Review - Renegade Brewery
Founded in 1995 Renegade has been making beer in West Berkshire for almost 30 years and has become very good at it. Offering a wide variety of beers from classic ales like Good Old Boy and Mr Chubbs to their new non-alcoholic offerings. Renegade sticks to traditional methods with an added modern flair and knowledge that runs deep throughout the business.
I was introduced to Renegade by my Dad who is a big fan of the real ales but as an avid cyclist and teachers was looking for a non-alcoholic alternative. Solo Alcohol Free Pale Ale (9) is a master class in non-alcoholic beer making, a refreshing and fruity delight, perfect post-ride or sat in a pub garden on a sunny day. Notes of passion fruit and jasmine dominate the nose but are subtle on the palate in a way that is tasty but not overpowering. The balance of sweetness to hop is a line they walk fantastically and a ripping acidity on the finish makes it hard to put the drink down. You do get a level of bitterness that I found slightly soapy but far away from off-putting but something to note.
The other non-alcoholic beer that Renegade offer is Brewski (5.4), a peach pale ale that I was really excited to try. The emergence of flavoured beers like Jubel has been explosive in 2024 and anything a brand can do to position themselves as “one of them” isn’t going to be a bad idea. The issue is that when you chase a trend you may end up making a product that is below the level of what you’re capable of. Brewski presents on the nose as expected, PEACH. Its fairly overwhelming but a beer with peach in the name should smell as such and so I can't be mad. On the palate however I was really let down, I may have been naive to have expected Solo with a hint of peach but the overly sweet and offensive peach flavour was quite a shock. No acidity to balance it and a fairly flat bubble profile means it feels syrupy and sickly. The finish wasn’t much better but the flavour of beer did make an appreance which pleased me. There is a market for this, it’s just not me.
I hope we see more non-alcoholic offerings from Renegade as they can clearly do it at a high level, maybe a nitro stout to rival Guiness??
Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are my own and are in no way intended to harm or cause harm to the business. My taste is personal to me and I hope you also take the time to try all these beers and form your own ideas. This is here solely to help guide you and give you an idea of what you may experience when drinking these products
