Sunday 11 September 2011

Hooray for the Sainsbury’s Great British Beer Hunt 2011!


After the atrocities of Tesco’s in-store marketing, comes Sainsbury’s brilliant Great British Beer Hunt.

It’s a battle between 16 British beers which will see two given a minimum of a six-month listing in Sainsbury’s. It’s something they’ve done before and I think it’s a great idea: with people routinely buying the same things each week, this shows that there’s more out there than the usual beer choices, especially when they position it differently, make a showcase of it and make a big deal out of it.

And what’s even better? The way they describe the beers. It’s superb. Simple, evocative, informed and inviting tasting notes plus a food suggestion. Add to this that the bottles they’ve got look good on the shelf and they are 3 for £5 and Sainsbury’s deserve a rousing round of applause. Here’s four examples of the promotion:





I hope Tesco are taking note of what effective in-store beer promotion should look like.

Now I just need to start working my way through the beers. The 16 bottles are: Wild Hop IPA from Harviestoun; Caesar Augustus and Profanity Stout from Williams Brothers; Bishop’s Farewell from Oakham Ales; Wye Not from Wye Valley Brewery; Flying Dutchman Wit Bier from Caledonian; Ivanhoe and Bad King John from Ridgeway Brewing; Stronghart from McMullen & Sons; Churchill Ale from Oxfordshire Ales; Golden Seahawk from Cotleigh Brewery; Full Bore from Hunter’s Brewery; Two Hoots Golden Ale from Joseph Holt; Golden Summer from Wold Top Brewery; Frederic’s Great British Ginger Beer; and Worcester Sorcerer from Sadler’s Ales.

What’s not to be missed from this list?

21 comments:

  1. have already heard good things about the profanity stout.

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  2. Started the onerous process of working my way through them last night. Such a chore eh? Caesar Augustus standout so far.

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  3. So far I've had two. The Robinson's Ginger Beer isn't Ginger Marble but is the nicest new ginger beer I've tasted in some time (knocks spots off both the Ginger Toms I've had). The Profanity Stout was... remarkable. One of those craft-brewed imperial stouts where they whack all the dials up to 11; doesn't always work, but when it does you get something special.

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  4. ah hadn't seen the robinsons was on the list. That's available in M&S too under their own label and is a blend of beer and fentimans ginger beer i believe

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  5. The m&s one is 6% and is rebadged ginger Tom. The sainsburys one us 3.8%. Pretty different beers.

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  6. One of those will be in our taste test next week, hoping you can make that!

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  7. Apart from the haphazard use of the buzz-word 'premium', those tasting notes aren't too bad at all. Well done Sainsburys.

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  8. 3 for £5 is hardly a bargain. Get down to Aldi.

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  9. The Profanity Stout has been the stand out so far, with the Wild Hop IPA running it close. The Flying Dutchman was better than expected, while the Golden Summer wasn't. The Frederic's Ginger Beer was gash, especially when it warmed up.

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  10. Some bloody good beers there! I've tried the flying dutchman on cask, and the term i'd use is 'interesting'; i really must try and get some so I can give it a bit more of an effort. Ditto for the Wild Hop!

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  11. Looking forward to trying some of these. Hopefully the smaller Sainsbury's have a bit of the range too.

    BeerBirraBier.

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  12. Until when will this be running?

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  13. I picked up the ginger beer, the wild hop and the oakham ales one, I've got each of the wb ones at home and have heard good things about them.

    Its just a shame they dont do an offer on buying 1 of each of the entrants and provide a box to carry them all in.

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  14. I wasn't able to pick up any of the beers! I'm from South Wales and I made my way to my local store (Pontllanfraith) only to be told that it is an England only promotion.

    Sainsbury's will be getting a nice letter about this.

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  15. this range is not being sold in the regular beer aisle in my local store, which caught me out, but thanks to tips from earlier posters I have hugely enjoyed the Profanity Stout. It's terrific stuff - hope it wins out in these 'heats'.

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  16. Fantasic underrated beer selection here. Had a few of them Wye Not, Wild hop, Bishops Farewll and Golden Summer - all great IPA style beers.

    Then there's Profanity Stout which is ok but if think its great try something like Thornbridge St Petersburg, THE standard IMHO for strong stouts.

    One question. What's happened to British Best Bitters. They seem to have been forgotten and/or left-behind with the current rise of IPAs and stout/porters. Perhaps they'll be the next beer "thing"...

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  17. I tried six last night after a half marathon and the stand out had to be the Wild Hop. Disappointed with the Ivanhoe. Says Pale Ale on the front, describes itself a red ale on the back. On drinking, it probably fell awkwardly between the two. Overly malty, halfhearted bitterness. The Profanity Stout was good, but I'd prefer it with a bit more oomph.

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  18. Has the Cotleigh Seahawk tonite. It was fine - a nice refreshing Summer beer. Took a bit of a bashing on ratebeer for some reason but I found this quite "lite" (it is only 4.2%) with a light malt taste. Didn't get any honey but, yes, a bit of citrous. Still much nice than your average supermarket beer-swill.
    Will top-up on the this beer selection tomorrow (at least 2 big Sainsbury's on my route tomorrow:-)

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  19. I didnt try them all but the Full Bore was my fave of the few I tasted - dont think I could drink more than 1 though at 8%! In fact I went back to get some more of this and it was all sold out in my local Sainsburys, all the rest of the beers were still available.

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  20. I'm trying the second half dozen tonight (no Full Bore as mentioned, no (winning) King John either)In reference to a previous article, Holt's Two Hoots is in a clear bottle. Holt's Two Hoots is skunked. Coincidence? I've thrown it down the sink. Churchill was good but standard "best bitter" fare. Bishop's Farewell was impressive. Light, fresh, lots of esters, grapefruit nose. A classic summer beer. Caesar Augustus was refreshing but more lager than IPA. Golden Summer was decent too if much sweeter but I'd stand by Wild Hop as my choice fwiw. Anyway all this summer ale puts in mind of this tune http://bit.ly/mZ0Hsi

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  21. My local sainsburys (stevenage) had this offer on for a total of two weeks, I tried 7 beers, and went to try the rest only to be told they stopped doing the offer. No suprise really considering it was miles from the other beers next to the premature christmas stock. Shame really, as it was such a great selection. As others have said, Profanity Stout is great.

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