The first of the ale challenge

Advantages: A lovely character and great taste
Disadvantages: Not easily found at some outlets

...an excellent brewage and a bargain and got four 500ml bottles for £5. Hopefully I can get to write about the others before Proxam nips up from doon the road and peeks in my cellar and before Tange crosses the wild border and dips her head into the fridge. Stored in a brown bottle it?s gently pouring ale and reveals a lovely dark velvety colour. It doesn?t sit heavy on the stomach and has a faint sweet taste. It is strong though and before long, I was singing away, like a Zarbi on heat, much to the delight (!) of Mrs B! Aye well, I?m nae used tae drinking! This is an ale I could certainly drink several of in one night, if only Mrs B would let me! Sadly, this is an ale that may not be easily purchased as it?s been made by Caledonian Brewery in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Edinburgh Photographic pioneers Hill and Adamson. You can...

borntoloaf 09.01.2003 · Read review
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Review of Caledonian Edinburgh Strong Ale

A Beer's a Beer For a' That

Advantages: It's a beer
Disadvantages: Not the best from a great brewery

...Aye weel, it's that time of the year again. The day we celebrate the birthday of Robert Burns and what better way than to sample a beer brewed in memory of The Bard. And the beer is - CALEDONIAN BURNS ALE * Caledonian Brewery * At one time, over 30 breweries were all busy making a wide range of ales in Edinburgh. Today, Caledonian brewery is the only independent one still operating. This historic Edinburgh brewery uses the only direct fired open coppers left in Britain (most kettles are heated by steam), one of which dates back to the brewery's very earliest days. This fire-brewing method creates hot spots and leads to a caramelization that emphasizes the flavour of the malt. In fact, some would say that Caledonian produces Scotland's maltiest ales - this takes some doing in a land of lightly-hopped and well malted beers...

proxam 25.01.2003 · Read review
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Review of Caledonian Burns Ale

Coopers Sparkling Ale

Advantages: Strong yet refreshing and easy to drink
Disadvantages: None

...I first drank some Coopers Pale Ale which became a favourite of mine and decided to try other offerings from the Coopers brewery. Coopers Sparkling Ale is a lovely beer. I poured my first bottle into a glass to accompany my Vindaloo curry and it went very well with the spicyness of the food. There is actually a live yeast sediment in the bottom of the bottle which you can mix into the beer before pouring if you like. But that's personal taste. I personally do like to mix it in. This beer is bottle conditioned, meaning that the brewery add extra sugar and yeast at bottling to carbonate the beer. This makes the beer much nicer than if it were to be force carbonated as per most commercial breweries. You can actually use this yeast sediment to make homebrew beer with, as I do. The beer has a very complex flavour and quite a creamy...

BallisticSpin 04.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Coopers Sparkling Ale

Caley's Embra Wee Heavy

Advantages: Smooth, creamy and full of flavour
Disadvantages: er...um...well...

...You may have read about this beer in a previous opinion written by that well known loafer, borntoloaf. If you did, it may have whetted your appetite to read what it's really like! (just kidding!) Anyway, without further waffling, here goes..... CALEDONIAN'S EDINBURGH SCOTCH ALE......you don't need a degree in geographic studies to hazard a wild guess at this beer's point of origin - there are clues everywhere. Caledonian brewery is the sole survivor from the time when Edinburgh was home to over 30 independent breweries. The Victorian brewhouse still uses direct-fired open coppers, one of which dates back to 1869. These are thought to be the only ones in Britain still fired by direct heat (most kettles are heated by steam). This 'fire-brewing' method creates hot spots and leads to a caramelization that heightens the malty...

proxam 19.01.2003 · Read review
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Review of Caledonian Edinburgh Strong Ale

Caledonian is a good university.

Advantages: Central location, good facilities and good choice of courses
Disadvantages: Only two cash machines (ATMs) for 15000 students

...I am a level four student on the Building Surveying course at Glasgow Caledonian University. HISTORY & BACKGROUND INFORMATION Glasgow Caledonian is located on one campus on Cowcadden's Road across from Buchanan Street Bus Station in Glasgow. The University is quite young as it was Glasgow Polytechnic until 1993 when it became a fully fledged university. The university has 90 undergraduate courses and 40 post graduate courses with over 14,000 students currently studying with 1500 staff. It comprises of a number of 'schools': School of Built and Natural Environment School of business School of Computing and mathematics School of Engineering, Science and Design School of Health and Social Care School of Life Sciences School of Law and Social Sciences School of Built and Natural Environment The principle...

