I haven’t had a bottle of ale for a while, mainly due to the large quantity of Guinness gracing my cupboards and fridge. So I was pleasantly surprised to be asked to sample a bottle of ‘William Worthington’s White Shield’ by the Head of Trading at Ocado.

Being as it is a tough call to decide between a cup of lukewarm tea and a nice bottle of ale, I said yes – trying to hide my excitement at being able to drink at my desk during office hours !

This is a really nice ale. It says it’s an IPA but it doesn’t look like one; it is anything but pale!

At 5.6% this is a pretty strong ale but it goes down nicely. A few people around me agreed – very tasty indeed.

Bottle notes say: “… defiant survivor of 1820s IPA tradition, when only the most flavoursome beers endured the arduous voyage round the Cape of Good Hope, White Shield is the bottled Live Beer that matures with age.”

Being a Live Beer, you have to pour this one carefully or you will end up with sediment in your glass; I read this after I’d poured it… but sediment doesn’t taste that bad really !

This beer apparently will mature for at least 3 years after shipping, although I don’t think ale generally stays in my house for more than 3 days.

This is a really nice ale, served at ambient/room temperature. I look forward to Ocado ranging this soon. It will definitely threaten my current top 5 bottles.