Following on from the slight disappointment we experienced at Lidl, we were back on more stable ground this week with a trip to Morrisons. The ubiquitous supermarket has, like Aldi, built a decent reputation around their beer offering.
Dedicating a full aisle to beer and cider, Morrison's had some very interesting beers and ales on offer:
Scottish ales and lagers
Alongside the usual suspects of Caledonian Brewing, Belhaven and Brewdog, Morrisons offers some cracking little beers from some of the smaller breweries as well as some rarer beers from some more well known ones.
Fyne Ales
Fyne Ales Jarl - Jarl is Fyne Ale's best selling beer and rightly so. A citrus fresh session ale with rolling punches of hops, Jarl is perfect for enjoying on a warm summer's night or all year round.
Abv: 3.8%
Price: £2.25
Fyne Ales Avalanche - Avalanche is another great offering from Fyne Ales, brewed for the first time in 2007 by Head Brewer Wil Wood using two of his favourite hops, Cascade and Liberty. It retains parallels with its stablemate Jarl, but the citrus notes give way to grapefruit and honey.
Abv: 4.5%
Price: £2.25
William's Bros. Fraoch
Fraoch Picture: William's Bros.
Unless you've had your head under a cask these past few years then you will assuredly have heard of Fraoch (pronounced Froo-ooch), Williams Bros' beer that's been 4000 years in the making. This unique Heather Ale is deliciously different but might not suit everyone's tastes, bogmyrtle and ginger mix with the heather and hops to create a floral and spices flavour.
Abv: 5%
Price: £1.50
Supermarket craft beer and real ale guide: Lidl
Haviestoun Engine Oil and The Ridge
Old Engine Oil - They don't come much darker than Harviestoun's Old Engine Oil and that's the way we like it. A swirling contrivance of Toffee, chocolate, coffee and perhaps a little hint of cherry. Well worth checking out if you like porters and stouts.
Abv: 6%
Price: £1.99
The Ridge - Taking inspiration from the Mid-Atlantic ridge, Harvieston have created a 'US style ale with Scottish origins' merging the best of the two nations brewing traditions together. Enjoyable, but we were hoping for more hops.
Abv: 5%
Price: £1.99
Supermarket craft beer and real ale guide: Asda
Beers from elsewhere:
Iron Maiden Trooper Ale
Trooper Ale. Picture: Robinson's
To be honest we were a little disappointed by this in bottle (it's far better on cask) but it had to make it in here for coolness factor alone. Everybody loves a bit of Iron Maiden right?
The beer itself is slightly less energetic than the band themselves and the flavour nowhere near as punchy as the music but it's still an enjoyably beer and it will look good in any fridge.
Abv: 4.7%
Price: £1.50
Madness Brewing Company
Lovestruck. Picture: Madness
Not content to stock one band related beer, Morrisons are also offering ska giants Madness' beers which include the wonderfully named Lovestruck. A hoppy amber ale, brewed by Portobello Brewery, this little beer is a cracker and is sure to get you dancing to 'one step beyond' in no time at all.
Abv: 4.4%
Price: £1.50
Overall a much better effort from one of the bigger players in the supermarket club, great range of Scottish ales and craft beers as well as some very interesting beers from the rest of the UK. The prices might not be as good as Aldi's but we were more than happy with the sheer amount of beers on offer.
