Aspall Classic Organic Suffolk Cyder Eco Product Review

As I’ve mentioned before I like a drop of cider in the summer and try to have organic as much as I can. When I spotted theis ‘cyder’ on the shelf in the supermarket Waitrose I thought even though it’s winter I’d give it a go.

Aspall Classic Organic Suffolk Cyder is made from feshly pressed English apple juice and has been winning awards since 1728 supposedly. Maybe that’s the brewery, this cider did win something at the 1921 Daily Mail Imperial Fruit Show though – so has been around a while.

At 7% abv its quite strong and from the first sip it tastes like it, but subsequent drinks mean the flavour comes through more. As one would expect it’s very apple tasting and not as gassy as some other ciders which makes it very easy drinking.

Even though it’s winter I still drank it over ice but it doesn’t affect the flavour that much, it still comes through quite strongly.

At a very reasonable £1.87 for a 500ml bottle, Aspall Classic Organic Suffolk Cyder is available from supermarrkets including Waitrose.

Duchy Originals Organic Select Ale Eco Product Review

I’ve reviewed a Duchy Originals beer before (here) and was quite impressed with it. Duchy Originals is a brand launched by Prince Charles, HRH the Prince of Wales, and spans a huge range of products from bath foam (which I reviewed here) and this, its Organic Select Ale.

The brand is only sold online in the UK or through supermarket Waitrose so remains quite exclusive. Its products are usually organic and made with quality ingredients which mean they’re not cheap. And this is the case here, the Organic Ale isn’t much cheaper than buying a pint in the pub – it’s £2.15 in Waitrose – and it’s made from Plumage Archer barley harvested from organic farms around the UK. One of those farms is High Farm at Highgrove – the Prince’s country home.

This is a fuller-bodied (ie heavier) beer than the ‘just’ Organic Ale and is quite strong – 6.2% as opposes to 5%. And it’s immediately noticeable in the taste. It’s more flavoursome and feels more substantive. It claims to dried fruit and toffee flavours with bitter citrus notes but as anyone who has ever read one of my beer reviews will know, I find it hard to notice those flavours. I would say there’s maybe a hint of toffee but gnerally I’d say it has a nice flavour!

I suppose it’s best to compare this to its less alcoholic counterpart and should you pay the 16p extra for it? Well it’s probably worth it, I would say that’s better value than the cheaper ale as it’s stonger – the bottle is nicer (if you care about that sort of thing!) and it is more flavoursome – something to be savoured. I doubt I could drink many of them in a go though and the other ale is a little lighter and fresher.

Duchy Originals Organic Select Ale costs £2.15 for 500ml from Waitrose and is 6.2% abv.

Duchy Originals Organic Ale Eco Product Review

Duchy Originals is a brand launched by Prince Charles, HRH the Prince of Wales, and spans a huge range of products from bath foam (which I reviewed here) and this, its Organic Ale.

The brand is only sold online in the UK or through supermarkets such as Waitrose so remains quite exclusive. Its products are usually organic and made with quality ingredients which mean they’re not cheap. And this is the case here, the Organic Ale isn’t much cheaper than buying a pint in the pub – it’s £1.99 in Waitrose – and it’s made from Plumage Archer barley harvested from organic farms around the UK. One of those farms is High Farm at Highgrove – the Prince’s country home.

Anyway, enough of all that, how does it taste? The night before I tried it I went to a real ale festival and had quite a few ‘golden’ beers so my first tast of this proper ale had me thinking it was far too heavy. But actually it’s not heavy at all and ornce you get into it it’s very pleasant. There’s no aftertaste or sharpness, it’s very easy drinking.

As mentioned in my other beer reviews I like my ale cold but you may want to wait a while after taking this out of the fridge as the flavour seemed to come out the warmer it got. A really nice beer that’s definitely worth a try.

Duchy Originals Organic Ale costs £1.99 for 500ml from Waitrose and other supermarkets and is 5.0% abv.

Golden Promise Beer Eco Product Review

Now this is what I call a beer, well a bitter in fact. Although I drink my fair share of lager, these days I tend to choose an ale or bitter at the pub. The Caledonian Brewery claims that Golden Promise was the world’s first organic beer in the 1990s and is suitable for both vegans and vegetarians.

It’s also certified by the Soil Association which all adds up to it having impeccable eco-credentials. But how does it taste? The answer is that it tastes great. It’s a proper bitter but still quite light with little aftertaste and goes down smoothly. The hops are from Kent and the barley from Scotland which combine to make a lovely beer.

Sent to me by Vintage Roots, Golden Promise is the sort of beer that you could quite happily drink all day, but at 5% alcohol volume you might want to stop after four or five!

A 500ml bottle costs £1.95.

Prospect Sussex Organic Pale Ale Eco Product Review

Thanks to Vintage Roots, my testing of organic beers can continue unabashed. The company sent me an ale from Hepworth & Co Brewers, made in Sussex, UK.

Prospect Sussex Organic Pale Ale is made with barley malt and Golding and Admiral hops and has organic certification from the Soil Association. I like drinking UK beer, experiencing its flavour and there’s a huge difference across beers and I recently tried St Peter’s Organic Ale and loved it.

I can’t say the same about this one. Although it was still pretty nice it was a bit too fizzy for an ale for some reason and while tasted good, it was nothing special. Maybe it was the fault of drinking it straight after the St Peter’s but I just found this too standard and nothing special. And that goes for the actual bottle and label too.

A bottle costs £1.99 from Vintage Roots.

Riedenburger Organic Lager Eco Product Review

Riedenburger Organic Lager is one of a range of beers brewed in Bavaria since the 19th century, although the “brauhaus” has focused on organic beer since 1994.

Sent to me by Vintage Roots, the 4.7% lager promised to be fruity with a bite in the finish. And it is quite nice. Not as fruity as I thought it would be but it was crisp and sharp, with very little aftertaste, although I had it very well chilled.

While it’s quite strong, it didn’t taste like it and I enjoyed the fresh taste. Packaged in a simple brown bottle with a plain label, it’s not the most fancy lager you can buy but worth a punt for a change. And it made a great fizzing noise when I opened the bottle.

Riedenburger Organic Lager is £1.95 for a 500ml bottle from Vintage Roots.

Cannabia Lager Eco Product Review

This will probably be the shortest review we’ve ever had on Life Goggles, certainly the shortest I’ve written. And the reason for that is because I found this beer horrible.

It’s all a matter of personal opinion and there will probably be lots of people who like this drink so I’ll give you the facts anyway. Cannabia claims to be the world’s first hemp drink and has been brewed in Germany since 1996. The hops, hemp and malt are all organic and put together to produce this 4.8% lager.

The bottle is quite gaudy and there’s even a scratch and sniff hemp leaf on the label around the neck. And that’s what it tastes of, hemp. If you like the taste then this is for you but I couldn’t drink more than two gulps, and the second one was just to make sure I didn’t like it.

Available from Vintage Roots, Cannabia costs £1.65 a bottle.

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