Today I’ve got something a little bit zany in the form of a Banana Bread Beer. This little number is from Bedford based Eagle Brewery, previously a Charles Wells site, who are now owned by Marston’s. Always fun finding these beers on the shelves as you just never know what to expect going in to them really. Realistically who expects a beer to actually taste like banana bread? Regardless, lets dive into the review.

The beer has an autumnal, amber hue to it, very ‘ale like’ in colour. As I poured the beer you are instantly hit with the banana which is quite impressive really. Super pungent and pleasant. The aroma is very reminiscent of a freshly baked banana bread in all honesty. Flavour wise, the initial taste is most certainly of banana. That slightly artificial banana you get in sweets and ice cream that isn’t wholly unpleasant. However, this dissipates quite quickly and you are left with a hoppy finish. The two components, the banana taste and the beer underneath almost feel like two separate entities. At no point drinking do I feel like I’m having a banana bread beer but rather banana flavour followed by beer. This isn’t to say it is bad just that it doesn’t mesh incredibly well.

A quick note on the bottle art: The design makes me think of pop art quite a lot. Simple and explains what the beer is for sure.

This beer is a tricky one. On one hand I feel the underlying beer is actually not bad and they nailed the the banana flavour (I believe they use fair-trade bananas in the recipe). However, those two things just seem too disconnected from each other in the overall product to be able to give it a great score. All that said, it is quite a cool and I would say if you are into trying a bit of a wacky or gimmicky beer now and then, or love banana bread, pick this up for sure. It’s worth it just to be amazed by the smell alone.

Score 6.5/10

Additional Information:

• Hops: Challenger, Styrian Goldings
• Malt: Lager, Crystal Malts
• IBU: 18
• ABV: 5.2%
• Gluten Free: No
• Vegan: No
• Purchase Price: £1.75
• Purchase Location: Morrisons