Beer #215 - Batemans / Nøgne Ø Brown Ale

Pub mega-chain JD Wetherspoons is currently holding another ‘International Real Ale festival’ (at least, it is until tomorrow). The festival again features ten international guest brewers that have collaborated with UK breweries to produce beers for the festival, along with 40 cask ales. I made a small effort with the last festival, last Autumn, and managed to try 10 or so of the beers but due to a combination of circumstances haven’t really bothered this time around. I did, however, call in to the Angel in Islington when passing last week to see what they had on offer. The Angel is exceptionally cheap despite its location and I thought it rude not to try a half of the Batemans / Nøgne ø Brown Ale when it would cost me just 99p. Nøgne ø is a highly-regarded Norwegian craft brewery and Ed Hortemo travelled to Batemans in Lancashire to put together this brew which blends Bobek  hops from Slovenia with the more traditional East Kent Goldings from, well, Kent. I really liked this, it pours a dark brown and the nose is quite roasty with caramel. The initial taste is slightly sour but soon becomes a smooth toasted malty flavour with some bitter coffee notes. I don’t really pick up much from the hops but it’s a really nice roasty, malty beer.

 

Brewery: Batemans Brewery / Nøgne Ø collaboration

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 4.5%

Beer #104 - Batemans/Fat Head’s Sunshine Daydream (Wetherspoons Autumn Festival Special!)

Sunshine Daydream was brewed for the festival by Matt Cole of Fat Head’s Brewery of Ohio at Batemans in Lincolnshire. This it’s a nice looking copper beer that goes down very smoothly indeed. The initial taste is slightly sweet and almost tropical in flavour, with a slightly bitter, citrus finish. It’s incredibly smooth and I could happily have had a couple more of these, a good refreshing session beer

Brewery: Batemans / Fat Head's Brewery collaboration

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 5.0%

Beer #99 - Batemans Hazelnut Brownie (Wetherspoons Autumn Festival Special!)

So just three beers into the list of 50 for this festival I think I've found my winner! Batemans Hazelnut Brownie is absolutely incredible, it tastes exactly like...well, a hazelnut brownie. It's sweet, obviously, but the flavour is amazing. There aren't really any other words to describe it, if you want to sample a hazelnut brownie in liquid form, with a healthy dose of alcohol thrown in too, track this one down. Apparently it's part of Batemans 'Sovereign Beer Range' which I assume is their crack at the craft/artisan market. Google throws up nothing though so I'm unable to provide any further details on the Range. This is amazing though, I wish I was drinking it right now. Well done Batemans.



Brewery: Batemans Brewery:
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 6.3%

Beer #8 - Batemans Spring Breeze

Another new brewery for me last night as I picked up this bottle of Spring Breeze from Batemans Brewery. I was having a couple of drinks with some friends on Tooting Common after playing touch rugby and looking for something light and refreshing for a warm summers evening. I picked this up in my local corner shop Oli Food Centre – one of those hidden gems where they stock an astonishing range of food from around the world that would put Tesco and co. to shame. Furthermore they also stock a pretty good range of beer, with probably 15 or so bottled ales on offer as well as the usual array of Asian and Polish beers. Quite how they came to stock Batemans I’m not sure, the company website seems to suggest a greater focus on their pubs and hotels rather than their beer, which seems slightly unusual, and wiki suggests the beers are generally found in Lincolnshire and the surrounding area, the home of the brewery. Not much to say on the beer itself although I like the bizarre label featuring Demeter, the Greek Goddess of Spring and Fertility.

Brewery: Batemans Brewery

Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 4.3%