Friday 5 July 2013

Bargain Beer at Lidl's

From time to time supermarket chain, Lidl run cut-price promotions on certain bottled English beers. The offers are either from Shepherd Neame or Marstons, but given my antipathy towards Shep's it's only beers from the latter group which interest me. Earlier this week our local branch of Lidl, in Tonbridge, was selling two different Jennings beers at the bargain price of just 99p per 500ml bottle. The beers in question were Jennings Bitter or Cocker Hoop, and it was the latter brew which took my fancy, as I rate it as by far the best beer to come out of the Jennings stable. Golden in colour and with just the right balance between juicy malt and resinous bitterness, this 4.2% beer really hits the spot so far as I'm concerned.

At such a bargain price, both beers were selling like hot cakes. I picked up an eight-bottle case yesterday, but when I returned earlier this evening, both beers had completely sold out. I'm not surprised, but if you're quick, it might still be worth checking your local branch of Lidl to see if there's any left on the shelves.

4 comments:

Neville Grundy said...

Thanks for the tip; I'll check my local Lidl, but don't you mean antipathy towards Shep's?

Paul Bailey said...

Yes Nev, I did mean antipathy and will correct the post forthwith!

Curmudgeon said...

To be pedantic, Cocker Hoop is actually 4.2%. I agree it is a nice beer, though. I got one last week as a birthday present as part of a pack of Marston's beers.

Sheps' 1698 and some of the stronger specials like IPA and Brilliant Ale are good, but obviously those won't be the ones in the offer.

Paul Bailey said...

Thanks, Curmudgeon, the strength of Cocker Hoop has now been corrected on the post.

On the subject of Sheps, I managed to pick up a bottle of their 6.1% IPA in Tesco today. It was the only one left on the shelf, and this was the first time I've ever seen it. I haven't tried the beer yet, but will post s short review when I do.