wanting with the brewery's Organic Ale. A criticism? Well, just at the end there's a faint hint of that metallic tang that I find in a number of English ales. I reckon I can live with it though.

All in all a decent and unfussy pint... er, half-litre.