Adnams Broadside Ale

Over the past 4-5 years I've gone from lager drinker and occasional real ale drinker, to real ale and occasional lager drinker. This is perfectly natural. As you age, your taste buds start to wear out, with the area at the front of your tongue going first. This is the area that senses sweet, with sour and bitter at the back and side going last - so as you get older you start to go off the sweet tasting stuff you liked when you were younger, and prefer stronger flavors. So my palette, whilst not that old, appreciates the deeper, richer more bitter flavors real ale has to offer. Also, I live in ... more

Arriving at the pub of a Friday evening is always something of a step into the unknown. Granted, the pub is where it's always been, the name hasn't changed and the decor's much the same. In fact, the Livingston Inn has been serving up pints of ale and hearty sustenance to thirsty wayfarers for over 250 years. No, what makes it a unique experience each time is scanning the beer-fonts to see what this week's guest ale will be. On Friday past, it was ADNAMS BROADSIDE which, by an uncanny coincidence, is the beer I'm reviewing today. Spooky, or what? Adnams, a family business, has been brewing ... more

I have drifted back time and again to the south east corner of England in the pursuit of good tasting brews. Just across the Thames estuary from one of my favourites (Shepherd Neame in Faversham) is Adnams of Southwold, Suffolk. I tried one of their (standard strength) bitters a few weeks ago. Most supermarkets these days keep at least a couple of their wares on the shelves so I have come back again for a try at a stronger offering. THE BREWERY I am quite partial to tribute and celebratory beers as it happens and this brew was launched by the brewery to commemorate the Battle of Sole Bay ** ... more

I went out for lunch with my parents last week, after a shopping trip to the MacArthur Glen Retail Park. We stopped at a pub on the way home, at a place called Winsick (not too far away from Chesterfield), at the New Inn. I asked for a pint of Magnet, but they'd run out, so I had to choose quite quickly. I opted for a pint of Adnams Broadside ~ I had previously tried, enjoyed and subsequently reviewed their Bitter (extremely unsubtle hint alert!), so I decided to go for a brewer I recognised and liked. Adnams is based at the Sole Bay Brewery in Southwold, Suffolk. It's an old site with an ... more

I first discovered Adnams ale when on a family holiday in Southwold, Suffolk. Southwold is a town where they have a working lighthouse in the middle of the town and the brewery still delivers the barrels of beer by house and cart to the local pubs. The next occasion that I came across Adnams, especially broadside, was about 2 years ago when at the end of a drunken pub crawl it was the only beer or brewery that I recognised. I think that that pint cost me £1.75, as it was happy hour, and normally it is between £1.95 to £2.20 for a pint. It is also available in bottles from the supermarket, at ... more