Difference of Opinion

I sometimes, despite protests, get sent bottles of beer to try.  I do give them a go, but as I rarely drink at home, it usually takes me a while to get round to them.

Friday was a lovely warm night, so I dug out two bottles. One, St Peter's English Lager, had been in my fridge for a few months, the other, Brilliant Ale from Shepherd Neame for only a week or so. I do confess though that I did drink one of the two bottles of St Peter's Lager when it was sent and thought it pleasant enough, but somewhat ale like.  A little like those hybrid "lagers" - really more like Koelsch I suppose -  that family brewers used to pass off as the real thing. Think Amboss, Edelbrau, Stein, Einhorn, Holtenbrau etc.

We shared the bottles in the sense that I had one and E the other. We didn't split them, though we each tasted both.  I still thought the St Peter's rather ale like, but E liked it well enough.  My Brilliant Ale was a perfect summer beer.  Light, spritzy, slightly dry and just the thing to watch the sun go down on a beautiful summer at dusk and it would had been even better if I'd had it when the sun was higher and I'd maybe had a couple more to wash down the one I'd had.

E thought it OK but preferred the St Peter's.  That's beer for you.

Thanks to both breweries for sending the samples.  Brilliant Ale (5.6%) is brewed to a recreated recipe from sometime between 1825 and 1855, with the original East Kent Goldings being replaced by Cascades. St Peter's Lager (5.2%) has a classic combination of Hallertau and Styrian Goldings