An ecological pale ale
Oceanbryggeriet, Gothenburg, Sweden 4.5% ABV. Systembolaget Article Number 1408. 28.40 SEK (500ml bottle)
If you're expecting this pale ale to be, well, pale in colour you'd be wrong. Oceanbryggeriet is known for creating British beer styles and in line with other British idiosyncrasies like imperial measurements and driving on the wrong side of the road the Brits like their pale ales coppery brown in colour.
Perhaps the best thing about this beer is its strong aroma of cassis and malty toffee. There's a suggestion of damp earth and (in a good way) a waft of manure too.
Berries and sweetness up the front and to be honest not a lot at the back end of this beer. It has a little nut and fudge character and a very mild bitter finish.
Pair with tradiitional British meat dishes such as roast beef, lamb, duck and goose. Great burger beer too!
Nerd note
The strength of this beer is in its drinkability. I can easily see this being necked by the pint in an English pub. It's classic session beer with a very sociable ABV. The fact you're doing your bit to save the planet by drinking this eco-beer is an added bonus.
Rating
2.5 of 5
Thought it would be interesting to add the comments of the brewer himself, Thomas Bingebo from Oceanbryggeriet:
”EKO Pale Ale is a traditional pale ale (a bit darker, as they say paler than a porter). When I designed it I had in mind that I haven´t really found any decent organic ales yet. So I´m not using less good malt or less hops in it. The malt comes from Warminister Maltings in Wiltshire. Very good malt, good flavour-profile but expensive. The hops are Hallertau Mittelfruh but I have to change to the Hallertau Saphir which are more or less the same in taste and aroma. The berry flavours come through nicely I think. A good session-ale”.
I second that Thomas!