M&S Sussex Golden Ale (Hepworth & Co)

A crunchy whiff of citrus in the nose, this 3.8% ale pours with minimal head. The colour is an engaging deep straw.

The watchword here is refreshment. It has a pleasing malt bumper at the front of the sup, but the citrus finish is a delight. It spirals to a clean bitterness in a very moreish fashion.

M&S have a bottle-conditioned cracker of a session pint here, suitable for daytime drinking without drying the brain.

8/10 - Very tasty summer beer. Delicately flavoured, and as light as sunshine on a meadow.

Harvest Sun (Williams Brothers)

A driven white snow foamy head, perfect carbonation. Big grassy smells in the nose, a raw earthiness of hops, no big American floral hops here.

A light almost lager like malt to start, devoid of sweetness it builds into a more biscuity middle. The ending has a slight twang, hints of lemon sharpness but lacks any real freshness or zing. The hop finish is lacking any big presence, just subtle grassy notes.

6/10 A nice golden ale, but lacks any real stand out qualities. A drink you'd enjoy, but wouldn't probably move on after.

Thanks goes out to Williams Brothers for providing this to review.

Knight of the Garter (Windsor & Eton) 3.8%Abv

The Bunker has already enjoyed the superb Conqueror Black IPA (8/10) and the unique Guardsman Oaked Best Bitter (8/10) from Windsor and Eton, so how does their Golden Ale compare?

Pours a bright and crystal clear golden. Big powerful hop aroma, spicy, floral and very fresh.

The taste is instantly hoppy, exploding into a fresh crisp bitterness leaving only small traces of sweet malt behind. As the beer lingers on the palate the hop bittering amplifies greatly, a diverse array of sharp citrus bittering.

It's quite rare (but very pleasing) to find a weak session beer that is so powerfully and beautifully hopped, it certainly reminded me of Darkstar Hophead.

8/10 A fantastically hopped session ale.

Thanks to Windsor and Eton for providing, I suggest you check out their beers here.

Seafarer's Ale (Fullers)

Brewing stalwarts Fuller's have taken this 4.2% abv George Gale branded beer under their wing, and will donate a percentage of sale proceeds to the Seafarers UK charity.

It's well carbonated and pours with a fizzy tumult. The drink is crisply golden and sports a hearty white head, which loiters for a while.

The nose is a light hoppy puff with a smidge of tobacco. First sip is fairly yeasty, lots of bread in a rather Wadworth-esque taste. It's very drinkable though, some nice clippings of grass through the length to end zestily, with fine employment of (aptly) Admiral Hops to level out with bitterness.

It comes across as a sort of IPA-lite, but for me could perhaps benefit from having a touch more bitterness in the tail. Still, a fine drink as you'd expect from one welcomed into the Fuller's stable.

7/10 - Very good beer, a sensible buy even without the donation to a fine cause.

- The Broadside

Sussex Gold (Arundel)

Arundel Brewery is noted for having done pretty well in various SIBA categories over the years, most notably with it's Sussex Mild.

With that not to hand, let's have a go at the Sussex Gold, their well-selling 4.2%abv ale.

It pours with a fine standard gold colour, and a fresh white head dissipates swiftly. The nose is a bunch of malt, with some grass and slight citrus, mostly lemon, carrying in the air.

On the palate it's much of the same, with sweet malt and a sharpish citrus jab providing an initial flurry of taste, although oddly it seems to drop off mid-draft, and has few discernable features through the middle.

A touch of mulchy, butter flavour slips through as a vector, and it ends crisply enough, but with little bittering it lacks any real character beyond the malt-fruit handshake.

It could be seen as sessiony but the carbonisation is a touch too aggressive for my taste, one less squirt on the soda-stream button would have been my preferred pitching for this beer, this one might be better on draught.

4/10 - Not enough here to be too enthusiastic about. Others offer more in the golden genre.

- The Broadside

Butty Bach (Wye Valley)

"A burnished gold premium ale, full bodied, smooth and satisfying. Serve with mustardy sausages with apple or rich mushroom risotto" - these are the rather specific food instructions on the label from Wye Valley.

