Harper's ALDI Toffee Ale for Review

For those of you that don't know Harper's is the arm of Marston's that brews specifically for ALDI in much the same way Hatherwood is the arm of Wychwood that brews specifically for LIDL. Just to complicate things slightly though Marston's also own Wychwood which gives you a real idea just how dominant they are in the real ale business. Anyway Harper's Toffee Ale is only available from ALDI. The beer pours a nice enough amber colour with a small, but reasonably stable head. It actually looks like a fairly standard bitter, although the 4.8% alcohol makes it a little more punchy.

Not surprisingly Toffee Ale has a seriously strong toffee aroma which may put you off if you don't have a sweet tooth, but that's really not a problem for me. The texture is about medium bodied, which very much matches the standard English bitter appearance. You wont find many standard English bitters that taste like this though. Toffee Ale is a properly sweet beer that genuinely tastes of toffee or fudge. After the initial, wow that's really sweet hit the beer does die down a bit as your taste buds adjust, but it's still a proper toffee tasting beer. Harper's Toffee Ale won't be for everyone, but if like me you have a sweet tooth you'll really enjoy it. 8.5 out of 10.