According to the bottle this stuff should be amazing. It has been twice voted ‘World Champion Bitter’, three times voted ‘Champion Beer of Britain’ and the winner of many other awards around the globe. In their own words “…ESB is acknowledged as one of the World’s Greatest Beers.

If you want a bottle of ale that will not let you down, then Greene King Abbot Ale is the ale to go for.
If I ever go to a pub and am unsure about the other pumps, I will always plump for Abbot. I’ve never had a bad one. And the bottled stuff is the [...]

McEwan’s Champion is – in their own words “…a very strong dark traditional Scottish Ale with an intense rich flavour, yet surprisingly easy to drink.
I mainly agree. Although it isn’t that easy to drink. It is so so gassy in the bottle and you really need to knock that gas out to enjoy it. Once [...]

I managed to find a pub in london which serves Badger Brewery ales on draught. It’s called ‘Old Nick’, it’s in Holborn and I’d been meaning to go there for ages. The place suffers from – not being open at weekends – but is very nice, and this was the first weeknight in quite a [...]

Brad and I went to a pub called the Green Man (near Smallford, Hertfordshire) and they had Deuchars IPA on tap. Well they had the tap – they were out of the ale. So we didn’t get to try it.
I haven’t been back there – but I managed to find a bottle.
Deuchars and all [...]

Time to score some bottled ale (ooh careful – I sound like a drug user)
My top five as of today is:

Fuller’s Golden Pride
Timothy Taylor’s Landlord
Green King Abbot Ale
Theakston XB
Badger Tanglefoot

Spooky – five different breweries. This is a coincidence I assure you.
Bottom Three are:

Caledoni0an anything…
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (although strictly it doesn’t count)
Badger Blandford Fly

That doesn’t [...]

Fuller’s 1845 claims to be Britain’s best selling bottle conditioned ale, winning many awards including two gold medals at the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival.
For those not in the know, ‘bottle conditioning’ is when a small amount of yeast is allowed to ferment gently in the bottle. A bit like the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale [...]

Brad and I tried this offering a couple of months ago – and at the time we weren’t convinced that this as a ‘proper ale’ at all. Given where if comes from – California USA (no singing the OC theme tune please!) – it has all the signs of being an American beer and not [...]

I have posted so many bottled ale reviews this week. Lucky I don’t think of myself as an alcoholic!
Badger make Blandford Fly. This unique ale celebrates the infamous Blandford Fly, a resident biting insect of Dorset’s River Stour. Local folklore has it that ginger could help reduce the fever and swelling inflicted by the [...]

Now there has to be an ale to rule them all. And for me it is ‘Timothy Taylor’s Landlord’. An earlier tasting with Brad had me unsure but now I have put it against my previous number 1 (Adnam’s Broadside) – I would have to say I have changed my mind.