Just sharing with other Ontarions that I recently purchased a couple of very nice beers at the LCBO. (That's Liquor Control Board of Ontario, for those who don't know.) They were:
Adnams SSB (Sole Bay Brewery) Deuchars IPA (an award winner from Caledonian)
Both were excellent, I thought. They are only available temporarily, I'm told, so don't hang about if you want to try them. They're probably not available in all outlets either, but I expect you can place an order.
Cheers, Bruce
I really enjoy the Adnams SSB but I'm not sure where you're getting Sole Bay brewery. Its short for Suffolf Special Bitter. Brewed by Adnams of Southwold, Suffolk, England. I thought it was about as good as a bottled bitter can get.
Sole Bay Brewery is the name of the brewery.
Yes, it's good.
Weird, I even looked it up before posting and never found a reference to Sole Bay brewery anywhere!
Yup. Adnams and Monkman's Slaughter Ale from Cropton rank as the top 2 bottled "special bitter" that I've ever had.
I had to double-check this to be sure. The labels on my bottles say Suffolk *Strong* Bitter, not Special Bitter. Are these the same ales by slightly different names? (Mine is 4.5% ABV.) Google returns hits for both "Strong" and "Special". The Adnams website has "Strong":
I think I've also heard of an "Extra Strong" bitter (ESB) from Adnams. But I don't see anything by that name on the website. Perhaps that was just the name of a beer style category from beeradvocate.com.
The label of the beer as I bought it last month was Special Bitter. ratebeer.com lists both names, I think, but collapses them into a single database entry. Maybe a name change due to some US labelling laws? As in maybe the US authorities don't like the word "strong" on the label.
That last supposition is entirely probable. The ATF, which approves labels for all alcoholic beverages, is notoriously picky about stuff like that.
Quite possibly. ESB has been turned into a style in the States. But in the UK, it's the name of a beer, and Fuller's have it trademarked. They're the only ones in that market who can use it, just as they're the only ones who can use "London Pride."
-Steve
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