It's bottle conditioned, 4.5%ABV and arrives in a smart little pot. A tidy label explains that the malt is crystal and the hops are Fuggles, Goldings and Bramling Cross (a new one to me).

The beer pours very clear and gold, and has the fastest dissipating head I've yet reviewed, in fact it looks rather like a quenching pint of apple juice once settled in the glass. The nose is full of oranges and has an almost pick n' mix trace of sweetness about it.

First taste is crisp malt with a fairly sizeable bread note. The fruit continues, and morphs between orange and grapefruit. The finish turns bitter, but not overly so and there is a slightly metallic aftertaste which fades to dry and is not unpleasant.

I'm probably drinking this in the wrong season as during the thermal clasp of summer this would have been just the ticket. As it is Bunker Station Two sits wind-locked in a minus four degree cold snap and moose have been sighted grazing on the cliff.

Still, with imagination this is a crisp, quenching summer beer and has some surprisingly novel flavours. None of them stand out enough for me to pick it out as truly special, but Butty Bach is by no means a poor option in the supermarket.

Decent soft golden beer, and one I'd like to try on draught.

6/10 - Like malty wine in its delicate blend of subtle flavours. Good refreshing session beer.

- The Broadside

Duvel Belgian Golden Ale 8%Abv

Pours the colour of light golden sand. Delightfully delicate fresh aroma, bananas, cloves, caramel, honey. Very reminiscent of wheat beers.

It starts gently and unassuming on the taste buds, light sweetness, hints of bittering, then wham! What follows is an hammer blow to every taste bud in the mouth, a hundred different flavour notes at once that smash and echo into the distance, like dropped tray of glasses in a restaurant.

This punctuation of taste, a big yeast crunch, squeezing out fruit flavours, maybe grapefruit. Spicy notes, cinnamon, cloves, definitely pepper, which lingers on long into the finish, where it is joined by the hops. The hops, arrive on the scene like a band who’s support act have played the gig of their life. They are delicate, but not understated, leaving a pronounced bitterness lingering like the pianos being struck at the end of The Beatles “Day in the life”.

Each sip of this beer is like watching a car crash again and again, you try and piece together what’s happened, but even super slow motion can’t help you disassemble a Duvel.

9/10 An outstanding beer. The only possible way to understand this beer fully...is to have another one.

Fossil Fuel (Purbeck)

It pours a deep clear gold. Wonderful aroma, fresh grass, sweet floral smells, noticably hoppy.

Fresh sweet initial taste, no big malty dryness, more like gentle honey. The middle is the trade mark Purbeck middle smokiness, a lovely yeasty crunch of charcoal and also hints of biscuit.

A crisp bitterness follows, noticeably well hopped with gentle citrus protruding. The finish is beautifuly diverse with a wealth of gentle hop flavours.

7/10 A lovely golden ale, well hopped with a noticably crisp finish. One for summer days or thirsty folk.

A big thanks to the Isle of Purbeck Brewery for providing these beers for review.

Town Crier (Hobson's)

Here at the Bunker, we're acknowledged fans of Hobson's, a couple of their ales making a good showing at recent summits. They recently won the SIBA Best Business Award.

The Old Henry and Postman's knock are sturdy dark affairs, and this is the first lighter beer I've tried from the Shropshire brewery, at 4.5%abv. The cap pops off with a gentle gasp and the drink pours a beautiful pale straw gold. The head is a light muslin wisp.

The nose is clean and unassertive, shimmering with gentle lilting hops and citrus fruit.

First taste unveils a fraction of sweetness, soon mowed over by light but persistent bitterness. Throughout a sort of semi-grapefruit taste endures (though nowhere near the likes of Punk IPA in prominence), again not unpleasant, and the whole effect is of gently drinkable beer. The beer finishes rather dryly, and I imagine this would go down very well with a hearty roast or similar dish.

Again, it's a decent product. It's not quite the wonderment in a bottle of Henry or Postman's, but neither is it a poor cousin. This is decent beer from a fine brewer.

7/10 - Gentle, cohesive and thoughtfully blended, Town Crier is elegant beer from an accomplished ale house.

