Sainsbury's Beer Hunt 2012 - Battle of the Beers

So I (eventually) found a Sainsbury's with this year's beer hunt selection. Its a shame Sainsbury's haven't put a little bit more effect into this year's hunt. For example, their websites www.sainsburysbeerhunt.co.uk  (and www.sainsburysbeerhunt.com) at time of writing point to the 2011 beer selection. I've suggested that the easiest way to fix this is to point these URLs to  this sainsburys link which, I guess, is at least fairly recent.

Visiting my 2 local Sainsbury's today also dissappointed. One didn't even have the hunt beer shelf up yet! Apparently the current refurb has got in the way. Up the road I found the beer but, embarrassingly, I had to ask where it was. It certainly wasn't next to the usual beer. It was at the front of the store hidden behind a rack of house plants! Pic:-

On to the tastings!  I'm pairing beers up, a little unfair, but adds a bit of fun.

Round 1.  Beers 1and2.

White Lady v. Prodigal Sun



The White Lady is described as a wheat beer.  Its not. At least not what I think of as a weissbier. Point deducted there.  But this is a really clean drinkable beer with a caramel malt taste.  No orange peel or coriander for me.  As the first beer hunt beer it gets a 5/10.

Prodigal Sun.  Pear drops! The Sainsbury's website (link above) says this is a blonde beer. No its not. The bottle accurately describes this as a "light amber beer". I am a fan of WilliamsBros. Their March of the Penguins (stout) is great and their Caesar Augustus was a winner of the hunt last year. Their Profanity Stout was also excellent but, alas, not many customers of Sainsbury drink stout.

I think this is a good bottled beer.  The ABV is 4.1% and at that level its quite a challenge to get a bottled beer with a bit of body and flavour. It may be a bit too fizzy (actually a character that Penguin has also picked up).  Its a shame. Point knocked off.  Citrus? No.  Pear drops I sware. 7/10

WINNER PRODIGAL SUN