Lizard Ales are reasonably easy to get in Cornwall. They’re from a small brewery with the same faults and virtues of many of their kind.
On the up side, they are certainly adventurous. Their Frenchman’s Creek pale ale and An Gof strong ale caught our eye because, alongside the usual ingredients, they also contain salt.
The An Gof was excellent — murky and stout-like, with a the salt flavour adding a certain earthiness and richness. It also contains smoked malt, which came across subtly but distinctly. Nicely done.
And now the down side: Frenchman’s Creek wasn’t so hot. It was chemical tasting and, as one of our friends said, “a bit like a gobful of seawater”. Perhaps our bottle was off?
So, another brewery which is trying hard to do something different and regional, albeit with mixed results.
2 replies on “Lizard Ales: salty sea dogs”
From the beer geek point of view, I prefer those who fall short when trying to do something different, to those that will only brew the same old boring stuff because “that’s what everybody drinks”.
However, from the business point of view (becasue that’s what a brewery is, a business), I really doubt the wisdom of those who are not able to achieve consistency with those beers. The everybodies will not drink them, and the geeks will be alienated by them.
I drank it and this one of the better Brittish beers. Cloudy and i found some yeast on the botton which you do not find on the average beers.