Country of Origin: Great Britain
Price comparison: About twice what I pay for everyday beer.
Alcohol percentage by volume: 4.7%
Cute bottle/label? This was the selling point, without question. Black Sheep Breweries utilizes an interesting bottle for all their bitters: a capsule-shaped brown glass bottle with broad shoulders (decorated with a cluster of grapevines* around their perimeter) holding a generous pint and nine ounces of liquid refreshment. The Monty Python Holy Grail Ale is no exception there. What makes it unique is its label, specially commissioned for the 30th anniversary of British comedy troupe Monty Python: a bright yellow background is home to a cartoon by Python artist/film director Terry Gilliam, hearkening back to the feature film Monty Python's Holy Grail. The "gr" in "grail" is exed out, furthering the joke and leading to the punch line: a subtext in smaller font reading "Tempered over burning witches."
Appearance: Caramel-colored with a nice head and a satisfactory island of lace on the surface.
Scent: A light yeastiness, other scents ambiguous to the point of being either nonexistent or just unrecognizable.
Flavor: Unremarkable British bitter ale. Nicely balanced and not at all unpleasant. Reminded me of eating pretzels (a little saltiness and baked flavor) but the aftertaste is more bittersweet.
Impressions: Definitely worth it for the collectibility of the bottle. Otherwise, there are better brews from the same part of the world, and equally good bitters from the same brewery, that go down about the same but far less expensively. Although I imagine the argument could be made that it was difficult for them to get as good a flavor as they did get, considering the number of witches they had to burn for the tempering process.
Will I buy this beer again? Honestly, I can't recommend this bitter for any reason other than its novelty factor. It's not bad but it's certainly not outstanding, nor did I expect it to be. I bought it for the bottle, I have the bottle, and that's enough for me.
However, I am not unaware that some of you, like me, want the bottle, and will therefore want to drink the ale, just to say you did. If you don't normally drink British bitter ale, this may taste funny to you. And funny, while important if you're a member of a 30 year-old comedy troupe, is not always welcome in a beverage.
Drink it cool, not ice cold (chill it for maybe half an hour in the refrigerator from room temperature), and go ahead and drink it from the bottle, the shape of which is designed to allow for such crassness, and will give you the best benefit of the flavors contained therein.
Wash the bottle carefully on the inside only after consuming the ale, and replace the cap, which will be one of those things that some silly appraiser in a badly-fitted suit will want to see some twenty years from now. Store away from direct sunlight to prevent fading of the label, and dust with a dry cloth only. Keep on a sturdy shelf, out of the reach of cats, small children with balls, and helpful husbands who say, "But it's got a deposit tag, don't you want to recycle it?"
Rating:
3 out of 5 cute beer glasses overall (really, about a two, but extra props for the collectibility factor)
* It's a hop-vine with clusters of hops, not a grapevine as I thought. Thanks to Jim Lundstrom at the Post Crescent in Appleton, Wisconsin, USA for pointing out my dingbatitude.
Reviewed: October 19, 2003
