Sainsbury’s Summer Ale

Sainsbury’s
Brewed at Shepherd Neame
Style: Bitter
London, England

Serve in English pint

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Bitter. Brilliant. Im not sure which dickhead put this as a bitter, it is definitely a golden ale

Bottled 12/04/13. An amber coloured beer with an off-white wisp of head. Quite a lot going on actually. Some grainy malts. Chocolate. A hint of citrus. Pretty decent and nicely quaffable. Good in the mouth especially the chocolate flavours.

Clear 500ml bottle: poured into my ’Old Speckled Hen’ badged pint vase @ home on 28 Dec 2012 (not really Summer!). I just wanted something light after all the food and drink I’d consummed over the festive season. Light amber body with a good solid foam head. The nose was bread, biscuity and slightly yeasty, I also detected some hop notes within the aroma (piney). The taste was a lot better than I expected: a pleasant blend of maltines balanced nicely with a fruity bitterness from the hops. Shepherd Neame get stick for some of their beers, but this one is OK. Easy to drink and well put together, glad I made the effort to buy it.

500ml bottle from Sainsburys funnily enough. It’s been ages since I’ve had a newish Sheps beer in a clear bottle and I can’t wait to see if it matches up with all the others I’ve had. Clear pale brown colour with lasting beige head. Aroma of lemon a bit like a bitter shandy aroma. Normally these are pasteurised to death and taste of boiled sweets, but this one isn’t so bad. Actually has a proper mouthfeel. Yes maybe just filtered. It’s ok. A light bitter I would say. Some bitterness and zing on the finish. Bit of hersbrucker I suppose. Yep, it’s fine and I would almost say I enjoyed it.

Bottle. Golden with a bubbly foam. Aromas are biscuit and grain with toast and a light nuttiness. Dusty yeast with tea with hints of apricot. Flavours are thin lemon with toast and dry tea. Hints of weetabix with brown sugar. Peppery on the finish. Some hints of plastic. Very average.

Pale amber with a thin somewhat lasting frothy beige head. Smells of bread, malt, cherry and a light chemical staleness that is common for all beers from Shepherd Neame. I’m sure the clear glass doesn’t help keep the taste or smell any fresher. Medium to light thin to oily body. Tastes mass produced but still reasonably drinkable. Chemical, malt, biscuit and a bitter-sweet finish. Some citrus hops are noticeable in the nose and taste but not enough.

Pale chestnut skimmed with beige. Wholemeal bread, slight praline, marzipan and boiled cherry sweet aroma. Metallic, papery and berry-tinged with retronasal chlorine, dough and digestive biscuit notes. Typically soporific supermarket Sheps.

ok hoppy fresh aroma, golden, clear, white foam, bitter start mid is medium sweet with bittersweet malty endmedium body, slick feel, soft carbonation, nothing special but drinkable ale

Bottle from Sainsburys Paignton. Golden brown, creamy head. Malty with a shy citrusy hoppy touch, some residual sugars resulting in a slightly sticky mouthfeel.

500ml clear glass bottle from Sainsburys. Amber. Light, dry tannic malt. Tree bark bitterness. Some grapefruit zest, but more of a standard best bitter than the golden ale it claims. OK, but just a little bit dull.