I’ve been a fan of Ruddles County for many years,but unfortunately I haven’t had much opportunity to indulge. It was traditionally brewed in Rutland,and although it was an occasional guest beer in a few pubs,I didn’t come across it too often. Ruddles is now a part of Greene King,and it seems to get around a bit more,although I still find it easier to get hold of in bottles and cans than on draught (at least not a hand-pulled version),even though we have several Greene King pubs in our area –they seem to mainly stock IPA,Abbot and Old Speckled Hen. I suppose that now it’s brewed by Greene King in Bury St. Edmunds,the County referred to in the name must now be Suffolk?
Anyway,County out of a bottle tastes pretty good,although I’m led to believe (by a wikipedia article,so read what you want into that) that the GK brew doesn’t use the same recipe as the original - but I think it’s a lovely amber beer,malty and hoppy smell with a sharp bitter taste and with a touch of fruity sweetness and a caramel toffee taste. It styles itself as “proper country beer”,whatever that means,but it is good. I recently tried a few cans of County. Initially I was a bit disappointed with it –it seemed a bit flat and lifeless –but after a while it began to grow on me,and the lack of gas became a benefit rather than a drawback.