New Flying Dog, Morrissey Fox and more at Tesco
Our local (Prestwich, Manchester) branch of Tesco has scored poor to middling for its bottled real ale section for some time, but I usually stroll down the appropriate aisle on the optimistic, but usually-disappointed, off-chance that they've managed to stock something interesting for a change.
So I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I wandered on by and discovered a scattering of 'NEW!' shelf-tags in the section. Pick of the bunch had to be two from Flying Dog, not only their pack-leading Classic Pale Ale but also one of their speciality brews: Gonzo Imperial Porter. At 8.7% I'm betting that one packs something of a wallop and I'm looking forward to trying it (£2.49 a bottle, by the way, and I think it was £1.69 for the Classic Pale).
I also picked up a bottle of Budweiser Budvar Dark Lager, on the grounds that there's always room for another Czech dark lager in the beer cupboard. And then, crossing the aisle to the UK real ale in a bottle section, I spotted a few that were new to Tesco but that I'd either already sampled or seen in Sainsburys. Although the, up in the top-right corner, I spotted a few bottles of Morrissey Fox Brunette, so I grabbed one of those for sampling as well. The beer cupboard is once again full to over-flowing and there's another consignment on the way from BrewDog as well. I know, I know, I really need to drink more...
But yeah, anyway, head on down to your local Tesco - you might be able to pick up something new and interesting. And speaking of supermarkets, have Sainsbury's cancelled this year's real ale competition / promotion or something? Not a sniff of it in our local branch, and I haven't heard anything about it on my regular-read blogs, either. Anyone know what happened there?
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According to James from Brewdog, the Sainsburys Festival should be starting up properly around August 26th (http://www.ratebeer.com/forums.....120767.htm). But judging from that thread, it seems that stores seem to getting the stuff in fairly irregularly with some places having had the beer for a couple of weeks.
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Thanks for the info, Tom!
They ran it in July last year, iirc, which is why I thought I might have missed it, or they decided to go with a larger Back to School promo instead or something. I'll check our local branch out on Wednesday, see if they've kicked it off yet.
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The promo beers are listed on their website, so if they don't have them you can give off.
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My local Sainsburys had the beers in when I looked today. For some strange reason they weren't with all the other alcohol, but were down some special aisle marked 'Seasonal Offers' so it might be worth looking for that or asking somebody whether they've got them in. I was expecting them to be intermingled with the rest of the beer, or at least in a special section on the beer shelf, but they had all of them on their own special shelf on the other side of the shop.
They have the Brewdog beers for £1.59 and on 4 for the price of 3. Bargain.
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I had my first bottle of Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale last night, also from Tesco!
In the same batch I also got some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Brew Dog 77 Lager. I'm struggling to say which I liked the best - all damn good!
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Tom - 4 for 3 on the BrewDogs? Damn, tonight's mid-week shopping trip could get messy... :)
Fultonius - I tried a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale a couple of weeks ago - very nice indeed. And BrewDog's 77 lager was terrific. I've got a couple more bottles in the cupboard from a mail order a while back (which is why I didn't pick any up at the weekend) so I'll be posting Tasting Notes before too long.
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Fantastic to find a US micro brew of the pedigee of flying dog in tescos. I'd also recommend Timmermans (labic) strawberry. A really great refreshing drink - it certainly knocks the socks of Fruli. Let the beer revolution begin!
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Hi James - it's definitely a welcome change to their usual same-old, same-old range. I think they might have gotten a new beer buyer in, perhaps? Or the old one has been reading a few beer blogs...
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