In my previous post a couple of days ago I mentioned the Brewers of Character Collection from Wychwood – a selection of 4 of Wychwood’s beers. I’ve previously written about Hobgoblin and Circlemaster, so I thought I’d complete the set and mention the other two in the selection – Fiddler’s Elbow and Wychcraft.
Fiddler’s Elbow (4.5%). This is an amber beer with a fruity, hoppy smell, and a fruity, citrus taste and a tasty bitter finish – “long and quenching” as it says on the bottle. Interestingly, this beer is made from a mixture of barley and wheat malt.
Wychcraft (4.5%). I drank this one after Sarah and I had shared 3 bottles of Sainsbury’s Organic Blonde Ale – a current favourite. Wychcraft is is bit less alcoholic, a bit darker and a little bit more bitter. It has a malty and fruity taste, and is very drinkable. As an aside, we drank the Sainsbury’s Blonde Ale to accompany some tuna, lime and coriander fishcakes (also from Sainsbury’s) – and to my mind it matched them very well.
You might be able to tell from this and previous posts that I am quite a fan of Wychwood beers. Of course, they brew the Sainsbury’s Blonde Ale as well – and others (see Three of a kind and A fourth of the same kind). And they also now brew another of my favourites – Brakspear Bitter. I’ve written about the cask version of this previously, but the bottled version is also very good. It’s only 3.4%, but although it is low on strength, it is high on taste – amber, hoppy, bitter, and just a little bit sweet. This beer went well with a traditional meal of pork sausages and mash – a fine combination.