Ventnor Brewery Sand Rock Smoked Ale

I brought back a bottle of Ventor Brewery Sand Rock Smoked Ale (5.6%) from the Isle of Wight, on the recommendation of the brewery’s Airon Baker, with whom I’d drunk a couple of pints of their Golden Bitter (4%) at Afton Apple Day, where they had a stand. The Sand Rock is a heady winter brew, and when it says smoked it means smoked – in the style of Islay whisky, as one would expect from the use of peated malt. Enjoyable, but only to be taken now and again, and then only at the end of a session!

Good points, well made

As ever, Durham Brewery's Steve Gibbs raises interesting points in his newsletter. Firstly, do the newly-revealed top ten beer brands — Stella Artois, Carling, Foster's, Carlsberg, Budweiser, Kronenbourg 1664, Carlsberg Export, Grolsch, Becks and John Smith's — sell so well because people genuinely love them or because they are brainwashed by very expensive advertising? Knowing how, last summer, every other drinker seemed to be sloshing back pints of Magners on ice, I think I know the answer to that one. Secondly, if cider is made from apples and perry from pears, why call some versions of the latter pear cider? Answers to Steve (via his good friend and associate Sir John Barleycorn) at sirjohn@durham-brewery.co.uk

Nice quote...

... from the Summerskills website, and so true: "Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder." Plenty of other good stuff on this site, too.