Day 109, Beer 109 - Purity's "Pure Gold"

Today's Beer

Name – Pure Gold

Brewer – Purity

Classification – Golden ale

Strength – 4.3% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – 'MOR' gold. (Confused? Then read on...)

On the nose – Perfectly pleasant in a 'MOR' kind of way. (Still confused? Then, just keep reading...)

On the tongue – Well balanced, fruity and dry, with a decent malt presence. All very nice, easy drinking and generally 'MOR.' (Dum de dum...)

On the subject – This is the last of the Purity ales I've sampled here, and a pretty impressive (if rather small) range it has proved to be too. Popularity is growing at quite a pace, and I can see why.

On the market – I've seen these in Tesco and I reckon they'll be found in all kinds of 'MOR' places like that. (If you are now officially sick and tired with all this bewildering 'MOR' business, I guarantee to provide an explanation very soon indeed...) Try an online order here.

On the whole – 7.5/10

Full Review

Well, there's not a lot wrong with this one.

Not at all.

Nothing 'wrong' that I could detect.

It was all just fine and dandy.

Nice.

Lovely.

But, as you can probably tell – I wasn't exactly reaching for the thesaurus to find entirely new words to describe entirely new thoughts and feelings beyond the reach of my tiny, mortal mind.

I was merely drinking a very pleasant ale which was very easy-drinking, very well brewed and largely unremarkable.

I was drinking beer that could well be described as 'MOR'.

'Middle Of The Road'.

Not too this, and not too that.

Perfectly decent.

Nice.

Inoffensive.

Beer to tap your toes to.

Beer to enjoy whilst you're busy doing something else.

In the world of popular music the phrase 'MOR' has really taken off. It provides a home for acts such as ABBA, The Carpenters, and The Bachelors, as well as solo artists like Michael Bublé, Mat Munro and Dido.

Nobody will ever try start a fight whilst songs by these artistes are playing, and there are plenty who might try to start a family. But these tunes are unlikely to make the world shift on its axis either.

But do not, I urge you, misunderstand my point here.

Songs by such indisputable greats as Elvis Presley and The Beatles might feature in many people's MOR collections, and the reason for that is simple. These acts have a hugely broad appeal, and beer is the same as music in so far as 'broad appeal' means 'more sales.' Tesco don't stock this beer by accident. They know that the greater number of people are going to agree that this beer is perfectly fine, whilst very few will find reason to hate it.

Talk about 'ker-ching'!

It's got just the amount of dryness for the dryness-lovers, just the right fruit for the citrus-lovers, and there's even a nice 'medium' body to save all from harm. Even the colour of this brew is every bit as 'MOR' as everything else.

I like this beer. I really do. And I'd buy it again in preference to a great many other beers. It's just that I'd probably never go out of my way to seek it out.

But then, the ever-clever Tesco have made it so that I'll never need to go out of my way.

And perhaps therein lies the secret to all things 'MOR'.

Not only are they well-intentioned, easy-going, and very hard not to like - but they're always close by whenever you need them.

Day 81, Beer 81 - Purity's "Pure Ubu"

Today's Beer





Name - Pure Ubu

Brewer - Purity

Classification - Premium amber ale

Strength - 4.5% ABV


Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye - Possibly the best looking beer I've ever seen.

On the nose - A very finely poised battle between buttery sponge cake malts and citrus/ginger hops.

On the tongue - Dry, creamy and generally delightful.

On the subject - Warwickshire based but with a truly global reach via their distribution network, the 'own-brewed' beers of this company look set to become well known fixtures on supermarket shelves worldwide.

On the market - Purity beers have been criminally rare for too long - but that is slowly changing with major players like Tesco now stocking the range in selected stores. Try the brewery's own online shop.

On the whole - 8.5/10


Full Review

I used to find it rather odd whenever an ale was described as being 'creamy.'

This was partly because I don't actually like cream all that much, but I'm pretty sure that even if I adored cream - I wouldn't really appreciate it showing up in my beer.

However, over the years, I've gradually cottoned-on to what it means for a beer to be creamy, and Purity's Pure Ubu is as good a candidate as any to demonstrate why 'creaminess' in an ale can be a very wonderful thing.

