Beer sellers: Meadow Farm Shop
ABV: 3.7% and 4.3%
Origin: Wrecsam, Cymru
Website: www.jollybrewer.co.uk
Jolly Brewer Taid's Garden
Beside the better known likes of BrewDog, Dark Star and Thornbridge in the first rank of innovative and top quality British microbreweries are a handful of names that, despite limited production and distribution, deserve to be much more widely known and celebrated than they are. One of them is brewster Pene Coles at the Jolly Brewer brewery and brewing supplies shop in the North Wales town of Wrexham: I don’t think I’ve tasted one of her beers that I haven’t enjoyed. Both those below are bottle conditioned.
Cwrw du, which simply means ‘black beer’ in Welsh, is a lovely dark mild, near black in colour with a good, thick head that’s a notably deep shade of mid brown. The smooth and tangy minerally aroma has a touch of roast, while a thick roasty dark malt loaf and vine fruit palate has good cereal and some savoury touches — a salty, smoky tang with perhaps a pinch of oregano. The mellow finish lingers with caramel, liqourice, more malt loaf and subtle roast.
Taid’s Garden is a beautifully refreshing and flowery summer ale with a little inspiration from lager brewing, made with pale and pilsner malts and Goldings, Fuggles and Hallertau hops. It pours a hazy straw colour with a foamy white head. There’s a distinct geranium tinge to an aroma which also yields grass, minerals, honeysuckle and cream. A crisp grassy palate has lemon barley water notes and aromatic hops, reminiscent of elderflower, and the beer dries on the finish to leave deep pepper hop tones and soft lemon on the tongue. It’s named after Pene’s grandfather’s garden, Taid being a dialect word for Grandad.
Read more about these beers at ratebeer.com:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/jolly-brewer-cwrw-du/92235/
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/jolly-brewer-taids-garden/107846/
Leave a Reply