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Octavius · 08-23-2009, 07:35 PM

What Ho!

When I was over last year, Asda had this awesome bottled beer and I can't remember the name of it for the life of me.

It was an old fashioned, English brewed ale (not a lager, porter, stout, bitter or IPA) from a small brewery.

I'm guessing 6 - 7% alcohol, not much in the way of hops. I think the balancing bitterness came from some roasted malt, or something.

The label said something about the recipe being from the 19th century - came in a nice squattish (ie not long and straight) brown bottle.

It was next to the Banana Bread Beer (which was also boss).

Ta.

Danek · 08-24-2009, 05:09 PM

Er... I'm trying to think of what the beer might be, but I'm struggling. Asda rotate their beers quite a bit, and there are probably hundreds of beers it could be, so if there's anything else you can think of that might narrow it down that'd help. Alternatively, check out their online store at Asda's Online Store - that might help jog the memory a bit.

As a wild stab in the dark, could it have been a St Peters beer?

Octavius · 08-26-2009, 08:27 PM

Danek,

Many thanks for taking the time to reply to my question.

Yeah, I would have remembered St. Peters because of the very cool bottle.

However, it was "Manchester Star Ale" brewed by J.W. Lees. I'll post a copy of the front and back label this weekend.

When I got back from England (it was 2 years ago) I told a friendly local wine/beer shop owner about this beer. He actually ordered up some and mentioned later it was a big seller. Have not been there in a while because I have been laid off (made redundant) but I dropped by there today and not only did he remember my name but also the name of the beer! Oh, and also had some in the shop!

Later this week my beer brewing buddy and I will sample this again and try to get a taste profile. Because - guess what? - I want a recipe!!

I normally like a beer with some serious hops but this ale, as I remember it, did not have much in the hops department but had a very unique and very delicious flavour.

Thanks for the link to ASDA - never thought of trying to google ASDA. However, they do not appear to stock it anymore.

Cheers!

Danek · 08-27-2009, 09:37 AM

"Manchester Star Ale", eh? Wow, I've never heard of that one - though I've only recently moved to the right part of the country to get it anyway. JW Lees make some nice beers though. I've just had a look on their site ( J W LEES ) and they don't seem to list Star Ale anymore, so I don't know if they've dropped it or rebranded it. It might be worth dropping them a line at feedback@jwlees.co.uk to see if they can give you any pointers on a recipe. The folks on Ratebeer really seem to like it, so it'd be good to hear how your recipe search goes. Good luck with it!