- The Broadside

Holy Grail Ale (Black Sheep)

The nose is gentle citrus with a floral aroma, perhaps shrubs? It pours a clear gold, like a shining beacon of ale.

The taste is initial caramel, quite sweet, no big malt flavours. This is soon matched by a rather robust bitterness. A lingering gentle dryness stays on the tongue. Rather thin at points and lacks any big flavours of note, but does provide nice balance.

6/10 Very drinkable. Not too sweet, not to bitter, lighter than a duck.

Buy the beers from their online shop

Oxford Gold (Brakspear) 4.6% abv

Pours a rather standard "gold" colour, biscuity notes hidden with the nose with the odd flash of zest and gentle fresh cut grass.

Initial taste is rather malty and dry, followed by light sweetness. A biscuity middle, like a digestive, leading to a rather nutty twang. The finish is mellow without and notable hopping or bitterness.

I remember buying this beer a few years ago when it was bottled conditioned, it was as crisp and fresh as a lawn mowed in summer time. Now sadly it tastes like a rather generic Marstons beer. A real shame, a fallen hero.

4/10 Nothing offensive in this beer, but sadly nothing of note.

Exmoor Gold (Exmoor Ales)

Summer is reaching well into October here on the south coast so for a Sunday treat I thought I'd stick with the warm-weather ales, and it's the turn of Exmoor Gold.

Gold is brewed by Exmoor Ales from their Golden Hill brewery in Somerset.
The classily designed stag-motif label describes the drink as a "single malt" beer, something of a revolution when first brewed 24 years ago. It bucked the then trend by being the colour of a golden lager or deep chardonnay. It was initially brewed as a limited edition, but proved so popular it became a permanent fixture.

It pours with a beautiful golden hue, and the lager-like streams of bubbles can be seen in the picture. The head is snow-white, frothy and persistent. The nose is a grassy basket of hops with a rub of caramel malt. The taste is sweet and light, although at a robust 5% ABV is a little deceptive in strength.

Just one type of pale malt is used, and the hops are a mix of Fuggles, Goldings and Challenger. The centre note is freshly fruity, and the aftertaste has a weave of citrus and vanilla.

This is a rich and rewarding golden ale, beautifully made and balanced. Supping conjures images of picnics and lazy chats on the veranda, it's a sumptuous drink to unwind with.

8/10 - Excellent, rewarding gold ale,. Only a fractionally over-lengthy bitterness in the aftertaste keeps it from a chalking a Bunker Grade 9.

- The Broadside

Parish Bitter (Wood's)

I bought a few Wood's beers back from Ludlow Food Festival, so time for a review.

Wood's brew eight staple beers, and Parish Bitter is a well known drink around Shropshire, popular in the pubs of this ale heartland.

The bottle is brown and neat, and carries a picture of the church at Wistanstow, where the drink is produced. It describes itself as "best pale", and pouring gives a beautiful golden pint, although not as pale as you might have expected, more honey-coloured.

It's 4% ABV, and the nose is toffee and biscuit. Being a lighter strength, I was anticipating a bit of a compromised drink, like TT Landlord (not keen on that in a bottle), but this is a delight.

The sup is fresh and with good length. Initial malt-caramel gives way to a cosy fruity middle. The beer is bittered with the noblest of English hops, Fuggles and Goldings. This lends the taste a touch of Shepherd Neame character to my tongue, but without the idiosyncratic Neame yeast.

Above all the drink is refreshing and moreish and I can tell why it's endured so long locally. This is probably not one to see on supermarket shelves outside Shropshire, but I'd thoroughly recommend it if you can find it. Put me down as a fan.

8/10 - if only all session beers were this good.

- The Broadside

Pure Gold (Purity)

Pours like bright liquid gold, perfect light fizz.

Sweet light caramel, followed by some fruity grapefruit and peach flavours. The finish is well balanced hints of almost bubblegum flavours coming through to a dry and very gentle bitter finish.

7/10 A lovely and rather unique golden ale, a break from the norm.

