First Gold (Badger)

Is it me or does nearly every ale have "award winning" on the bottle these days?

This one proudly proclaims it's a "world champion", winning double gold at the "Brewing Oscars", or Brewing Industry International Awards in 2005. In fact Badger are so proud of this one they've even given it its own URL.

It pours a chestnut brown with a thin, but foamy and persistent head. The nose is rather citrus, and hoppily pungent. Its 4%abv, so fairly weak.

The body is fairly thin, and a minor hint of smoke gives way swiftly to a fruity, mildly metallic mid-section.

The chart on the back gives it 4/5 bitterness, and its hard to disagree. They only use a single hop in this one, the eponymous First Gold, the bittering is pleasant although a little one dimensional.

Probably a food-accompanying ale due to its consistency and strength, this is ok beer, and if you prefer your ale bitter perhaps a fine choice for a session bottle. For me, a touch more balance and flavour would be a welcome addition, although don't tell Oscar I said so.

6/10 - Good beer but not the "wow" I was expecting. If you're a bitter flavour fan then add +1 for its hop punch.

- The Broadside

Nutz (Bowman)

I approached this one nervously. I like nuts, have nothing against them and like the rest of the public, sometimes only nuts will do with beer - but in beer? We're open minded here, and I'll not let the unforgivable txt-spk spelling of 'nuts' sway my opinion.

Bowman Ales hail from Hampshire, and have a taste for the experimental, having brewed with both ginger and elder flowers.

I have a habit of holding bottles up to the light to check for yeast sediment, and this time I saw actual small nut segments sitting in the deeps. The bottle opens with a gentle whiff of the nut, but not overpoweringly so, it's mostly fine hoppy beer smells.

The head is initially fizzy tending to thin, and the colour a deep chestnut (tout naturellement). On the taste it's not at all bad, and certainly beats the various "beers brewed with honey" I've had, such as Slater's and Well's. In fact, only Well's Banana Bread Beer (must review it here) seems to work as light-strength supermarket speciality beer to my experience so far.

The initial taste is beery and not unpleasant. Light malt arrives in a taxi driven by a couple of nuts, and then more nuts get in the back. The nut thing increases through the length of it, hand in hand with a sort of demerara sugar lilt . It's toasty and spicy on the tongue, and the finish is bitter but leaves a grippy, not entirely beautiful aftertaste on the back of the tongue. The 5%abv alcohol makes itself known in the background and mild bitterness rears up at the death.

As the pint goes down, I tire a little of the taste. It ought to be recognised for what it is, and that is not a session beer. It's an odd sort of early/mid evening ale, and for nut fans, maybe it's nirvana. For me, it's a bit of a struggle to finish a whole pint in quick-order, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it at times.

5/10 - Competent and interesting speciality ale, I'm happy to have tried it the once.

- The Broadside

Double Drop (Flack Manor) - 3.7%abv

Flack Manor is a new enterprise, erected near the site of the Hampshire Brewery, which closed in 2008. It's run by Nigel Welsh, an ex-director of Ringwood Brewery . Here at this site we're big fans of Ringwood's ales so have been keen to try this beer.

From what I can tell, they're only brewing this particular bottled beer at the moment, so this bottle carries with it a fledgling reputation of the brand.

I'm a little nervous at the strength of this, a mere 3.7%. Almost without exception I've found that very decent session bitters from the cask just don't live well in a bottle at the lighter end of the alcohol spectrum, Ringwood's Best being a prime example. That beautifully honed malty beer served in my beloved Porterhouse in Westbourne transfers to an overly bitter rough beast on the shelf, although Bunker colleague Ed has a higher opinion.

Double Drop is named after it's brewing process, a near forgotten method of dropping wort into a fermenting "round" and then dropping it again into a fermenting vessel, which leaves behind dead yeast and other debris, not cleaned up in other methods.

The drink pours clear and a deep amber with a filmy thin disc of white head. Maris Otter barley malt and slight hints of toffee carry on the nose.

First taste and I'm very pleasantly surprised. This drinks extremely smoothly, and there's no hint of roughness. A mildly sweet initial note becomes a quenching and citrus-fruity middle with a lick of bitterness in the tail. Flack Manor have scored a direct strike on the label description, which describes the beer as "quaffable".

This is a very refreshing and light pint. It of course has none of the hidden depths of some of the more sturdy leviathans on these pages, but if taken as what it is, it's one to be relished.

