Adnams Lighthouse

The bottle had been in the fridge for a week. Since the terrifying experience with the Sole Star, it had remained there, resolute and unblinking as it stared me out each time I opened the door. Should I take it out and free up the space - or is that giving up? Is it cowardly to quit a beer?

Well, yes it is, so I came home from work tonight and cracked it open.

As you can see, it was well-carbonated with a good head (ok, you can't see the head in the pic, but you take my word for it). I approached it with a bit of trepidation, as you might expect after the Sole Star, but you know what? It was pretty darn good.

The Lighthouse is described as a Pale Ale, but although there are some hops coming through it's no IPA; it's malty, but not in a bad way, and simple, uncomplicated and rather tasty. At 3.4% it's got more flavour than you might expect from a relatively weak beer (a lot more than the S*le St*r), and whilst it's not amazing, it's pretty darn good and I enjoyed it. 

Well done Adnams - pulling it back from the brink.

Adnams - Sole Star

My in-laws live close to Southwold, home of the Adnams Brewery, and as such they've adopted Adnams as their beer of choice (not that they know much about such things, but then neither do I really - I just drink more). Generally I'm a fan of their brews, though I find Broadside a bit much.

The local Budgens were selling Sole Star and Lighthouse for an amazing £1 a bottle each - I couldn't resist.

At 2.7% it's incredibly weak - I guess it's designed for people who want to drink a lot without speaking in tongues (or perhaps to get below a tax band?). I'm never that sure what difference the alcohol content makes, but in this instance I'd suggest it's this: utter piss.

It's really quite unpleasant. Malty in a bad way, too bitter, and with a long dry finish that just makes the off taste last far too long in the mouth.

A pound? No thanks.