Country Life Brewery

Microbrewery in Bideford, Devon, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Established in 1998

Contact
The Big Sheep, Abbotsham, Bideford, EX39 5AP, England
Description
Established in 1998, using the brew plant from Lundy Island, the brewery was originally located at the families’ pub near Westward Ho! During the summer of 2002 it moved to its current location at The Big Sheep, Abbotsham, where you can visit the working brewery and retail outlet. In 2005 a new state of the art brewery and a bottling plant was installed enabling the brewery to keep up with increasing demand.

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6.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

500ml bottle conditioned: BB December 2022. Drank at my brothers house on 2nd June 2022. Golden body, white head. Mild citrus front to the nose and taste, decent malty base for the hops to play with, nice easy going brew to have in a hot kitchen while awaiting the evening meal.

Tried from Bottle on 04 Jun 2022 at 02:13


0.6
Appearance - 1 | Aroma - 0.5 | Flavor - 0.5 | Texture - 1 | Overall - 0.5

Flat as a witche's. Took it back to the bar and was told that's how it's supposed to be. Didn't believe it. Still don't.

Tried from Draft on 01 Jun 2022 at 20:48


6.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Hand-pulled pint on 6th Dec 2019; The Panniers, a Wetherspoon's pub in Barnstaple. Golden body, as the name might suggest, white crown on top. Floral and citrus leanings in both the aroma and taste, light malty base, mild bitter finish.

Tried from Draft on 09 Dec 2019 at 23:56



7.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Cask at the Manchester Beer and Cider Festival, 2019. Amber pour with a white head. Nose of toffee, walnut, red apple. Flavours of sweet spice, more red apple. Rich, malty sweet finish.

Tried from Cask on 28 Jan 2019 at 20:35


5.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5


Cask (gravity) @ #MBCF19 - Day 2 🧙‍🍻🇬🇧, [ Manchester Beer & Cider Festival 2019 ], Manchester Central Convention Complex, Windmill St, Petersfield, M2 3GX Manchester, Great Manchester, England.

[ As Country Life Board Break ].
ABV: 4.5%. Clear medium to dark red brown colour with a average to large, frothy - fizzy and open, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to light light beige head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, tobacco, sweet malt. Flavor is moderate sweet with a average duration, sweet malt, dark malt, tobacco. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft to flat. [20190124]
6-3-6-3-11

Tried from Cask on 25 Jan 2019 at 09:34


7.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

500ml bottle conditioned, at home on 11th Jan 2019, one of the beers I had in a random tasting session with myself. Deep ruby body, beige head that hung around. Malty molasses in the aroma hint at a sweet tasting Porter with toffee and caramel leanings, and that was the case. Nice, smooth and fairly sweet brew that slipped down very easily.

Tried from Bottle on 13 Jan 2019 at 10:13


6.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

9/8/2018. Cask at the Great British Beer Festival. Pours amber with a small bubbly off-white head. Aroma of malt, hop, toffee, syrup, fruit and biscuit. Moderate sweetness, medium bitterness. Medium body, slight oily texture, soft carbonation.

Tried from Cask on 09 Aug 2018 at 15:53


7
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Cask handpull at GBBF 2018. Thanks to Stephen. Sweetish amber malt English style bitter. Some good condition. Good condition. Good amber malt sweet . Some bitterness on the finish. best of their beers I've had.

Tried from Cask on 08 Aug 2018 at 15:51


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

500ml bottle conditioned; BB Dec 2018. Obtained from the Cheese Larder, South Molton, Devon. Drank at my brothers house on 17th July 2018. Slight haze to the dark amber body, large off-white blanket of foam for a head. Malty little number this, ably backed up with some serious hop action. Malty molasses rule the nose and overall taste, the hops adding some fruity notes a fair amount of bitterness. Liked it.

Tried from Bottle on 18 Jul 2018 at 06:38