Nice labels, shame about the beer

Popped into Morrisons supermarket the other day and found a surprisingly wide range of beers, however, what caught my eye were these two cans from Tomos Watkin Brewery, now under its third owner, Drop Bear Beer Co, who specialise in non-alcoholic beers. Not having tried any of their beers since the new owners took over I looked forward to trying them both.

Unfortunately both were riddled with phenols, the Tallyman more so than the Dragons Keep IPA. This wasn't a mere lingering in the background taste but a full antiseptic phenolic flavour. Both went down the drain.

So what can cause phenolic flavours?

A bacterial or wild yeast infection is the more common cause but phenols can also be produced by high fermentation temperatures, stressing the yeast and producing phenols. Either way, it's a pity the brewery did not pick up on this fault during their quality control process, assuming they actually have one? The smell was noticeable on opening the can, even before pouring into a glass.

Here's a problem I have with Welsh beers, pick any 10 at random and there will be faults with at least 2 of the beers, not something I find with Belgian or German beers.

Nice labels but shame about the beer.