3 for £4 deal on Tesco Finest beers

I have to say I was rather more excited by the Tesco Finest beers and cider at their wine tasting yesterday than I was about the majority of their wines most of which strike me as being priced for Christmas reductions.

The deal doesn't include the Finest Wheat and Abbey Belgian Beers which are sold in a full size 75cl bottle and which I haven't tasted but still sound good value at £2.96 and £3.35 respectively or the Finest Cidre Prestige which at £3.99 for 365ml is actually quite pricey - but brilliant.

But it does include a stunning Single Orchard Cider (£1.49 for 500ml) made for the range by Thatchers, a scarily alcoholic (9.2% but delicious) American Double IPA from Brewdog (normally £1.99 for 330ml) and, at the other end of the spectrum, a really gingery alcoholic ginger beer from Williams Brothers at 3.8% (£1.49 for 500ml) which I think would be great with a Chinese.

There's also a Traditional Porter from the Harviestoun Brewery (6%, £1.49 for 330ml) which is strongly reminiscent of Old Engine Oil. (And that's not as dismissive as it sounds. There really is a beer of that name in their range - though one that's not particularly to my taste, I confess.)

The offer lasts until December 14th, 2010

Save money. Drink beer!

Even those people who profess to love beer, I've noticed, hesitate to drink it in a restaurant but it is one of the most effective ways of cutting the cost of eating out. True, not every restaurant has a decent beer list but they never will unless we beer-lovers press them to stock our favourite brews.

One of my new year's resolutions is to order beer rather than wine at every opportunity so I was pleased to get off to a good start with a bottle of Samuel Smith's Organic Best with the very tasty beef, carrot and pickled walnut pie I ordered at our local café. OK, a pie and a pint (or half a pint) is a predictable pairing but it was a deliciously fresh, hoppy brew - even at £3.50 a 350ml bottle, better value than the £3.75 they charge for a 175ml glass of wine. And, of course, twice the amount. You can buy it online for £1.55 a bottle from Vintage Roots.

Roger Protz's 10 best winter beers

I just found this feature on Roger Protz's beer site beer-pages.com. Roger and I used to be neighbours in St Albans (also home of CAMRA) and despite the number of excellent up and coming beer writers I still regard him as Britain's best beer writer, bar none.

This is a great selection of beers for Christmas, impressive not only for its quality but the price of the bottles, hence it's inclusion in this blog. My own favourites are the Thomas Hardy's Ale and the Lees Harvest Ale - the ports of the beer world. Do try at least one of them with your Christmas cheeseboard.

Two Christmas beers

Will you put beer on the Christmas table and if not, why not? I’d almost guarantee that at least one of your guests would prefer it to wine and it’s a great deal cheaper to buy a good beer than it is a good wine.

It’s funny though that people don’t take it as seriously. Even men (and it is still mainly men who drink beer) who religiously go to the pub after work and love nothing better than a good pint feel they have to serve wine when they have friends round. Hopefully this blog will help change that.

Anyway - two Christmassy bottles:

Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale 2008 Available from the brewery by the case for £33.95 for 12 bottles, carriage included and from the Co-op for £1.69 a 500ml bottle. Someone also told me they'd seen it in Lidl . . .)
A rich, sweet, strong (7%) malty brew with a taste (apparent or real) of honey and Christmas spice that suggests treating it an alternative to port rather than as a companion to turkey. It would go brilliantly with Stilton or cheddar and even, I think, with sweet things like Christmas cake, Christmas pudding and mince pies. It would also make a cracking beef stew or festive steak and ale pie. RATING: ***

La Chouffe bière blonde £3.99 for 75cl Oddbins
Not a Christmas bottle per se but the rather kitsch gnome on the label suggests this unfiltered, bottle-conditioned, slightly spicy Belgian beer might the one to open with the turkey. Like the above beer, it’s a strong (8%) which means it should take all the trimmings in its stride. Although more expensive than the better known Leffe Blonde it has considerably more character. If you don’t get round to drinking it this Christmas it will still be OK next year and the Christmas after that. The ‘drink by’ date is April 2011!j RATING: ***