Adnams - Spindrift

On a sunny day I can see precisely nothing that even remotely resembles the sea and the quality of beer that I make is substandard to moderate at best, I am nothing like Adnams. However I imagine that if I made good beer and lived so close to the sea that a rogue seagull pecking at my eyeballs can be considered a morning wake up call then I reckon I too would name all of my lovely beers after the sea and all that dwell in it. I think I'm most looking forward to getting my hands on a bottle of Fat Sprat but until that day comes I guess I'll have to deal with Spindrift, a 5% blonde that I bought, not because I recognise Adnams as a purveyor of fine ales but because it had a blue bottle and I thought that was "pretty rad."

It pours a clear amber, maybe slightly darker than most blondes, with a small fizzy head that soon washes away... Like the wash upon a pebble beach... It smells pleasant enough, light honey, light malt, nothing particularly overwhelming, but you know what they always say: "Smells can be deceiving," or something to that effect. The first gulp is smooth and lightly hopped with a creamy grapefruit running through the core, which is a taste I have not found in many other beers. Yes, grapefruit is a common thing to taste in the beer-niverse but creamy grapefruit? Now that's an illusive beast... Like Nessy or the Kraken... The body is smooth with a decent mouth feel, more refreshing than anything else... Like a starboard breeze... but I think that's all it's got up its sleeve. It's pleasant and I'd definitely not say no to another because I am rather enamoured with the creamy grapefruit flavour, the refreshing taste and the blue bottle (I'm like a magpie) but it's not a particularly challenging one.

Why does everything need to be challenging though? So the question is, how does this stack up against other easy going blondes? Pretty well I reckon, but it just doesn't stand out enough. I'd drink it if I saw it on tap and I'd do so happily but only if there wasn't anything else on. I fear this one might just fade into the background... Like a ghost ship in the fog...Or a bag of cockles in, like, a giant fish market or something... The sea.

Food suggestion: Fish, chips and your choice side jazz. I like chip shop curry sauce, my girlfriend likes mushy peas, if I'm feeling piggish and greedy then a side order of a slightly smaller fish is never out of the question. This would go perfectly with that... Double fish and orange goop with, what I think are, peas in it.

Drink this if you like: All my references about the sea.