Barn Owl is Cotleigh’s Best Bitter with, I gather, a percentage from sales going to the Hawk and Owl Trust.
So its heart is in the right place, but is it a good beer?
Well it’s not bad but it’s definitely not my favourite from this brewery.
Pouring a very nice deep roasted chestnut red, its head is a bit wispy and it smells malty with a feint fruity edge.
I took a big mouthful and amongst the rather harsh woody biscuit malts there was a big fat cabbage water flavour.
It gets washed away quickly by stewed fruit and spiky pepper, but it’s definitely there.
There’s a nice bitter citrus twang to the hops and a decent dry finish, but the cabbage keeps popping its head up each time I took a drink.
It put me off a bit.