First published in BEER November 2006 as part of a piece about beers stocked by Tesco supermarkets. See previous post for more Tesco beers.
ABV: 4.3 per cent
Origin: Crockham Hill, Kent, England
Website: www.westerhambrewery.co.uk
As well as the Drinks Awards winners, Tesco has beers of interest on offer in its “local programme”, which covers 600 stores. The regional approach is particularly developed in Scotland, where Scottish-brewed beers are ousting nearly all the English speciality ales.
But even south of the border, a few unusual regional lines are popping up. My nearest Tesco currently offers this rather good best bitter from Crockham Hill on Kent’s attractive Greensand Ridge, about thirty miles away.
The Westerham Brewery was launched in 2004 at the National Trust’s Grange Farm, and uses yeast from the former Black Eagle Brewery in Westerham, a takeover casualty of what is now Carlsberg. Some of the beers use hops from the Trust’s Scotney Castle, but BB celebrates another nearby Trust property, Winston Churchill’s former home at Chartwell.
This is a clear amber beer brewed from Maris Otter pale and crystal malts, with a thin but smooth and persistent off-white head, and a fruity, spicy blackcurrant jelly aroma with roast and farmyard notes.
The palate is nicely malty and fruity but dry from the start, with lychee notes and rich resins from local Northdown and Whitbread Golding Variety hops. A light swallow leads to a piney finish with a dose of peppery bitterness over more juicy fruit.
The fact this tasty and full-bodied bitter makes so much of its local provenance can only be a good thing, and it’s great to see it on the shelves of such a behemoth as Tesco.
Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/westerham-british-bulldog-bb/36415/
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