I shop at Sainsburys. Mainly because it's on my way home. And I'm quite partial to their beer range. Very partial, actually.

It's where I started buying bottled beer in the early nineties - Hobgoblin, Fiddler's Elbow. It's where my lager experimentation phases began - Czech, maybe German, definitely those Taste The Difference four-packs by Meantime (remember those)?

And it's where there are gems that find their way into my fridge today. I'm partial to beers by Fuller's and Adnams so am happy to pick up Bengal Lancer or Broadside. There's the smaller brewers who've won over shelf space thanks to the store's Great British Beer Hunt.

And then there was Brewdog. First listed thanks to the Beer Hunt in 2009 - when Chaos Theory was probably the best bottled beer to ever be sold in a British supermarket - they've gone on to promote Punk as a regular beer, albeit one that gets moved around the shelving. When bombers of Punk (well, 66cl bottles) came into stock, I had me a new fridge beer.

But no longer. And it's the price point that's done it for me. Prices have nudged up. When that 66cl bottle sold for £2.50, it felt competitive. When it was two bottles for £4, it was a steal. Now with that bottle at £2.99 and a 33cl bottle at £1.80 - and no multibuy offers - it feels like a raw deal.

Why? In part, because so many of the other beers appear on the 'three for a fiver' deal. And one of those beer is Goose Island IPA.

I like Goose Island IPA. And the three bottles I picked up tonight are fresh and hoppy and oily and zippy and prickly and, and, and... everything I'd expect a US import on a UK supermarket shelf not to be.

And it's three bottles for a fiver. And it tastes more exciting than Punk.

The bottom shelf of the fridge at Scoop Towers has a new resident beer. >

And the award for Grinding Inevitability In Beer Blogging goes to... Reluctant Scooper for the obligatory Brewdog article. Want to know why I write about them? I like their beers. I'd buy shit booze and write about that instead but my masochistic streak doesn't run that deep. It only goes as far as supporting Nottingham Forest.


Anyhoo. Once upon a time there were three beers and their names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But Brewdog didn't brew those. They *did* brew Dogma, Chaos Theory and Hardcore. Rumours that those names were inspired by a certain someone's Lovefilm.com rental list are unsubstantiated.


Let's start with Dogma.

Tastes of... white pepper and liquid caramel.
Smells like... honey from the back of the cupboard. That's turned kinda special.
If it were a track by Radiohead it would be... I Might Be Wrong


Let's middle with Chaos Theory.

Tastes of...... orange peel impregnated with pine needles
Smells like...bitter jelly
If it were a track by Radiohead it would be... No Surprises


Let's finish with Hardcore

Tastes of... Boxing Day fruit salad split under the Christmas tree. And rubbed with a caramel cloth.,
Smells like... fractured grapefruit stirred with a sticky hop stick
If it were a track by Radiohead it would be... Everything In Its Right Place


Blag blah Sainsbury's, blah blah four for the price of three, blah blah probably next to the charcoal briquettes unless you shop in Edinburgh.

And that’s it. I promised myself I’d stop at two hundred and >

In the last few years, UK supermarkets have been undergoing a quiet revolution when it comes to stocking quality beer. Rather than get all dewy-eyed about the demise of Safeway and their foreign beer list, the chainstore-shopping toper can be excited about initiatives that bring world class UK beers to a wider market. 'Beer challenges' have proved popular; a range of beers are trialled with the fastest/highest volume seller gaining an ongoing national listing.

Which brings us to Sainsbury's. Their 2009 challenge sees fifteen beers promoted from ten brewers, almost half of the beers being Scottish. Yes, Brewdog's distinctive bottles are in there but it's fellow countrymen Williams Brothers who lead the way with four entries showcasing differing styles. I took a few bottles out and about with me to see how they fared, as well as handing some out to colleagues for their impressions.

One thing that the Silverstone circuit lacks is decent beer. It's thirsty work being sat on your backside watching a few million quids worth of GT cars speed past, so I took two of the Williams beers with me on a recent jaunt to the Northamptonshire circuit.



Fighting my way into the crowded stands, Ceilidh was first up. Billed as a lager, it's got some latent sweetness but there's simply bags of crispy malt in there. A little citric licks around, some fresh flower petals. A very smooth mouthfeel makes for an enjoyable botle; not a quencher, more golden ale than lagery, still worth taking a punt on.

Next on the schedule was the IPA. Lager malted again to give that lilt of sweetness and smooth texture. Was it well-hopped? Well, there's a whiff of Amarillo here but the Bramling Cross mix makes for a balanced hop feel. In fact, it's so well balanced as to be almost understated; perhaps lifted by a tinge of cinnamon-topped apple pie in there? Certainly another fair whack of sweeter malts. It's all fairly smooth, but I prefer a few rough edges with my IPAs.

The other two beers were reserved for post-lawnmowing on Sunday. Birds and Bees was the intriguing one; Belgian pale malt, hopped with Cascade and Bobek hops and infused with elderflowers and lemon zest. It was smooth enough, with the now-customary clean-sweet malts bolstered by a wheaty backbone. Fruity enough, with some plump juicy fruits to the fore. Zesty? Not really. Elderflower? Barely. Which was disappointing at the time as I'm keen on such flavours when they're full-on. But on reflection, Birds and Bees struck a similar balance to the other Williams beers and was probably better for it.

Which leaves the 80/- til last. To be honest I wasn't expecting much from this, which is why it was sat at the back of the fridge and behind the others in the pecking order. And so it's great to be blindsided. Gorgeous cool toffee (anyone else love toffee out the fridge?) with a biscuity crunch. Hedgerow fruitiness that bursts as you work it round your mouth. Bits of bonfire toffee lurking too. Yet it's still really soft, the combination of calm carbonation and clean malts seems to have become a trademark of these Williams beers.

So what does that leave us with? A lager that isn't, but is golden; a golden ale that is golden but isn't elderflower; an IPA that's flowery but not that fruity and a fruity bitter that's above all expectation. With liquid toffee-dunked Digestives.

And because I'm a generous chap, I shared some bottles around at work. Birds and Bees was classed as "yummy", Ceilidh had "burnt malt and hints of citrus". And 80/- was "pleasantly enjoyable". I'd second that emotion.

These beers are (hopefully) on the shelves of a Sainsbury's near you. If, indeed, you have a Sainsbury's near you. You can probably buy them online. Possibly. If you can't see them in store, try the aisle where they hide the seasonal stuff.

And at four for the price of three, you can treat yourself to the full Williams set for (I think) £5.97.


Thanks to Williams Brothers for the samples >