Tetley's English Ale and Synchronicity

Late yesterday afternoon as I was satisfying my daily compulsion to learn something new or different, I stumbled upon an interesting documentary. I was sitting at my desk, sipping my weekly beer (yes, I have been limiting myself to a single serving of beer each week so as to ensure I fully appreciate it), contemplating its characteristics, and watching Hulu. When the documentary I had been watching ended, an advert for another documentary played - one promoting a short film about beer ticking in England.

What, you might ask, just as I did, is beer ticking? As it turns out, it is similar to my beer project, although with much more ambitious goals. A beer ticker's goal is to try as many different beers as possible and to record that it has been consumed by ticking it off of a list. I could never be a good beer ticker as I am only trying one new beer and consuming only one serving of that beer each week, but there is a subset of tickers, scoopers, that may have goals more closely aligned to mine - to try different beers, tick it off their list of beers, and make tasting notes and/or score the beer. When I learned there was a large number of people who tick and scoop I thought, "My people! MY PEOPLE!!", and rose from my chair with my arms raised high, yelling, "I AM BEING CALLED HOME!!!" Ok, not really, but I do admit that the people who indulge in such a hobby only make England that much more wonderful. It is almost, almost as wonderful as Canada.

Anyway, beer ticking documentary on Hulu - watch it. It's the right thing to do.

Now, on to this week's beer!

Tetley's English Ale

• Appearance: As you can see from the photo above, it pours beautifully and makes a thick, creamy head, which is made possible by the nitro widget inside the can. It is a pleasing, rich caramel colour, which provides a hint as to how it might taste.
• Aroma: It has a pleasant, if a bit weak, nutty and caramel aroma.
• Flavour: Although I thoroughly enjoyed this beer it wasn't terribly memorable, nor did I feel compelled to proclaim its virtues while I was drinking it. It was slightly sweet, a bit nutty, and had a subtle caramel flavour, but it lacked complexity. It is a rather predictable, mass-produced beer.
• Mouthfeel: This really has lovely body - creamy but not too thick. Really nice.
• Overall impression: If you are heading over to a friend's place for a barbeque and don't have time to shop for something really interesting to take along, stop and pick up a six-pack of this. It is easy to drink, predictable, and would go really well with fresh air and a burger.

Summary (each characteristic on a scale of 1-10, where one is very poor and 10 is excellent):

• Appearance: 9
• Aroma: 7
• Flavour: 7
• Mouthfeel: 8
• Overall impression: 7

Total: 38/50

Tetley's English Ale can best be described as "meh", accompanied by a head tilt and a shrug. It was neither good and memorable, nor offensive and regrettable.

Next week, a beer from down under!

Cheers!