TTT: Flying Dog vs. Meantime

It's been a while since I did my first Transatlantic Taste Test so I though I'd have another go. I fancied something a bit lighter after all the heavy beer I had last week - I think Sam Smith's Imperial Stout was the lightest one I had! Flying Dog Old Scratch (Amber lager) and Meantime Union (Vienna style amber lager) seemed a reasonable enough pair to compare so away I went.

Said it before but Steadman rules!

Appearance-wise the big difference was in the head, which was noticeably darker in the Old Scratch, the copper hint contrasting with the white of the Union. The Old Scratch had more of a reddish hue and there was a slight haze to the Union. On the nose the Old Scratch had a dusty aroma that I normally associate with Belgian tripels, backed up with toffee. There was more spice on the Union, hints of ginger and more green, aromatic hops.

On the palate they're both pretty restrained, as you'd expect from lager - these aren't big pithy hop-bombs! Having said that there is a more definite hop bite in the Old Scratch, balanced out with a gentle caramel malt and biscuit flavours. The Union is softer and more nutty with brioche and fresh bread flavours.

Picking between the two? Well they're both good, and particularly in the garden on a hot summer's day (you remember the summer, we had it last week?) either would go down a treat. So I'd say a commendable score draw, although I think if I absolutely had to choose it'd be the Meantime because I think the high alcohol of the Old Scratch means it's not quite got the Union's balance - it's potentially a bit subtle for 5.5%.

Flying Dog Old Scratch, 5.5% abv, £1.99 (355ml)
Meantime Union, 4.9% abv, £1.39 (33cl)
Both prices are from the Beers of Europe website.

Transatlantic Taste Test

Possibly a bit excessive on the grandiose title, but I like alliteration, and putting 'Burton Bridge and Sierra Nevada Porter' in the title line would have been far too long.

One of the fun things about tastings of whatever tipple is trying to challenge preconceptions. Blind tastings are particularly good for this, and the greater the preconception, the better it works, be it 'I don't like Chardonnay' or 'lager is all tasteless fizzy rubbish.' Although I didn't try these two beers blind (my wife did, as a spurious, unscientific control group of her own), I have to admit to a couple of ideas as to what differences there might be between them.

The Burton Bridge is black, but shows deep reddish brown/garnet colours when you get some light through it. There's a fruity aroma but without heavy alcohol sweetness. I though there were aromas like the skins of plums (fruity, but bitter), the wife chipped in with cherry.  On the palate the bitter chocolate and roasted coffee notes cam through a bit more, along with a touch of mixed peel. The finish is clean and decidedly bitter - and this becomes more ferocious as you get down to the bottom of the bottle (it's bottle conditioned).

The Sierra Nevada unsurprisingly is more aggressively fizzy, and with a lot more chocolate on the palate, and less fruit character. It's certainly a less challenging beer, that sweetness and a bit more headiness from the higher abv making it more approachable, but I thought it lacked a bit of complexity compared to the Burton Bridge. Having said that I thought they were both good beers, and a lot more similar than I expected them to be. If you want a porter to be mellowing and not shouty and aggressive then they do the job. The missus preferred the Sierra Nevada, so I think an honourable score draw is a fair result.

Burton Bridge Porter. 4.5%. Not sure what I paid for it (I got it from Weavers in Nottingham) but The Real Ale store charge £2.60 (50cl).
Sierra Nevada Porter. 5.6%. £2.29 (35cl) from Beers of Europe.