One of the weirder beers I have ever tried and this one is brewed by Yates Brewery but using The Garlic Farm name, this is a Garlic Beer which is brewed with black garlic. I picked up this Amber Ale as part of an order with The Garlic Farm for some Garlic, Black Pepper and Parsley butter for my girlfriend. I saw this beer and my curiosity got the better of me, I expected this beer to be down the drain. So, find out whether I did in fact tip this out or did I drink it. I will also cover the history of the beer, brewery, brand, the pour, the taste and aroma and finally my verdict.
A traditional farm, not a traditional brewery
The Garlic Farm is a family run garlic farm and food business on the Isle of Wight. ‘It began over 50 years ago when Granny Norah first planted garlic cloves in her garden’. This humble start is much celebrated fact in the farming business. As of today the business is ran by the Boswell Family with multiple generations involved. It has grown garlic which is used in a variety of different products such as oils, sauces, condiments, pork scratchings, butter and even as the focus of this review…Beer. As well as this they operate a restaurant too.
The Garlic Farm is known for its sustainability and quality, every product is organic certified and they are at the level to achieve B-Corp status. Although, the Garlic Farm is best known for garlic growing, they do not in fact run a brewery. To create the Garlic Beer, they collaborated with Yates Brewery.
Yates Brewery is an independent family run brewery. It was founded in 2000 with founder Dave Yates realising his dream of owning a 5-barrel brewing plant. His son, David Yates jr joined the business and helped the company expand into a drinks supplier as well as a brewery, offering same day delivery across the Isle of Wight. As it grew, they relocated to Newchurch where it continues to supply over 300 businesses on the Isle of Wight. Yates brews a variety of ales and beers ranging from light refreshing ales to darker winter brews. These include amber ales, pale lagers, and speciality seasonal beers.
A match which is fitting with the family run and community based businesses. The Garlic Beer is brewed by Yates Brewery instead of being brewed onsite which allows unique mix of amber ale style and black garlic. The ABV of this beer is 4.1% and is brewed using malted barley, wheat, Goldings and First Gold hops, yeast, water and heat aged black garlic. The goal was to make a unique beverage by taking a traditional amber ale and combining it with The Garlic Farm unconventional brewing ingredient.
A dark pour
The Garlic Farm Garlic Beer pours a clear dark amber to chestnut colour which is almost the colour of copper. A small head forms which is off white and creamy. However, this doesn’t last long leaving a small amount of lacing around the glass. The carbonation is gentle which is common for an amber style ale. Overall, a typical amber ale with a not so typical ingredient.
A surprising taste and aroma
Aroma
The Garlic Farm Garlic Beer opens with your typical amber ale notes such as a sweet malt and caramel. There is a more subtle savoury edge which is deep which is from the black garlic. I think this is more nutty than garlicky which honestly surprised me. Yates has used the Black Garlic to add to the depth of flavour as opposed to overpowering the drink which admittedly I do not think many people would like. Theres a slight hoppy edge which adds balance to this beer. Overall, a relaxed and mellow beer which goes for adding depth to typical amber ale style.
Taste
The first sip of the Garlic Beer is that of a caramel to toffee taste followed by an edge of black garlic. This was not sharp at all, more like eating sweet and salt popcorn where the opposites complement each other. Mid palate hints of nuts and an earthy bitterness from the hops are apparent. The finish is clean and adds a toasted complexity. Overall, a clean and quite complex beer which really caught me by surprise.
Time for my verdict
So to sum up the question at the start of the review. Was this a sink job to a drink job?… It was a drink job. This is remarkably drinkable even though I am not the biggest fan of amber ale and only had it to satiate my curiosity. This was a deeply complex amber ale which utilises the traditional methods of brewing amber ales and adding an unconventional ingredient such as black garlic. Overall, not a bad beer and drinkable, I rate this a solid 3 out of 5. This is mainly the fact that it wasn’t my favourite drink in the world but by no means was it bad. Try it, you might shock yourself.
Where did I purchase this beer?
I bought this directly from the Garlic Farm website. My girlfriend is a big lover of the Garlic, Parsley and Black Pepper butter as well as the Toasted Garlic Mayo. Every product I have had from the company has been good so I would recommend checking it out if you are a garlic fan.
Thanks for reading this beer review. If you enjoyed this review, you will love my review of Fierce Iron Brew.
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