21 May 2016

Waitrose Duchy Organic Old Ruby Ale (Waitrose) [By @SpectreUK]




This rather posh sounding Waitrose Duchy Organic Old Ruby Ale was brewed in Oxfordshire. The 5% volume ale was produced using barleys from selected organic farms, as well as from the Duchy Home Farm in Highgrove. One of the barleys is called Plumage Archer, which I have to admit that I haven’t heard of before and that’s the reason why I’m writing a blog about this particular ale. Always happy to try new things, especially where beer is concerned, I popped open the bottle as quickly as possible. There was an almost biscuit smell on opening the bottle from the rich blend of malted barleys. The ruby ale filled my waiting beer glass and I couldn’t help but reflect how pleasing the colour of ruby ale can be. The traditional reddish colour compared to the muggy rainy day outside promised satisfaction and renewed energy into tired limbs from a hard slog at the gym earlier in the day. On taste this ale had an initial rich biscuit flavour as the blend of malt barleys worked together washing around my pallet, the hops entered the game later in the taste with a slight bitterness moving into the aftertaste. This is a beer that warms me up just to look at it, my lips smacked involuntarily before tasting, then my mind was spirited away on velvety cushions to yesteryear where hard working folk wearing flat caps toil away on steam powered traction engines somewhere nearby shovelling coal into their muffled clanking machines as they belch soot. Whereas my mind relaxes in an old wooden rocking chair beside an open fire in a heaven made of malted barley, mainly Plumage Archer, and a touch of hops to round the taste. Mmm…
By Spectre

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