Brewery: Bath Ales.
ABV: 4.5% (bottle).
Style: dark bitter.
Availability: Around the Bath/Bristol area, in supermarkets. Sainsburys seem to have a decent stock around the South East.
Try if you like: Doombar, Rebellion Red, Abbot Ale, bitter, sweet malts, Gem, dark ales, stouts, chocolate and coffee.
Ale goes in seasons. The palette seems to do the same. The air is turning crisp; the leaves are kissed with burned-orange and sunset yellow and so the time has come for the drop to do the same: turn darker and richer. I tried a citrus-hopped lager on Friday night and it felt as out of place as sleigh bells dangling betwixt the legs of the Eater Bunny. Trust me, I adore this particular lager and have raved about it many times but at this time of November, it felt flat. Too light. It's cold outside and the morning air smells of wooodsmoke: it's time for dark bitters, stouts and porters. Following that Friday, I had a bottle of Barnsey on Sunday and felt at one with nature: my beerological clock synchronised with the planet and all was well.
Barnsey delivers depth of flavour and that is the Bath Ales guarantee it seems. You're going to get chocolate, hints of coffee, brown sugar and smokiness all interlacing a hoppy bitterness that never sours the scene but leaves the wave that crashes echoing with freshness. It's a gorgeous ruby chestnut on the pour and the nose is all smoked caramel and brûlée sugar. Festive flavours seem to unravel from the background to the fore as you sip and sip: at one point, I started to be reminded of a Speyside single malt I adore as a sherried-whisky note emanated forth.
I've drunk this burnished beauty in the summer with a barbecue; it delivers great harmony with hickory smoke meats and in the latter seasons, it is perfect with those roasts and stews. My point here really is that although it does pack the flavours of Autumn and winter, please don't overlook it when the sun puts the effort in: it isn't heavy and carries its bold flavour with the deftness of a ballerina. This brewery cannot do a single thing wrong: the flavour they get into their bottles astounds me
every time I drink one of their brews. Please believe me when I say I do not in any way work for their marketing department: I just absolutely love their ales. Barnsey is hard to find down my way (Ascot) so whenever I chance upon a bottle, it's as if it were the last bottle of beer left on the planet. I cannot fathom how anyone who enjoys beer could ever fail to adore this. Never mind the bombardment of Christmas adverts, if you want to get in the mood for the jolly season, drink one of these: even Scrooge himself would be merry after a Barnsey.
