Britain has gone Coronation-mad with commemorative products hitting shelves left, right and centre in celebration of King Charles III's official ascension.
Your Daily Star deemed it only appropriate we embarked on a royal booze-up so you, good readers can avoid stocking your bank holiday fridge with any coronation fails.
Forget the quiches and sultana-filled sandwiches, we scoured the country's brilliant breweries – the famous and fiercely independent – to sample and compare ales created in the name of our King.
READ MORE: Plume of tropical air to split Britain's weather over King's Coronation weekend
As I prepared to bravely take on the task alone, for some reason unbeknown to me, boss and fellow amateur beer connoisseur, Matt decided to join me on the tasting table.
Because we aren't Neanderthals and were keen to regal-up proceedings where possible, it was only right that each can and bottle was enjoyed in special King Charles Coronation glasses from North East Trophies.
Mauldon's'crisp and refreshing golden ale crafted as a celebratory tipple' was definitely one of the better beers.
It some how managed to stand out from the crowd when enjoyed in such quick succession with others and definitely gets our professional* seal of approval.
"It's like a shandy," Matt quipped.
*Not at all professional
A fun fact about the Mauldons is that it also celebrated the last King's (King George VI) Coronation with an ale crafted in their old brewhouse in Sudbury, Suffolk's nearby Ballingdon.
Not content with one Coronation beer to rule them all, Aldi have been busy brewing a line up of four to fight taste fatigue over the long bank holiday weekend.
The bargain supermarket's Session Pale Ale was certainly inoffensive, leaving Matt to describe it as a "middle of the road beer".
In response to Aldi's Best Bitter 'that exudes royalty', Matt shrugged: "I wouldn't choose to drink it, I'm not a bitter drinker anyway but it's nice."
We agreed the Golden Pilsner which apparently takes 'hops from the King’s allies in Europe and the US' was probably the best of the Aldi's lot as its Organic IPA with white wine left an unusual note on our palettes.
Matt summed up his thoughts: "I could definitely enjoy one, I don't think I could enjoy a lot of that."
Crowning Glory from Theakston was in fact just that, instantly topping our own taste charts.
"Ooh I really like that one," was my expert analysis and judging by the look on Matt's face, he couldn't agree more.
Brewdog's Ale To The King earned crowd-pleasing reviews in the shape of "decent" and "it's a barbecue beer, that."
We're clearly not the only fans of the tipple as Brewdog's official website has sold out of its commemorative 12 packs but fear not, Tesco is still stocked up.
Elgood's Coronation Ale was the strongest of the lot in terms of ABV at 6.1% and we could tell.
It's rich flavour makes it a perfect choice for anyone limiting themselves to just the one celebration bottle over the weekend.
"I'm going to sound really pretentious now but I'm getting like caramel or something, it's really nice," our resident sommelier Matt commented.
I continued the session with Windsor and Eton's Organic Coronation Ale which I'd rank second only to Theakston's due to its full-bodied but light-enough flavour.
For more incredible stories from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here
Even before I cracked the can open, it was winning the beauty contest as the brewery based on the King's doorstep, pays homage to him with the most sensational labelling of the lot.
So that's it, we've done the hard bit by taking on such a gruelling task so you, dear reader can confidently order in a batch of whatever sounds most like your cup of tea this weekend.
Cheers to the King and of course, drink responsibly, surrounded by flags and bunting and perhaps even a dashing Union Jack bowler hat.
READ NEXT:
- Germany's Britain-mad boozer with Union Jack-draped tank set for wild Coronation party
- King Charles to be crowned wearing 10kg of gold as he ditches 'cut back' Coronation plan
- Prince Harry facing 'humiliation' and visible rift with William at King's Coronation
-
Prince Harry's Coronation plans revealed with Duke to dash off to another special event
Source: Read Full Article