This isn't a complex drink, nor was it intended to be; the experience is a short pleasant journey of sweet>citrus>light bitter>full stop with an immediate invitation to sup again. At this strength, this is a beer that could merrily last all afternoon without too many impacts to a drinker's co-ordination.

For me, Flack Manor have practically invented the first decent sub-4% bottled ale, and the level of taste I'd hoped for from bottled Ringwood Best.

7/10 - I'll be watching this brewery with interest.

- The Broadside

Ducks Folly (Goddard's)

Smells of toffee and fruity notes, instantly capturing the imagination as something a bit different.

Initial malt is followed by a wealth of flavours, all of which i struggle to pin down! Sweet but bitter malt, fruity notes, dates and raisins just some of those that made it to the note pad. The ABV is less well hidden with an alcoholic edge going toe to toe with the limited final bitterness.

6/10 An enigma of a beer, the hallmarks of a best bitter, but strong and full of fruity notes.

You can buy beer from the Isle of Wight here

Hole Hearted (Oakleaf)

Oakleaf is a Gosport based brewery run by Dave Peckersgill. I'd heard a fair bit about it's beers so thought it timely to have a taste.

Hole Hearted pours bright and smells similarly, lots of flower and solely Cascade hops. This ale is on the same lines as that hopcentric uber-beer Summer Lightning. However on taste there's a patch of malt and a whole bag of fruit - mainly apples.

It's a session ale for me, very drinkable and at 4.7% ABV one to settle in on a summer evening with. The finish is bitter but comfortable.

For my palate the fruits are just a little too pronounced. I feel a little mean giving this a 7, as it would be a square 8 for most, but it's got a touch too much orchard for my tongue.

Still, this is an ale made with care by a brewery who know's their product. I'll certainlly be trying some more from Oakleaf.

7/10, a fine beer.

- The Broadside

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

49'er (Ringwood)

Pours a lovely deep golden with hints of copper and a creamy toffee head. The aroma is sweet, but not fruity, more gentle toffee sweetness.

Its a gentle malt, that floods with caramel and a crisp refreshing taste. The middle is a packed biscuit crunch leading to a strong bitter sweet finish that lingers gently.

6/10 A decent premium ale, full caramel and biscuit flavours.

Thanks to Ringwood for providing, You can buy Ringwood beers here, or in most good Waitrose and Tesco's.

Best Bitter (Ringwood)

Pours a lovely deep bronze, with a light creamy head. A very gentle grassy aroma with peppery hints.

The start is a warming malty taste, that develops it to a smooth toffee flavour. Hints of berried fruit in the middle followed by a tangy but not sharp finish. The hops at finish are gentle, with no heavy dry bitter linger.

5/10 A very good traditional style best bitter

You can buy Ringwood beers here

Eichenblatt Bitte (Oakleaf)

A Bavarian smoked wheat beer, “Eichenblatt Bitte” translates as “Oakleaf Please”

Poured as per the bottle instructions to give a nice cloudy beer, the head is a brilliant white, and despite expectations it doesn’t smell strongly of smoke.

There is a lot of fizzy hidden within this which gives it a real crisp bite. At first it tastes like a normal wheat beer, a nice gentle refreshing citrus sweetness lingers in the mouth whilst the smokey flavours slowly build like a crescendo of flavour. The finish is dry and leaves a lingering almost tobacco smokiness, with hidden fruit notes within. Its well balanced, the smokiness is prominent but not overpowering.

4/10 An intriguing speciality beer, if your a fan of wheat beer or smokey flavours in your beer this could be something special.

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

Old Thumper (Ringwood)

In 1988 this was the best beer the country had to offer, Awarded 'Champion beer of Britain' by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

I can understand it, at the time it was a bit of a landmark beer, a strong ale that made people think twice about what microbrewing could do. But this is 2010, and its in a bottle, produced by an ever growing Ringwood brewery who are now owned by Marstons.

It has a lovely sweet malty taste, followed by deep mouth filling fruity notes that trick the mind into thinking its eating a summer pudding. It has a reasonably strong hop finish to balance with the malt.

Lets be clear, this beer leaves you in no doubt you are drinking a strong ale, but one with something different to say. Its a beast, but don't be fooled into thinking its been tamed.

Where to drink : Somewhere where you have transport home arranged.

7/10 But you can't help thinking some of the magic has been lost trying to cage a beast like this in a bottle, and you'd be right. On draught its 5*s all the way.