St. Austell - Tribute

Tribute is not only the greatest and best song in the world but also the benchmark to which all other beers should ever be compared. It comes from Cornwall, a land of heavy drinking and a fascination with putting meat into pastry, so right off the bat you know it's going to be at least half decent. The reason I like it is that when you have that first sip, you just think to yourself "Yep, this is what all beer should taste like." I mean, you later have to amend that thought because it's not the best beer in the world, it's not even the best beer that St. Austell produce, that prize goes to Proper Job (for the time being at least but it is an absolute f***ing barnstormer of an IPA,) but what Tribute does is reminds you of all the best parts of ALL of the other beer you've ever had. It's crisp and tastes as pure as a mountain spring, it's lightly fruity but not overpowering, it's as refreshing as shoving your face into a chilled watermelon and it costs 2 measly quid in shops for a pint bottle and it's one of those ones that tends to be on sale a lot too, which is a major bonus.

I truly envy the Cornish because they've got a reputation for making good beer, sometimes that can be a curse (some of the Skinners lot are a bit weak actually,) but when they make a good beer like Tribute, they make it so that you never really want to drink anything else. They didn't exactly break the mould in making this little tipple but they seem to have borrowed a lot of moulds from other people, smashed those ones up and forced them all together to see which combination worked out best, and the best bit about this... I never thought I'd say this, but it's the colour of it. You pour it out and it is the exact shade of brown that all ales should be, it takes you back to the days of being a child and sitting in a pub with your parents or grand parents watching elderly gentlemen drinking brown stuff out of dimpled glass mugs.

There are better beers out there but there are definitely worse and for the price you can't go far wrong with this. It's available at Waitrose stores across the country.

Food suggestion: Pork scratchings and lots of them! This would work well as a session beer or a 'quiet night at the local' beer, just not an 'out on the razz' kind of beer. A caramelised pork belly with seasonal veg would also do this beer justice. However, if the weather is clement and you feel like sitting outside then you could do a lot worse than pairing a ploughmans with this.

Drink this if you like: Cumberland ale, Doom bar or Wadsworth 6X, they're all fairly similar, crisp and slightly fruity though each has differing ratios of each element. They're all quite light and lack the stodge that some of the meatier IPAs, porters and stouts may offer.