The supermarket which I work in has the above deal permanently covering its range of bottled Real Ales. Prior to the store changing from a Safeway to a Morrisons, I think I'd maybe tried a couple varieties of ale. I'm fairly sure I tried a couple brands that tasted pretty yuck during the Rag Week at my University when the bar would get in 15 different barrels of ale. Once each was gone it was gone. You would get a stamp on your Ale Passport for each brand you tried, and if by some chance you were lucky/stubborn enough to try all 15 during the course of the week then you got a prize of some kind. I think I gave up after two, because I didn't have much money and I preferred to spend it on drink that was going to get me drunk and that I liked the taste of. I've likely also had a sip of one of my Dad's pints of one brand or another as a kid, but I can't remember the names of any of those apart from knowing that I've tried Old Speckled Hen at least once.
So getting back to the point, I was pretty unexperienced when it came to ale. And since most British pubs serve ale lukewarm from a barrel, the notion of trying any of it always dies the moment I enter a pub, and I opt for a nice cold pint of lager instead. But Morrisons stock a pretty good range of bottled ales from all over the country. And the shelf edge labels that detail the price of each bottle (invariably £1.59 each) also include some details about the taste of the drink itself, which is helpful in picking which brand/s to try. At 4 bottles for £5, and able to Pick N' Mix, I've slowly been working my way through the selection.
Whereas originally I'd just pick up 4 different brands and try each in turn (after suitably chilling them in the fridge for a few hours), nowadays I've found a few favourite types (most notably Waggle Dance, an ale brewed with 20% honey, so a cross between beer and mead, and very nice it is too). As a result of this I tend to get 1-2 that I haven't tried before and stick with what I know for the rest of the four.
I was planning to buy some alcohol today and 4 bottles of ale is usually a strong contender for my money. But not today. Today I was surprised and delighted to see that the same offer has now been copied to cover the £1.59 priced bottled ciders, including my recent favourite drink Strongbow Sirrus, a mild cider that is drunk poured over ice. I've never been a big cider drinker (it always used to make me sick), but I can drink Sirrus without any problems (even when mixing it with vodka), so I decided to try a couple other brands. Cue me buying 2 bottles of what I know (Sirrus) and 2 of what I don't (Bulmers and Scrumpy Jack).
I shall see how I go with these, and assuming I'm not violently ill as a result of drinking them, then I'll think about trying a couple other varieties in a few weeks. I've drunk the Bulmers already whilst watching TV earlier tonight and that was nice, nothing special though. Think I'll save the rest for tomorrow evening. Right now I'm going to head out to the pub... next door.
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