Bath Ales - Wild Hare

I have something of a soft spot for the West Country, having spent a year there as a student living in Devon, and a lot of time working there since; so I'm inclined to favour West Country ales, as they're part of my, er, "beer DNA" (eg I drank a lot of them).

I've talked before about how beer is essentially a social drink, designed to be enjoyed in company as a lubricant to conversation and jollity; so Wild Hare (5.0%), for me, will always be linked with a memorable evening spent in a pub in its home town of Bath.

I'd been for a meal with Kate, a kind, sparky, clever lesbian of about 50 or so, and talk had got onto beer. She'd dragged me into this great little pub (The Salamander) and ordered two pints of Wild Hare. It was served well, and we were well on the way already; she then told me how hares were her favourite animal, and for her 50th birthday she was getting a tattoo of one. She demonstrated with her hand exactly where this sophisticated, professional lady was getting her tattoo...it's not often I'm lost for words.

So Wild Hare will always have that association for me, and hence have a place in my beer memory; hence I thought it'd be good to get a bottle drunk early doors for the blog.

The picture is of it freshly poured - you can see there's not much head. In the cold light of day, without a hilarious middle-aged lesbian telling me tattoo tales - it's not really all that. Sure, it's drinkable - light and refreshing, citrus, hoppy etc etc - but for me its distinctive feature (other than being organic, which I'm not really sure means anything) is its lingering dry aftertaste, which just makes you want to drink more of it - no bad thing. It's certainly pleasant enough, if not the most thrilling pint I've had of a Thursday evening.