Of course, a good creamy beer has very little in common with thickened, sweetened milk - it's really in the rich and smooth consistency of the liquid that the similarities lie - and this very sophisticated brew has that particular quality in spades.

In fact, the flavour of this drink could hardly be less like cream. Dry, bitter, with punchy spiced fruits and dazzling citrus undertones - all bonded together by some lovely smoked-caramel malt which never dominates but is always present, and what a very welcome presence it is.

There's a dried fig sweetness there too, which is so cleverly pitched that I deemed it worthy of a paragraph all of it's own.

It's a lovely beer, this.

But, by some distance, the very best thing about this drink is - speaking quite frankly - its jaw dropping sex appeal. As my 'On the eye' section has already hinted, this beer sits in the glass like some liquid supermodel on a coffee break - utterly gorgeous in an off-guard, unassuming, un-showy kind of way.

It is effortlessly but quite mesmerically beautiful.

Apart from all the other attractive elements of this beer's appearance - there is a shade of soft deep red at play here that you'll never witness anywhere else in the world. Neither nature nor science has ever produced this remarkable hue before.

What a gorgeous drink this really is.

It looks more like a fine ale than any such beverage that my feeble human mind could ever conjure-up - even in it's very wildest imaginings.

In truth, what it actually looks like is the most magnificent English ale ever brewed.

And, when all is said and done, that's really not too very far from what this beer proves to be.

Day 53, Beer 53 - Purity's "Mad Goose"

Today's Beer

Name – Mad Goose

Brewer – Purity Brewing Co.

Classification – Pale Ale

Strength – 4.2% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Warm gold. Crystal clarity.

On the nose – Creamy malts and some very complimentary fruit top-notes.

On the tongue – This is genuine 'event' beer. (Read on...)

On the subject – Warwickshire based Purity have 'own brews' as just one aspect of their global beverage operation. On this evidence - you'd think brewing their own beer was the only thing they'd ever done since birth.

On the market – Getting better. Ocado and selected Tesco's now stock this - but the brewery's online shop is more than capable.

On the whole – 8/10

Full Review

Despite all the 'in yer face' branding – I wasn't instantly blown away by this beer.

No, to be blown away, I had to wait around ten or eleven seconds. At which point – I was comprehensively blown off my feet.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the exquisitely timed 'finish'.

In essence, all the first mouthful of this beer does is plant the TNT and light the fuse. A few subsequent breaths follow this mouthful, during which the drinker – myself in this case – is left blissfully unaware of the buttered popcorn explosion which is about to erupt on his poor unfortunate (or should I say 'blessed and very fortunate') tongue.

In whichever beer it is found, a good 'long' and powerful finish is almost always a complete delight. 

No finish has ever delighted me quite as much as the one caused by Purity's Mad Goose.

It is proper, top draw, scintillating stuff.

I wonder if the 'Mad Goose' in the title is actually the brewery's reference to this particular feature of the beer. It would be interesting to know. It is so very distinctive – I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Of the other aspects of the drink – let us not forget that there really are other aspects worthy of mention – well, it's vividly hopped with some good old citrus top notes which rise even higher than the hops' sharp bitterness, and this is all offset nicely by a carefully crafted blend of malts. All in all, it really is very pleasant indeed.

But, by a mile, the biggest treat of all is that quite spectacular finish. 

When those malts emerge suddenly from that hop infused mist - it's a full-on, Hollywood action movie moment.

It's easily as thrilling as a fairground ride.

And in these days of ruthless theme-park and cinema prices – it's a heck of lot cheaper, too.

The Purity Trinity!

Warwickshire based Purity Brewing Co have sent along their very eye-catching 'own ales', which form just a part of their all-conquering global beverage enterprise.

Joining the fun and games here at The Bottled Beer Year are (from left to right) -

Pure Gold - (Premium Golden Ale)
Mad Goose - (Pale Ale)
Ubu - (Premium Amber Ale)

The anticipation levels extend to all new heights!

Look out for full features on each of these brews over the coming days and weeks.