In these unprecedented times, takeaway and click & collect services have become more popular than ever. The products you love, but in the safety and comfort of your own home: can’t be bad. I took this mindset into consideration and put together a helluva deal: Sam’s Selection Box, in conjunction with the Portland Craft Beer Club. Six cans of amazing craft beer, carefully chosen with order of consumption in mind, at a bargain price of only £18. That works out at only £3 a beer; I’ll even chuck in a couple of bags of crisps to sweeten the deal!
This, as well as all our other craft cans, bottles draught beer and food, are available now to click and collect by using our new online ordering webapp.
Here are the six beers I have selected for your pleasure:
Let’s start nice and easy with Metroland Session IPA 3.8% from Two Tribes brewery. Light bodied with a nice citrusy aroma. After a long day at work, this refreshing pale ale is the perfect beer to start your session.
Another session IPA coming up next: a collaborative effort from the aforementioned Two Tribes brewery and Island Records: the British-Jamaican record label. Island Records Session IPA 4.5% is an amber ale is ever so slightly sour. It picks up where the Metroland left off and you’ll be right back in the game, leading perfectly into the next beer.
Clwb Tropica 5.5% is a Tropical IPA from Welsh brewery Tiny Rebel. This beer could just as easily go at the start of the selection but I feel it works great in the third spot. It’s a hazy golden ale with heavy mango and pineapple notes. Boldly refreshing, but also acts as a pallet cleanser. Low key one of the best beers in our fridge.
Up next: Fizzy Bubbly, 4.8% from Tiny Rebel. It’s a key lime lager that does what it says on the tin. The taste reminds of a bakery-bought key lime pie: more sweet than sour. This thirst-quenching lager would pair great with fish and chips, and let’s face it, if you’re drinking these on your own, you will require sustenance.
Now, onto our dessert beers. Jambo from the Wild Beer company in Somerset is a rich stout flavoured with raspberries. This indulgent stout has deep chocolate and nutty flavours, which creates a fabulous combination with the raspberries. Like drinking a bar of Cadburys Fruit and Nut. At 7.5%, it is the strongest beer in the box and therefore best left to the end of the session.
The mighty Brewdog finishes our selection with Zombie Cake: a praline chocolate porter. Much sweeter than the Jambo but at 5%, it’s not quite as daunting. Wonderfully malty with hints of vanilla and toffee, Zombie Cake is the perfect beer to end the night.
There you have it: six diverse beers to enjoy in succession, with friends or at your leisure, for only £18. Do you have a favourite beer from the selection? Do you have any recommendations? Give me a shout on social media @ThePortlandArms.