I’ve previously mentioned the Charles Wells’Bombadier varieties Satanic Mills and Burning Gold (see Bring me my chariot of fire and Dark Satanic Beer),but I haven’t touched on the “standard”Premium Bitter of that name. Well I had some of it this week –it’s an amber brew –malty and hoppy like all good beers,and smells –biscuity (I’ve seen that term used so many times,and never really found a beer that I could really say fitted the description,but this one does). It has a full,rich flavour,bitter but not excessively so,and slightly sweet with a bit of toffee. The bottle notes describe it as “the experience of England in a glass”,and goes on to describe the natural mineral water,the crushed Crystal malt,the ripest English Fuggles hops….but I have to say I was a bit disappointed to find “Colour E150C”and “Stabiliser E405″on the list of ingredients. It occured to me that the same brewer –Wells &Youngs - now brew Courage Directors,and I noted the presence of these additives in that beer in a previous post (see Director’s Cut).
I also had another couple of bottles of the Burning Gold variety. I actually think this is a nicer beer than the original variety. It’s light and refreshing,and far more drinkable. Very pleasant indeed. I’ve also got a couple of bottles of the Satanic Mills variety sitting in the beer cupboard –they might well be on the agenda for this evening!