Wychwood Snake's Bite

The flavoured cider, perry and alcoholic ginger beer trend has been roaring away for over five years now and seems to show no signs of abetting. One producer with their ear to the ground is Wychwood, who excel at a mix of innovation and surfing the tide of change.

Wychwood Brewery (of Witney, Oxfordshire) have already ventured into this market with Ginger Beard (an alcoholic ginger beer), which was released at the back-end of 2012.

Now, whenever I hear the term “snakebite”, I think of the “Student’s Snakebite” (AKA “Snakey B”), which is a mix of Carling, Strongbow and blackcurrant cordial. Snake's Bite from Wychwood is described as a “blend of traditionally crafted beer infused with cider apples”; essentially, Snakebite in bottle.*

The Taste
Nose: Strong, malty ale, plus creamy apple tart.
Taste: More malt to taste, followed by a burst of sweetness and then a bitter hops flavour. Finally, there’s some cream on the finish.

Over ice:
This improves the drink somewhat, but, for me, it is too sweet and the ice brings out an odd and unpleasant metallic quality in the drink.

In Conclusion
I think that the quality of this product is obviously far better then the mix served in your average Students’ Union, but you probably wouldn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to work out that it wasn’t really for me. It does leave me wondering what portion of Wychwood’s existing fans would drink this; it seems like it would to be too sickly for the ale drinkers and too hoppy for the fans of their cider or ginger beer.

* The blackcurrant cordial in the Snakebite recipe is technically optional.

Beer report—this just in from Belgium…

Tony Reid, a New Sheridan Club member currently exiled to Belgium, sends this report on beers he recently sampled:

Mc Chouffe
Oddly Scottish-leaning Belgian gnome. Chestnutty, low-foaming, weak-headed brew with an aroma of… not a great deal; vague malt with a bit of stickiness. The flavour follows this. The "Mc" bit seems to be part of an odd Belgian affiliation with Scotland, and a deep confusion about what the Gaels drink. There is a similar beer which claims all sorts of tartan connections, but which is brewed in Antwerp, and only visits its supposed birthplace in tins, on the cheap. This beer feeds the Belgian love of the sweet and alcoholic (8%) but lacks in nearly every other reportable factor, which is a shame, as the chaps at LaChouffe can really brew, of which more later.

Boerinneken
A rather quaint, artisanal-looking beer with a grolsh-style opening which makes a Pavlovian pop. Mild, light head which disappears in a moment. Aroma is mild but light, elderflower and citrussy, colour is more amber than your standard lager. Taste is distinctly biscuitty and moreish, there’s enough bitterness to it that it’s not cloying, but it has the carbohydrate Pringles quality which makes you want to take a full mouthful and keep topping up. Not overstated on the flavour, hence very drinkable, though I shouldn’t want more than a gallon. Jesus, it’s 9.5%.

Keizer Karel
Robijn Rood
Charles Quint
It’s not due to it being the third of tonight’s review subjects that I can’t work out what this is called—it genuinely seems confused. Named after some chap from sixteenth century Gent, variously called Charles Quint and Keizer Karel, it is "robin red" although the actual delivery suggests rather a wet robin. It foams nicely but not excessively and smells of bonfire toffee, and tastes only slightly lighter. I wouldn’t say I don’t like it, but it doesn’t taste of beer. If it were flat, what would it be? There’s some hop to it, but it’s more like a mead for its profound sugariness. Shan’t be laying any down for the summer. 8.5%