My King for Today (Greene King IPA)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Greene King IPA
Date:	17/02/06 (756 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Award winning beer, suits all occasions, tastes nice!

Disadvantages: You may not like beer

***Introduction***
I love beer but who doesn’t? Well, apart from non-beer drinkers and wine lovers. Oh, for Lordy’s sake…look…it’s been a shocker of a week at work so it’s time to look to my good friend – a bottle of beer! Now I can’t recommend reaching for alcohol simply because you have had a bad day at work or even because things are tough…but it often helps, I find. One of my favourite brews of the moment is Greene King IPA. I was introduced to Greene King at a local Northampton pub a couple of years ago by a good friend of mine and I haven’t looked back since. It kind of coincided with my move from drinking lager to more bitter and real ale wherever possible. It finally dawned on me that if I was going to have a drink then it would be preferable if I could savour the taste a bit more and the fact was that lager just didn’t provide enough variety in taste terms. Well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

***The Brewery***
For those beer aficionados that like their background then Greene King is split into different businesses including the Pub Company, Pub Partners and Brewing Company. The Pub Company is the managed house division of Greene King encompassing Old English Inns and Hungry Horse. Pub Partners is the division involved with the running of Greene King's tenanted and leased pubs whilst the Brewing Company is the division responsible for the marketing, sales, production and distribution of Greene King's range of ales and beers. This includes some household names such as Greene King IPA, Abbot Ale, Old Speckled Hen and Ruddles County. Greene King is thought of as a “super-regional” brewery since its acquisition of Morlands and Ruddles. They now own 1,680 pubs in East Anglia, the Thames Valley and South-East England.

IPA, or India Pale Ale, has been brewed for over 100 years, and was originally for export to ex-patriots during the days of the Indian Raj. Hops have a preservative effect on beer and an unusually large quantity of hops were used to ensure the beer remained in good condition during the sea voyage to India. It was a taste that soon caught on in Britain. For the record, I like all of the beers mentioned above! Greene King has operated pubs and brewing from the heart of rural Suffolk since 1799. From its original base in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Greene King is now a leading pub retailer and brewer.

***The Taste***
Greene King IPA weighs in at a modest 3.6% ABV. This is about par for the course for a beer/bitter and lighter than most lagers from the pump which usually hover around 5% ABV. This should mean you can drink more without getting a hangover although that does depend on how much you drink and your own drinking limits! Greene King IPA does have the fresh, hoppy taste and clean, bitter finish that it claims to have. In fact, it’s a lighter taste than some other comparable ales/bitters that I’ve tried. The beer consists of the ingredients, barley, water, yeast and hops. Brewed by cask, IPA arrives in an opaque, light brown colour. From the bottle, Greene King pours with a nice, gentle head i.e. not too frothy. It has a long, dry finish with a pleasant after-taste.

IPA certainly has enough about it to be classed as having its own individuality. Greene King is an award winner having won gold in the bitter class in the Champion Beer of Britain competition at Olympia 2004 and it came second to Pale Rider (qv) in the overall awards. Greene King IPA comes from two varieties of English hops – Challenger and First Gold English - which are combined with pale and crystal malts.

***Availability and Summary***
Greene King IPA goes well with most foods like curry and, in fact, it did accompany my dinner last night. Equally, its availability in bottle, can or on draft means it can be savoured on its own or as part of a meal when out and about. It retails at around £3 for a pint from my local pub, around £3.50 for a 4-pack of cans from Tesco and £1.75 buys a 660ml bottle. Most retailers will stock Greene King IPA so you shouldn’t have too much of a problem finding it. It’s a lovely ale and well worth a try. As I said earlier, I’ve been drinking Green King IPA for the last couple of years and enjoy it a lot. It’s just about perfect for a pint when I nip out for lunch with my good lady on occasions and always make a nice beer for a session with the lads. It carries my hearty recommendation.

Thanks for reading my 250th Dooyoo review *puts out bunting*

Marandina

Further details at:

Greene King PLC
Greene King home
Greene King home
Abbot House
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP33 1QT
+44 (0) 1284 763222

www.greenkingipa.co.uk

Summary: Write up of GK IPA