BEER REVIEW: 334
BREWER: Ridgeway Brewing, Oxfordshire, England
STYLE: Brown Ale
ABV: 5.8%
VESSEL: 500ml brown bottle
DATE OF POST: 3rd March 2024
JYMI SAY’S…
Look, is this quite possibly the BEST beer name of all time???!
I mean, not a huge amount of marks are awarded for the name of a beer but I’m going to go on and on and on and on and on and on and on about it nonetheless!
For me, one of the staff at Ridgeway must have a troublesome hamster. Every day they must turn up for work with yet more tales of what Larry (I’m taking a guess at the name of said Hamster, but I’m pretty sure I’m right) has gotten up to overnight. Whether it be a simple speaker wire chew or blueprints for Armageddon (if you know you know 😉) found underneath the food bowl, Larry is causing trouble daily and has a constant look in his eye. It’s unnerving for the owner and Ridgeway operative. ‘What’s wrong with him’ they ask? What’s he plotting? Is he the Hamster of Doom?…
It’s 3:33am before a big brew day and the Ridgeway worker is awoken by an almighty commotion downstairs. ‘Larry?’ they think. It can’t be… They rush down to find out what on earth is going on but upon flicking the light switch and the bulbs illuminating all, they see Larry, sitting in a hamster sized deckchair (made out of straw, paperclips and speaker wire) staring at them… smirking. But Larry has forgotten one thing. By accident he has forgotten one very important thing. He’s left his monocle in (paperclip and a savaged water bottle this time). Which confirms he is indeed… THE HAMSTER OF DOOM. Plotting, plotting to commit the unthinkable.
The Ridgeway worker returns to work the following day, shaken, and reports to co-workers that Larry is most certainly the Hamster of Doom. And so, the beer was born. Well, I’m pretty sure that’s how anyway.
We’re told very prominently on the bottle that HOD is a beer with bite, but unfortunately it is the lack of bite that ultimately let’s this brew down. You see Hamster of Doom is actually a really pleasant drop. A sweet and malty nose leads to a very refreshing crisp and chuggable mouthfeel (not very brown ale like but… whatever). The body is relatively thin but I think on this occasion that helps the drinkability of this beer. It tastes very sessionable to be fair, but I think the 5.8% ABV tag may, ultimately, have something to say about that. However, in the taste it’s lacking something. A tang? A hop hit? A bitter blast? A BITE?!
As I said, decent beer but with just a little extra something it could be… great.
Jymi’s Rating: 65%
SAMMY SAY’S…
Me testing partner, Jymi, is of short stature. So, I’m imagining he’s pretty excited about this brew. A little creature being elevated to scary heights and slapped on a beer bottle is something he can relate to.
Let’s see if we do indeed have a brewing behemoth fronted by a timid rodent…
To be clear, I do actually love this name, Hamster of Doom, and I like the slogan… ‘Brown ale with bite’. With a slogan like this, you need to have bite (like a vicious hamster).
While the beer itself is uncomplicated, it is nutty and well balanced. The one thing HOD is lacking, is bite. The finish is quite weak with only a hint of spice.
Sadly, this little hamster doesn’t quite fill the boots it aspired to. Still a decent enough drop though!
Sammy’s Rating: 67%
MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 66%
MOB review next weekend: TEN FALLS by TRACK

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017
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M O B 2024







