REVIEW #51: Ruby Red Ale (St. Peter's Brewery)

Pours err... ruby red with a yellow-beige head. It possesses a leafy, aromatic hop scent. Very low carbonation. Medium-sweet toffee malt upfront with quite assertive herbal lemongrass like hop. The hops also dominate the bittersweet finish, emphasising spicy, sherbert-like, flowery notes. This beer has 'English bitter' written all over it. Its another great example of the style. Having reviewed a few different bitters now, it strikes me just how wide-ranging the style is. Some are more hop oriented than others, some more malty. Its also incredible just how variable the hop aroma of bitters can be.

St. Peter's Brewery was installed in 1996 in an old medieval hall and surrounding former farm buildings in Suffolk. 90% of their beers are bottled and most supermarkets stock at least one of them here in the UK. The bottles are a distinctive oval shape, based on a design by American Thomas Gerard, dating circa 1770. Ruby Red Ale uses the Slovenian-grown Styrian Goldings hop variety, a variant of Fuggles which has a similar aroma profile to East Kent Golding's and Challenger varieties.

• MALTS: ?
• HOPS: STYRIAN GOLDINGS
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 4.3%`

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