You can by their ales at most good Sainsburys or Tescos or via Ocado here

Goldings (Shepherd Neame)

Even at the death of September, warm days are still alive on the south coast, so today it's the turn of "summer hop ale" Goldings, from Kentish brewers Shepherd Neame.

It's in their usual pot-bottle, 4.5% abv and pours clear and golden - a lion's mane of a colour which is beautiful in the fading afternoon light.

The nose is a little resiny with a touch of apple. The hops are complex but never overpowering. First draft is smooth and bubbly, but it's a springy piquant fizz rather than a tongue jacuzzi.

The taste as expected is summery and refreshing, and I wonder if perhaps I should have cooled it a little. Through the mainstay of the sip the pint throws tiny flowers about with a dusting of herbs. The opinion-polarising Neame yeast is there, but adds a slant of crunchy character rather than interfering too much.

The finish is abrupt and not very bitter. This is a beer for savouring on a sunny lawn and still being able to notice the scent of cut grass.

Allegations that could be made are that it's perhaps a little watery and not hoppy enough for the hopheads, but as a subtle ale with a hint of zest it's certainly built for purpose. This is one of the more user-friendly Neamish numbers, and I found it a pleasure to drink.

6/10 - Very agreeable, but perhaps lacking the character definition to tip it into the 7-grade bracket. If you dine al fresco frequently you'd do far worse than stock a few of these if spotted at the right price.

- The Broadside

Best Bitter Organic (St Peter)

Smells sweet and grassy, almost hints of honey. For a Best Bitter it pours amazingly golden.

Light malt is followed by gentle caramel. The finish is a light bittering with a lovely lingering taste.

7/10 A surprising little beer, light, but well balanced, very drinkable!

East Green (Adnams)

Pours crystal clear gold with a head as white as pure snow. Smells of light caramel.

Initial sharp fruity flavours of grapefruit and melon, followed by a smooth creamy middle malt. Finishes with lingering citrus and grassy hints.

5/10 A light golden beer with packed with plenty of citrus.

Kindly provided by Adnams, buy a selection of their beers here.

Boondoggle (Ringwood)

Pours a bright golden straw colour, fresh bitter hoppy smell. Featuring an interesting mix of old and new hops "Flavoured with just 2 aroma hops, the highly prized Fuggles and the new dwarf variety, First Gold."

Gentle lemon sweetness to start which is followed by that big trademark Ringwood biscuity crunch, with a few fruity high notes. It finishes with a strong crisp citrus finish.

7/10 A delicious crisp summer beer with some simple and delicate hop flavours

London Gold (Young's)

Rebranded from its former life as Kew Gold this beer pours as you would expect a beautiful crystal clear gold.

Strong citrus lemon flavours and smells to start, with limited sweetness, make it a refreshing opening punch to the tastebuds. There is a strong bite of that textbook Young's yeast in the middle for those who love it with a lingering biscuit finish, with gentle dry, but not over powering bitter hopping.

6/10 A very good refreshing golden beer, but lacks some more delicate flavour notes to challenge.

Check out Young's beers here

Summer Lightning (Hopback)

As Ale Gods go this is certainly one of them. Real ale fans the length of the country know all about this beer, it’s a legend, like something out of Greek mythology, something sent to earth to redefined ale. Its has four CAMRA’s Gold medals to its name, testament to its quality on draught and in bottles.

It’s a golden ale, and it shines bright like the precious metal itself, beautifully clear, with a gentle fizz released on pouring. It has a beautiful oily smell of fresh hops that lingers over the surface.

Hops. Hops, hops, hops. Yep this is a hoppy beer, they burst through at start overwhelming the malt and leaving all but a gentle sweetness. The finish is like you have never tasted before, a combination of gentle zesty notes combined with a kick like a shire horse wearing hop covered hooves.

When best enjoyed : Basking in the sunshine, or when you need a beer to waken you up and slap you round the face.

8/10 This truly is the God of Golden Ales and Hops, but lacks a bit of balance to earn top marks for me. If you like hops, you will be in heaven.

Kindly provided by my friends up the road at the Hopback Brewery you can buy their ales here