il_cacciatore 31.12.2006 (19.07.2007) · Read review
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Review of Glasgow Caledonian University

GLINDA'S ALE

Advantages: Light and refreshing
Disadvantages: Not Wychwood's best

...Once upon a time (1983), in a far away land, down in the deep, dark forest of Wychwood, the seed of a micro brewery germinated and took root in the maltings of the long departed Clinch's brewery in Witney. By using water from the River Windrush, and yeast from the late Morland's brewery, WYCHWOOD BREWERY has gone from success to success - from a one-man business producing around 10 barrels a week, to a much larger concern producing over 50,000 barrels a year. The main man, Chris Moss, is said to like beers with hearty and individualistic flavours and aromas, and names them suitably. Beers like: Dog's Bollocks, Hobgoblin, Fiddlers Elbow and Pumpking, Black Wych, and one called White Wych, a (what else?) Pale Ale. This is a seasonal ale brewed specifically for the summer. I know, it's only Easter for goodness sake, but there...

proxam 16.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Wychwood White Wych Ale

A Magical ale

Advantages: colour, taste
Disadvantages: not a summer beer

...I have recently really become fascinated with the wide range of beers available and can be found in the beer aisle of Asda umming and aahing and working out which one I should go for. This was me on Saturday afternoon. I eventually went for Hobgoblin strong dark ale from the Wyhwood brewery I had to buy it for three reasons. The first was the name. Hobgoblin is such a nice mysterious name for a beer. I imagine this being served in The Shire to Frodo and co or in other fantasy realms. Secondly I was enchanted with the bottle?s label. It has a rather mischievous little man with arrows and a sword. Perhaps the Hobgoblin is not such a nice creature after all. The third thing that drew me to this ale was the description of it. It was supposed to have chocolate toffee malt. So was this beer good? Do I like old buildings? Hobgoblin is...

duskmaiden 08.12.2003 · Read review
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Review of Wychwood Hobgoblin Extra Strong Ale

Beef & Ale, mmmm lovely (Colman's Beef & Ale Sauce Mix)

Advantages: Very quick and easy to make
Disadvantages: None

...Having a 6 month old baby means I don't always have the time to cook really nice meals from scratch, I seem to be forever sticking chips and pies etc in the oven so I decided to buy some packets that would enable me to make some nice casseroles etc When I was looking through the available sauce mixes I spotted the Colmans Beef & Ale sauce, the picture on the front of the packet looked very nice so I bought one and cooked it that evening. The Packet The top half of the packet is brown with the Yellow and red Colman's logo, beneath the logo you have a picture of what the dish looks like (meat mushrooms in a sauce) then below that you have the contents (for one meal). On the reverse of the packet you have the ingredients, how to cook instructions and the nutritional information. It also has a something special section that gives you...

soutram 21.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Colmans Beef & Ale Sauce Mix

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Advantages: Good taste and aroma
Disadvantages: Price, although it is good quality and you get what you pay for

...This is a very tasty, somewhat hoppy pale ale from the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in the USA. It is the most popular beer produced by the brewery. I bought a couple of bottles from my local Morrisons as they seem to have a nice selection of different beers there that aren't available elsewhere. I paid about £1.50 each for a couple of small 350ml stubby bottles. It is 5.6% Alc. There is a thin layer of sediment in the bottle due to the beer being bottle conditioned. Bottle conditioned beers are generally of a much better quality than comercial beers which are filtered, force carbonated and contain no live yeast. This sediment is actually live yeast, so you could use it for home brewing if you wanted, I do. But otherwise you can just swirl this into the beer before pouring and it adds to the flavour. But that's personal taste. Upon...

BallisticSpin 07.05.2009 (13.05.2009) · Read review
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Review of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Coopers Original Pale Ale

Advantages: Nice fruity taste
Disadvantages: Bit expensive. But it is good quality.

...like this. The only downside I can see is that it usually costs around £1.50 for a stubby 375ml bottle. The Coopers Original Pale Ale is 4.5% Alc but I think in the review heading it said 5.8%, that is the Coopers Sparkling Ale. Which, by the way is also a very good beer. I am bottle conditioning the homebrew version of the Sparkling Ale at the moment. PS - I also post on Dooyoo under RocketFuel....

BallisticSpin 26.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Coopers Original Pale Ale