Wye Valley Butty Bach, Wye Valley

Butty Bach (4.5%) 

Wye Valley is based in Herefordshire but close to the Welsh border and the best bitter is aimed predominantly at Welsh drinkers: the name means “little friend”. The Welsh have responded by awarding the prize of top beer at the Cardiff Beer Festival three times.

The brewery was founded in 1985 by Peter Amor, a former brewer with Guinness in London. He brewed at the Barrels pub in Hereford where he was joined by his son Vernon, who now runs the company. In 2002 they moved to a former cider works at Stoke Lacy and in 2013 a new brew house was installed to cope with the demand for the beers from Wales and the English Midlands.

In 2015 and 2019, solar panels were installed to reduce carbon footprints and they now provide more than half the brewery’s energy.

Butty Bach is one of Wye Valley’s most popular beers. It’s brewed with Maris Otter extra pale malt, with crystal malt, flaked barley and flaked wheat. The hops are all English varieties: Bramling Cross, Fuggles and Goldings.

The beer is bottle conditioned and pours a pale bronze colour. It has spicy hops, lemon fruit and honeyed malt on the nose with a bittersweet palate where rich malt is balanced by spicy hops and tart fruit. Hops grow in the finish with a bitter finale but there’s a strong balance of biscuit malt and tart fruit.

£1.65 in Sainsbury’s. 8x500ml bottles £25 www.wyevalleybrewery.co.uk/shop/beers