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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7.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Bottle split at Craft Clerko, thanks to Leighton, 22/10/13. Dark chestnut brown with a moderate light tan covering. Nose is treacle toffee pudding, figs, dates, jammyfied dark fructis, honey, muscavado sugars. Taste comprises dark toffee, dark fruits, boozey do, Xmas cake, sugars. Full bodied, fine carbonation, light booze and dark fruit strains in the finish. Decent BW. I rated this higher than Magic Rock Strongman, if you’d told me that at the start of the evening I’d have mocked you more than I normally would !

Tried from Bottle on 11 Nov 2013 at 13:18


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

Bottle at shared at Craft Beer Co Clerkenwell. Thanks to Leighton. Clear red / cherry / copper colour with a big cream head. Aroma is liquorice, cranberry, caramel. Flavour is nice sweet liquorice, sweey berry, cranberry. Warming alcohol, but not too much hot alcohol. Nice carbonation. Medium full body. Nice barley wine.

Tried from Bottle on 05 Nov 2013 at 13:47


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle, big thanks to Leighton. It pours clear deep amber/brown with a thick beige head. The nose is earthy, wood, toffee, honeycomb, toast and brown bread. The nose is smooth, wood, earth, toast, dried fruit, tangy berry, dried cranberry, varnish, caramel and resin with a dry, woody finish. Well hidden alcohol. Medium+ body, fine carbonation and foamy mouth-feel. Tasty, well-balanced and very drinkable. A great barley wine.

Tried from Bottle on 23 Oct 2013 at 13:30


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Malziger, wenig herber Antrunk. Schokoladig, vollmundig. Intensiv malzig bleibend, erdig, der Alkohol ist höchstens erahnbar. Rund, sehr gut. 12/11/11/12/7/12

Tried on 15 Sep 2013 at 13:14


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

Cask at the Bell, Waltham St Lawrence. Pale amber with a loose white head; fruity aroma; full fruity flavour with a firm fresh bitterness; and a herbal finish. A rather good bitter with lots of taste.

Tried from Cask on 25 Jul 2013 at 13:22


6.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Courtesy of Jan (fonefan); bb Dec 2012
Dark brown color; medium sized head. Mild aroma of roasted malt and yeast. Medium body stength, chocolate flavor, but the mouthfeel is medium dry; correct bitterness; fruity hint.
More strong Porter/Stout than Barley Wine, but pleasant, with some character.

Tried on 02 Jun 2013 at 02:51


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

Tried on 30 Sep 2012 at 11:22


6.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

On cask at Old Market Inn - Holsworthy. A very pretty looking beer, nice ruby to gold look, with a white laced head. A mild citrus, hoppy nose, a bit yeast and biscuits, but nothing outstanding. A little tinny in the taste, but you get used to this as the drink goes down. Thin palate, bitter aftertaste. A good session beer, and not bad for a house ale. NB - Brewery a little ambiguous, based on a bit of heresay with the locals rather than substantiated.

Tried from Cask on 25 Sep 2012 at 12:57


5.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Light but crisp textured bitter, with a good nose and super golden glow to it.

Tried on 11 Sep 2012 at 12:06


5.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Cask @ The New Inn, Clovelly. Full-bodied golden ale with a mild berry aroma and flavours that match this.

Tried from Cask on 11 Sep 2012 at 12:01