After a long break from writing about the finer things (pubs and beer), I have discovered a new ale worth talking about: Marshmellow by Oxfordshire Ales. I came across this bitter in Tesco and eager to try a local brew, I picked up a bottle.
Listening to England thrash Croatia in the World Cup qualifiers, I sipped my way through this lovely pint of beer. Oxfordshire Ales describe their bitter as ‘a classic, strong beer with a generous warming flavour. The taste is delicious fruity and malty with a lingering bitter after-taste.’ I must say that I agree. It’s really a great little beer. Well done, local boys!
(However, I would suggest that Marshmellow is a not a good match with a spicy pepperoni pizza! That was definitely a mistake this evening.)
2 responses
1 Conall // Sep 24, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Liam –
I would agree with you about the importance of what you combine your brew with. In fact, as I sat in a very popular Pittsburgh bar last night which boasts 40-odd taps and 100s of bottles, I realized that beers, like the good mix tapes of yesteryear, need to be enjoyed in well-thought out combination.
If you are going to try several beers throughout the night you need to consider not just how tasty a beer is, but how well it would combine with the beer you had before, and the beer you want next. Needless to say, I would not have come to this conclusion if it had been done well on my part last night.
2 Liam Dempsey // Oct 1, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Hi Conall – Sounds like we both need a bit of guidance on how to match the right food with the right beer — or even the right beer with the right beer.
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