There has been an absence of posts recently. It has certainly not been because I’ve lost interest I can assure you but I have been on a wonderful holiday with some amazing university friends. And while it may be hard to believe some things really are more important than beer so I haven’t uploaded daily like usual. However, my friends are very supportive of my beer escapades and one of them raided their Tesco’s local ale and beer section to give me a selection to try.

As such this is a new brewery coming from the heart of Devon. Otter Brewery was established in 1990 and this is one of their flagship beers, Otter Ale coming in at a 4.5% ABV.

Pours a deep amber, pushing towards a red brown colour with a high clarity. Not too much of a head forms realistically. On the nose you get a rather sweet and malty aroma from it. Those sweet malt flavours translate well into the front end of the beer. It’s certainly more of an old school bitter with a clinging bitterness on the finish, that while not my particular cup of tea is certainly not unpleasant.

A quick note on the can art: It’s not the most exciting for sure but it is incredibly adorable I must say. I love otters and it’s the breweries key branding image of course. Certainly wont mistake it for anything else.

Overall not a bad beer. It’s exactly what I can picture my Granddad enjoying in the local village pub. It’s a classic ale with quite a good body to it. The bitter finish is a bit on the strong side for my personal taste. Saying that however, I’ve got a feeling this is the kind of beer that is almost certainly better fresh from the cask. So I will be keeping an eye out to test my theory!

Score: 6/10

Thanks for reading! Cheers!

Additional Information:

• Hops: Not Available
• Malt: Not Available
• IBU: Not Available
• ABV: 4.5%
• Gluten Free: No
• Vegan: No
• Purchase Location: Tesco