Beer #276 - Brains SA

As somebody who was born to a Welsh father, who was brought up just outside the country in Herefordshire, who spent many family holidays in Wales and who lived and studied in Cardiff for three years, I’m inherently biased when it comes to discussing anything Welsh. I love Wales and pretty much anything and everything to do with Wales. Brains is a Welsh brewery that still brews in Cardiff city centre albeit on a new(ish) site that opened in 2000. The brewery is synonymous with Wales; it owns over 250 pubs in the country and sponsors the national rugby team. My parents brought me a trio of beers to London with them on a recent visit and the first one I cracked open was Brains’ signature brew, SA. To be perfectly frank in a blind taste test I’d probably put this one down as a fairly drab supermarket bitter of a type I’d really rather not drink. However, I enjoyed it, after the initial taste you start to pick on something a bit more going on, toffee malt is prevalent but there is a bit more to it than that, perhaps a hint of hop bitterness and some dark fruity notes too. Much like Guinness, Brains beers are undoubtedly best enjoyed in the homeland, preferably in a dark old pub somewhere in the middle of the countryside, but if you come across a bottle elsewhere, give it a chance. Lloniannau!

Brewery: Brains
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 4.2%