This Could Have Big Ramifications...

I apologise in advance to Cooking Lager who may be waking up to this potential disaster story for cheap booze which reports a licensee could be successful in challenging the fitness of some supermarkets in his area to hold licences due to their pricing policies on commodity alcohol brands.

I will be keeping close tabs on this - and yes I know it's a different licensing system but it's still bound to have a knock-on effect to the rest of the UK if publican Jeff Ellis is successful.

Next Time I Whinge About...

the overly macho marketing of beer in the UK, just remind me that at least I don't live in Brazil and didn't have to put up with Paris Hilton having some faux foreplay with a can of cold beer before the ad got banned.

As my mother always says, you can have all the money in the world but you can't buy class...

Bitter or Sweet Designs - You Decide

I've just come across this story about BitterSweet Partnership teaming up with PPQ to try and design a beer glass that women will like (I think I've upset them, I stumbled across this rather than being sent a release, oh well!).

Now, I'm going to totally keep my opinions out of this for now but the website has put a poll up for people to vote on which shape and design they'd most like.

Basically, I'd really appreciate it if the women who read this site could take the poll, and I also wondered if the lads would be so kind as to ask their ladies to participate and then come back and tell me what you voted for in the comments section, along with any further thoughts.

I appreciate I'm being a demanding wench but I'd be really interested to hear people's first-hand thoughts on this.

Cheers!

Biblically Bad Faux Beer Launch Iminent

Carlsberg looks set to unleash Eve, the female-targeted 'near-beer', on the UK market.

Now, I've already dissected MolsonCoor's recent trial of a similar product, so before I comment on this latest development here are the tasting notes on Eve from my good friend Laurent:

"3.1% ABV, very syrupy, very sweet, pinkish and bubbly, with an overpowering chemical fruit taste. The front half of one's tongue is coated with the agressive sweet fruitiness (feels like your tastebuds are dying one-by-one, blown up by the flavouring's overkill...), and the back half of the tongue does not send any signal, as if it was dead.

"Indeed, no bitterness to be expected from lychee or passion fruit flavours, but they even managed to produce a grapefruit taste completely devoid of bitterness... grapefruit being by far the less offensive of the three (yes, I've tasted actually all three, and it's not a nice recollection).

"Hops ? no perceptible hops... taste of the base beer ? No taste recognisable as such, no trace of yeast, fermentation, anything reminiscent of beer..."

Mmm, doesn't Eve sound yummy?!

I had read an article in Brewer's Guardian that mentioned this product but hadn't heard anything about it potentially hitting the UK until Laurent sent me this link to a design agency's website, where they are giving it large about the creative they've come up with for the product, so I think it's safe to say that it's just about to come to our stores.

Do you know what really cheeses me off though, is that when they launched the Jacobsen range a few years ago I had women going mad for the Bramley Wit, it was delicious! Put out of your minds the taste of Applebocq , this was a deliciously well-balanced, very slightly tart (in that really good apple sauce way), a nice coriander & orange peel aspect you'd expect and a fabulous body with lingering wheaty-apple notes - not to mention wonderful glassware and a beautiful bottle.

It was a craft-brewed product from their microbrewery in Coppenhagen and ticks all the bloody boxes about what people want more of from their beer, artisan brewed etc.

But, maybe I'm just being that little bit too radical again so thank you Carlsberg, it's just as well you're here to remind us ladeez not to get too big for our britches on the flavour front.

You've caught us just in time because us girlies were just beginning to take our tastebuds out of saccharine atrophy, so thank you for putting us right back into our sweet little fluffy, sparkly-pink boxes.

Anyway, I simply must dash now, there's ironing, cleaning and baking to do before the man of the house gets back from the football...



(image from www.StarvetheBardies.com)