Reading Roars!

Several months ago, as I tried Zero Degree’s Strawberry & Vanilla speciality beer, I was thinking about other flavours that the microbrewery could play with: chocolate, to help banish the January blues (low calorie, of course); lychee, to coincide with the Beijing Games; coconut; papaya… The possibilities are seemingly endless (please excuse this well-worn expression).

There had to be a seasonal end-of-year special. I suspected cranberry. Well, there is, as I expected, a Christmas/winter edition though it’s not cranberry, but the other yuletide favourite: Cinnamon & Apple. I tried it yesterday and found it charming (if that makes sense), though quite sweet. A pint of this stuff is simply too much for my liking.

For those who don’t like their beer sweet, there is another novelty introduced by Zero Degrees, that tastes rather like bacon: the gruff-sounding Smokey Lager.

Smokey Lager is exciting. I applaud Zero Degrees for their initiative in offering such an unorthodox flavour. Then again, they are in total control: producing their own beer, they have the means to quickly launch and retire flavours as and when business demands. I love this agility. It’s incredible to think that only a few years ago choice in the town centre was restricted to the usual boring Carling-Stella spectrum (as well as some insipid ales and alcopops looking like stuff you clean your toilet with). Now, thanks to get Zero Degrees, we get a beer that tastes like smoked salmon. Wonderful stuff.