Well, that’s what Morrisons claim anyway! Morrisons The Best bottle conditioned ale (6%) – unlike the Poacher’s Choice in the previous post, this is a beer that I could take to, even though it’s stronger than I would usually go for. It is brewed by the Freeminer Brewery, based in the Forest of Dean (west of Gloucester) – yet another brewery that I have to admit I have never come across before. They brew a number of cask and bottle conditioned ales – and they obviously don’t have much time left to spend on their website – have a look at it and you’ll see what I mean.
The beer itself is very good – a very powerful taste, quite bitter with a touch of sweetness – malty and fruity, but not over-sweet as some beers of this strength can be. The bottle claims that six varieties of barley are used – “hand malted in the oldest working independent floor maltings in the UK” – and three varieties of hops – First Gold, Fuggles and Golding. All in all a very nice beer. Is it “The Best”? Probably not, but it’s definitely worth trying anyway. I’m quite a fan of supermarket own brand beers, as these days they do seem to make an effort to put their name to very high quality products – and you can bet that they will ensure that what the breweries produce is of a consistently high standard. A gold star for Morrisons for this one.