JCBrum
Drone Bee
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2009
- Messages
- 1,054
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Birmingham UK
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 8 ish
Hedgerow Pete kindly gave me a bottle of his 'Private Reserve' - (under the stairs) as a parting shot, - er, I mean gift.
We had had a good chat about queen breeding under local conditions, and whether to use local bees to breed our own queens, or buy in specific queens and breed from them.
I had Beef Casserole part II (note to Fris - homemade by me) simmering gently awaiting my return, and thought Petes beer might be a good accompaniment.
It was presented in a dark brown ex-Grolsh bottle with the old-fashioned wire and ceramic stopper with rubber gasket. It looked good. Being apprehensive about traveling home in the car and sediments etc, I eased the stopper to a satisfying hiss but with no theatricals such as gushing foam or anything like that.
I selected a tall straight thin glass and began pouring gently in the proper tilted fashion. A mid to light coloured amber ale appeared with about an inch of creamy coloured head. It was clear and looked very good.
On the nose it gave a good sharp old-style freshly poured aroma. Most inviting.
Sampling the first glug was a delight, you can't buy beer like this, with a clear ale tending towards lager flavour, clean and sharp, but with all the hops, malt, and a touch of yeast that proper beer should deliver. Any excess sugar was absent on the palate. I could easily have done three in a row.
As a companion to my shin of beef and mushroom casserole it was sublime and I would suggest no-one passes up the opportunity to sample this brew if offered.
Thanks H Pete, - a truly magnificent bottle of proper beer.
We had had a good chat about queen breeding under local conditions, and whether to use local bees to breed our own queens, or buy in specific queens and breed from them.
I had Beef Casserole part II (note to Fris - homemade by me) simmering gently awaiting my return, and thought Petes beer might be a good accompaniment.
It was presented in a dark brown ex-Grolsh bottle with the old-fashioned wire and ceramic stopper with rubber gasket. It looked good. Being apprehensive about traveling home in the car and sediments etc, I eased the stopper to a satisfying hiss but with no theatricals such as gushing foam or anything like that.
I selected a tall straight thin glass and began pouring gently in the proper tilted fashion. A mid to light coloured amber ale appeared with about an inch of creamy coloured head. It was clear and looked very good.
On the nose it gave a good sharp old-style freshly poured aroma. Most inviting.
Sampling the first glug was a delight, you can't buy beer like this, with a clear ale tending towards lager flavour, clean and sharp, but with all the hops, malt, and a touch of yeast that proper beer should deliver. Any excess sugar was absent on the palate. I could easily have done three in a row.
As a companion to my shin of beef and mushroom casserole it was sublime and I would suggest no-one passes up the opportunity to sample this brew if offered.
Thanks H Pete, - a truly magnificent bottle of proper beer.
