Tasting Notes: Sheepshaggers Gold
Brewery: Cairngorm Brewery Company
Location: Aviemore, Scotland
ABV: 4.5%
Version: 500ml bottle
Okay, so calling a beer Sheepshaggers is bound to get some attention, while using the advertising tagline "The Best Beer Baa None" is certain to illicit a few groans, especially if the beer doesn't live up to the claim.
Mid gold in colour, this beer has a fruity aroma with a touch of malt, slightly metallic and buttery, which does make it smell a bit odd. There's a light biscuity malt flavour first with a tingly hop bitterness quickly taking over. I found this latter aspect a bit harsh though, ruining what was quite a promising start, and lingering around without any sign of improving. More malt manages to push through near the end and tries to smooth things over, but by then it's too late, the overall taste having overstayed its welcome. Just goes to show you can't always believe marketing slogans, no matter how light hearted they are intended to be.
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Damn awful beer, and terrible, terrible name. The only people who it might draw a chuckle from are socially inept CAMRA members who live with their mothers.
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I definitely agree - it's this sort of blatantly puerile labelling that makes it really difficult to stand up in mixed company and admit to being a real ale fan. There's having a sense of humour, and then there's deliberately perpetuating an embarrassing stereotype just for the sake of some sort of supposed shock value.
Not a great marketing strategy. I'd like to think that beer consumers are more sophisticated than that these days, and it's not going to make non-real-ale drinkers convert any more readily.
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