One of the endearing idiosyncrasies of Marks & Spencer has always been the fact that they don’t sell
major brands. The M&S name in itself, it seems, is a mark enough of quality.

All that is changing, however. Only this month, the group announced that it was to take onto its shelves around 400 well-known items that shoppers can’t do without, so saving them a trip to the local Sainsbury’s or Tesco as well as to M&S itself.

I’m really quite pleased that this new logic has not yet been applied to the store’s beer range, which has just been re-launched and extended.

Admirably Adventurous

The new selection is an interesting development, building on old strengths and adding more variety. It now extends to 22 beers, and is admirably adventurous.

Sign of such adventure arrived two years ago, when the high-street retailer introduced a selection of bottle-conditioned ales from the around the UK.

That range was expanded last year and now runs to Sussex Golden Ale (brewed by Hepworth, 3.8%), Norfolk Bitter (Woodforde’s, 4.5%), Welsh Honey Bitter (Conwy, 4.5%), Yorkshire Bitter (Cropton, 4.6%), Cornish IPA (St Austell, 5%), Scottish Ale (Cairngorm, 4.5%) and Christmas Ale (Cropton, 6.2%), with the St Austell beer – which drinks like a lighter version of Proper Job – the pick of the crop.

The last two in the list may be something of an acquired taste. Cairngorm’s offering includes dried thistle and ginger, for a floral, earthy spiciness that I don’t truly care for, while Cropton’s festive offering is similarly laced, this time with extracts of cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise and clove.

It’s full of Christmas joie de vivre, with plump raisin and candied fruit notes joining the spices in a pudding of a beer. Against my initial prejudices, I rather liked it.

The bottle-conditioned collection is nicely broad and successful. The filtered ales that now sit alongside it are, perhaps understandably, not quite as appealing.

There’s a canned lager from Everards called Leicestershire Bitter (3.8%) and more substantial bottled offerings from Adnams (Southwold Winter Beer, 4%), Batemans (Lincolnshire Best Bitter, 4.8%) and Marston’s (Staffordshire IPA, 5.5%).

The breweries have been chosen wisely, with the Batemans and Marston’s beers the stand outs.

Continental Lagers

On the lager side, premium offerings (all at 5%) reflect styles found in a number of countries. The Belgian Lager comes from Haacht and is notably bitter and hoppy. The Italian Lager is brewed by Menabrea and is fairly sweet with a herbal hop note.

For the Spanish Lager, M&S have unearthed the Zaragozana brewery and they’ve come up with something rather fruity for the style, with a fair amount of estery character, while the Czech Lager is supplied by Regent and has the typical buttery malt quality and herbal hoppiness of a Bohemian pilsner.

After the bitters and lagers, the range takes a turn towards the exotic, with a selection of styles that show how the British public is becoming more and more beer savvy.

For fans of Hoegaarden, there’s a Belgian Wheat Beer (4.5%). Brewed by Huyghe, this is very clean, refreshing, well balanced and fresh tasting, with zesty citrus notes and a clove like bitterness. It ticks plenty of boxes for me.

Its fruity brother is Belgian Cherry Wheat (3.5%) from the same brewery. It’s unlikely to please anyone whose favourite beer comes from fruit lambic champions such as Cantillon or Hanssens, but a lot of people will fall for the liquid Battenberg cake flavours and jammy fruit. There’s also a balancing sharpness too, which adds to the enjoyment.

The wheat selection is then rounded off with a weizenbier, brewed by Arcobräu. It’s called Bavarian Winterfest Wheat Beer (5.2%) and has all the characteristics you’d expect in a beer of this style – light banana, green apples and cloves. It’s not the most complex wheat beer you’ll ever come across, but it slips down very easily.

Belgium is not finished, however, as Huyghe also provides a very fine Belgian Abbey Triple for the range. Yes, that’s correct: an own-label Belgian tripel in a British grocery chain. Imagine that 20 years ago. At 9%, the bright golden, tropically-fruity beer is reminiscent of the brewery’s celebrated Delirium, and none the worse for that.

Dark Delights

Continental flair aside, where the new range comes into its own is with its dark beers. For years, M&S has sold a magnificent dry Irish Stout (4.5%) from Carlow Brewing Company. The good news is that it’s still here, only with a spruced-up label. If you like your stouts full of roasted grain bitterness, this is definitely one for your shopping basket.

In complete contrast stands the new London Porter (5.5%). It’s equally dark but notably sweet. The brewer is Meantime, whose own London Porter is stronger and bottle conditioned, but this makes a great alternative, packed with biscuit, chocolate, nut, coffee and caramel flavours from the use of no fewer than seven malts.

Strangely, it’s sweeter than the Cheshire Chocolate Porter (6%) just along the shelf. This is a velvety creation from Robinson’s, laced with perfumed chocolate but finishing dry and bitter. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate beers, so it doesn’t really work for me but, there again, I’d never pick up an M&S cream trifle either. We don’t all have the same palates.

When it comes to the packaging, there’s a likeable individuality to each bottle, based on a fresh and modern look.

The names of the breweries may not headline, but they are clearly listed, so there’s absolutely no attempt to mislead over the provenance of any of the beers. Indeed, subtle clues are incorporated into the designs – a windmill for the Batemans beer, a unicorn for Robinson’s and an elephant for Huyghe, for example, echoing those breweries’ own logos.

Overall, what I like about this new range is that it offers something for all comers. A store like M&S caters for a very wide section of the public and not everyone is going to demand challenging beers. At the same time, however, there are certainly beers in this selection that real connoisseurs will want to check out.

It would have been easy for the buyers to stick to a tried and tested, safe and sound, unadventurous range that ‘would do’. Credit to them for aiming higher.