19 March 2014

Buddy's Bourbon Flavoured Beer with a hint of Honey (Waitrose) [By @SpectreUK]


The label on the bottle stated that J.W. Buddy or "Buddy" to his friends came up with the idea to brew beer with bourbon and a hint of honey. For a guy who's recovering from a rotten chest infection and still has a dreadful cough (okay, I'll allow you to feel a little bit sorry for me), the idea of drinking a cool glass of beer with a fiery kick of bourbon to sooth my aching throat really appealed. I remember back to my late teens on entering my regular public house coughing and sneezing and the busty blonde barmaid, Charmaine, insisted that I have double Brandy with sugar on the house. Ah... The memories...! Anyway, I grew up with alcohol being a keen soother for sore throats. In later life I've learnt that a couple of squeezed lemons, a touch of orange juice to dull the fire and a big dollop of honey mixed in a cup and super heated in the microwave can sooth just about any sore throat. Having said that and being fresh out of lemons and brandy, I have a bottle of beer with bourbon and honey and a little bit of hope on my side.

On opening the bottle I was taken back by the strength of the "hint of honey". This was no mere "hint", but this fizzy beer had clearly been brewed mainly with honey and not just sugar. The rich blonde beer fizzed merrily in my USS Enterprise beer mug. I kept giving it a good sniff to seek out the bourbon. Honey was the main odour with a hint of whisky spirit to the smell. There was a definite kick of whisky (bourbon) to the sweet honey taste. The sweet honey was good for my cold and helped the bubbles tickle and sooth my sore throat. The added fire from the bourbon in the beer also helped to numb my poor throat and warm my cockles ready for my bed. I have to say J.W. Buddy definitely knew what he was doing when he originally brewed this beer. I know I'd certainly liked to have called him "Buddy"!

Information on the label;
330ml bottle at 5.1% volume. Brewed by Global Brands limited in the United Kingdom to a recipe licensed from Buddy's Brewhouse, in Michigen, USA.
By Spectre

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