lovely blondes

It has to be said that I do like a tasty blonde. My wife would take exception to this if I happened to be talking about Scarlett Johansson (we’ll leave Carol Vorderman for another day) but in this case I am enthusing about my other ‘love’.........beer.

The West Country boasts some very fine blonde ales. As expected this term describes the colour of the beer itself but styles can range from light bodied, zesty summer ales to full flavoured malty, bitters.

It can be argued that IPA’s also belong in this category, due to their paler colour. However they tend to be so distinctly different from other blonde ales, both in regards to aroma and flavour, that I would tend to treat them as an entirely separate beast.

Do lagers also belong here? Well, that’s an interesting question in itself. Personally I would say yes and I do like a good lager myself; I’m not talking about the mass produced garbage that the large breweries churn out and the supermarkets sell at below cost in order to close down independent pubs and off licences ......(rant over) but rather a quality, micro brewed product.
One of my personal favourites is Teignworthy’s Beachcomber bottle conditioned lager beer. A crossover brew, it still manages to appeal to both lager and real ale drinkers.
Golden, with hints of citrus. Bittersweet and hoppy with a slightly bitter finish. Very suitable for those lager drinkers that accidently get invited to your barbeques.
Check out the website for more beautiful blondes!