500ml bottle from Lidl. Pours clear amber with a short-lived white head, sounds like a euphemism for gay sex. Aromas of grassy hops, butterscotch. Taste is sweet and watery. Thin finish.

50cl bottle from Lidl, Maidenhead. A pale amber pour with a loose white head; typical Shep aroma of grassy yeast; thin malty body with a touch of vanilla; and a grassy bitterness. A pleasantly drinkable budget beer.

Bottle from Lidl. Golden-amber with a thin head. Has a slightly sweet aroma with some hop evident. It’s a touch thin in its body but easy drinking, although not high on character.

Clear 500ml bottle (now brewed at 3.8% ABV): best before Dec 2013. Obtained from Lidl (UK). Poured vigourously into an Abbot Ale glass tankard at home on 1 Mar 2013. The pour ensured the copper/amber body had a deep and full covering of snowy white foam above it: couldn’t get the whole bottle into the glass such was the heads size. Took a while to subside too. Beery aroma: blend of mixed hops and baked barley with mild biscuity notes. The taste was crisp, almost sharp and certainly refreshing (I might have cooled it too much): again a blend of flavours, the hops controlling the bitterness nicely with the malts just adding a touch of sweetness. I’ve been critical of Sheperd Neame’s cheap supermarket brews: but this is OK, better than most of them for sure.