I'm tempted to go back and visit the liquor store where I bought this to figure out where the hell they got it from in the first place.
This beer, as the label shows is part of the Duchy Originals range of organic foods - a line of products owned by Prince Charles and sold exclusively (supposedly) in the UK supermarket Waitrose. Does its appearance in Canada perhaps signify the first step in a convoluted plot aimed at placing the nation back under imperial rule? Could this be the sinister machinations of a future English king bent on world domination through the export of bespoke beverages? And if it is, why would anyone come up with such a shit plan?
In any case, it turned up in a liquor store on Cambie so, in the spirit of patriotism and getting all beered up I parted with $4.10 for a bottle of the stuff.
Right off the bat it looks pretty classy. There's coats of arms, royal sigils and possibly coded messages from the illuminati slapped all over this thing. It claims to be 'preserving our heritage', it lists the specific species of barley used and it's got so many sustainability credentials that it seems quite likely that this beer will be the last living thing on earth after the Mole People rise up from the underworld to devour us all. The one missed goal is the plain bottle cap. Even shitty brands of lager go to the trouble of personalising their caps and it seems just plain lazy for his highness to overlook such a detail. Shame on you Charlie.
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| Sometimes patriotism is drinkable |
When you get inside it holds up pretty well. 'Ruby' is a bit of an exaggeration but there's some reddy colours in there that give the name some credibility. It tastes pretty good too - malty and fizzy and nowhere near as heavy as I was expecting.
The one thing this beer can't do is justify its price tag - at $4.10 and only 5% ABV this is a very expensive way to get on it. If it had a bit more kick to it so one bottle would start off a night on the lash in good stead, then it might be able to justify its high roller status, but as it stands it barely pips budweiser to the post - and still falls behind Cariboos, the local bargain brew. This is not a beer to get plastered on at a party and one bottle on its own somehow fails to satisfy completely.
To sum up Old Ruby Ale looks good and tastes good, but not good enough to justify the price tag - a price tag which is bumped up significantly by the cost of importing it.
5 out of 10.
7 out of 10 (at UK prices)
At £1.99 a bottle in Waitrose this thing doesn't seem to have been pricebumped too far in its long Atlantic journey.
ReplyDeleteSince writing this I've actually found it for $3.50 at some bigger chain stores which means pretty much no mark up. It stands a better chance of finding its way into my regular boozing at that price.
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