Drinks of the Month

Northern Monk Ronseal Medium Oak best bitter

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on August 29 2021 at 17:17

I have to say it was pure genius for Leeds brewer Northern Monk to come up with this collaboration* with Ronseal which of course carries the catchy slogan ‘does exactly what it says on the tin’.

The two beers have Ronseal-style branding, and have been colour matched with Ronseal Fence Life colours - ‘Medium Oak’ is a 4.5% Best Bitter and actually does do the job perfectly - it’s a good rich malty bitter of the type of which you feel John Major would approve though being in a can it definitely benefits from being chilled

There’s also a Saison which Saison lovers might not feel reflects the style quite so accurately but who could resist the pun "does exactly what it saison the tin". Not me for one. It’s more like a deliciously citrussy pale ale.

What would I pair them with? The Medium Oak with a good pork pie or a ploughman’s, the Saison with fish & chips (fried in beef dripping obvs)

You can buy them from the Northern Monk website at £4.00 for the Best Bitter and £4.60 for the Saison –- both in 440ml cans

*I presume this was the inspiration of Northern Monk’s ‘Creative Lead’ Thom Archer, which sounds a bit of a dream job. Nice work, Thom.

I was sent the beers as a press sample.

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