The actual competition finished quite a while ago, and it’s probably a good idea to round up what happened.

Barnstorming beer from Bath Ales

In 2008, Sainsbury’s first launched their beer competition. Breweries provided the supermarket giant with their finest new ales, a selection of which would make it through to the final, where the beers would find themselves in stock and on sale in stores nationwide.

The top selling beers would win a nice big order from the Sainsbury’s to be stocked on a permanent basis, a veritable cash cow and holy grail for many brewers.

The first year saw Bath Ales Barnstormer and Doctor Okells IPA (both very good!) take the title.

This year Scottish brewers dominated the challenge, with no less than 7 of the 15 finalists in stores across the country coming from the industrious BrewDog and their contemporaries the brothers William.

Finalists in the 2009 Sainsbury's Beer Competition

But neither of them could take the title, despite BrewDog’s efforts to push sales by offering a case of beer to everyone who filled their trolleys with Dogma, Chaos Theory and Hardcore IPA (yes, I fell for it in order to get free beer).

The actual winners were the fantastic Bath Ales team with Golden Hare and the North Yorkshire brewery Hambleton’s for their Taylor’s Tipple.

But after all this tasting and comparing do I agree with the cold, hard sales stats?

The answer is no. It was quite tough to whittle the last few down to three, I really enjoyed trying all of them, particularly Bays Breaker, Yellow Hammer and the Williams IPA. The Hambleton ale was nice but didn’t bowl me over and Dogma is a beer of two personalities (or I’m a drinker of multiple personalities and moods?!). Wolf Brewery had two good entries but I couldn’t call either favourites.

Bath Ales' Golden Hare

So, my top three (in my humble opinion) that I’d buy again and again would be (drum roll please!!):

3. Bath Ales Golden Hare - A celebration of floral amber notes and light, zesty character. An immediate winner.

2. Chaos Theory - BrewDog’s predictably random IPA is a self-contained galaxy of flavour and tropical aroma. Utterly wonderful.

1. Williams Brothers Birds & Bees – many thought this was a bit of a surprise entry in the Independent’s Top 50 bottled beers, but this beer is a hidden gem for me. Crisp, floral and sooooo refreshing to drink, I’d buy this on every supermarket trip. Of course I’m dazzled by the wonderful label too, but it is a design fitting of the beer in both quality and essence.

Birds & Bees & Beer: this is a playful ale with citrus and honey flavours

Objectivity in any sort of reviewing is very difficult. I’m the first person to admit that my favourite beers of all time are drowned in nostaglia and personal experience – drinking Brooklyn EIPA or Old Hooky my judgement is clouded with an emotional connection to those beers that were my first of a particular style or are associated with personal triumphs.

Beyond these beers there’s the beers by breweries that I just love. I’m a sucker for St Peter’s rounded bottles and for Brooklyn’s adaptable logo designs*, BrewDog oozes rebellion whilst White Shield, steeped in history, will always be my benchmark of English IPAs.

Bath Ales is one of the breweries that is starting to make a mark with me. I love the labels, they are a mix of contemporary and traditional, somehow reminding me of a cosy yet modern pub and restaurant, the sort of establishment that serves continental lager with olives, and is decorated with Habitat ceiling lights hanging from 13th century exposed beams –  all set against a roaring fire in the middle of the Dales of course. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but it makes me feel cosy whilst remaining comfortably luxurious.

Bath Ales' Golden Hare

The names of Bath Ales’ beers are similarly classy whilst rooted in the Avon countryside and the charm of rural life.

And the beers are good too: Barnstormer winner of the Sainsbury’s Beer Competition 2008 is a distinctive dark ale, Gem a rich amber bitter and Wild Hare, a citrusy pale beer brewed with yeast.

But the cream of the crop might just be this little number, Golden Hare.

Golden Hare pours a gleaming gold, light amber and yellow. There’s a slight floral aroma and a fruity nose. It slips down your throat with ease (as most Bath Ales do), with hints of tropical fruits following a light and fresh golden body.

This is crisp, refreshing, almost invigorating – dry yet thirst quenching. The tangy aftertaste begs another sip and the zesty flavours exude sunny days and long nights.

But am I being objective, or have I succumbed to the ‘pick me off the shelf’ labelling and paradoxically modern/traditional branding?

Who knows? And does it really matter if I enjoy it?

*(interesting, the Brooklyn logo was designed by Milton Glaser, designer of the I Heart NY rebus and the poster from Dylan’s 1967 Greatest Hits album)

Bath Ales Barnstormer beer review

The first time I tried Bath Ales‘ dark offering, I wasn’t blown away. Perhaps I mused in my notebook at the time, it’s too subtle for me. I’d picked it up from Sainsbury’s (and funnily enough research for our latest series of posts shows it was in fact a winner of their beer competition in 2008).

Three months later and my beer experience has been blown wide open, much as a result of this site. I’ve experienced a wider variety of styles and challenged myself to write reviews on new and different beers. Coming back to Barnstormer was a pleasure, because since I last tried it I’ve actually grown quite a passion for darker beers: milds, stouts and porters all included.

This passion started whilst walking the Pennine Way with my Dad in May. The first pub in Edale, The Nag’s Head, served three beers: crudely a bitter, a pale and a dark mild (as I remember it!). My Dad’s enthusiasm at seeing a dark mild (albeit not quite the type of cheap stuff he used to guzzle as a lad growing up in Halifax) made me try a this old-fashioned looking pint and numerous other examples along the ‘Way.

Barnstorming beer from Bath Ales

The glory of the darker beer is often the complete opposite thinking to some of the paler beers I was used to. Hops sometimes make a star appearance but more often than not malt is given the pedestal, the starring role and the opportunity to show what it can do.

On its second showing Barnstormer shone for me. Fruits dominate the smell and sweet malt infuses the taste. Burnt embers mingle with the fruity nose resulting in a complex dark bitter that deserves it ‘distinctive’ label. There might be traces of chocolate in there too, that dark, cocoa bean kind.

There’s no doubt the first time round I didn’t think much of this,  I must have served it straight out of the fridge or something. Second times around it was much better – this is a fine dark ale with a complexity that’s easy to stomach and pleasing on the senses.