Badger The Blandford Fly
Bottle: Filtered
Sweet & Spicy Golden Ale
Don’t just take our word for it, ask any fisherman and they’ll attest – it’s not only the trickle of trout that bites on the tranquil River Stour at Blandford.
Should you wade these waters on a warm summer’s night, beware the infamous Blandford Fly, whose bothersome bite can only be soothed with a spicy slice of fresh ginger.
A uniquely sweet and spicy golden ale with a refreshingly different ginger taste, offset with hints of sweet toffee.
Sweet & Spicy Golden Ale
Don’t just take our word for it, ask any fisherman and they’ll attest – it’s not only the trickle of trout that bites on the tranquil River Stour at Blandford.
Should you wade these waters on a warm summer’s night, beware the infamous Blandford Fly, whose bothersome bite can only be soothed with a spicy slice of fresh ginger.
A uniquely sweet and spicy golden ale with a refreshingly different ginger taste, offset with hints of sweet toffee.
2.7
336 reviews
Blandford St. Mary, England
Community reviews
Bottle from Sainsbury’s on 13th June 2020 Pours a coppery amber with virtually no foam or lace.. Malty aroma with strong spiciness. A rich malty and spicy pairing in-mouth, not dissimilar to a Belgian saison. Sweet and spicy finish. Medium bodied with a zingy mouthfeel.
500ml bottle from local Morrison's. Pour clear golden with a white head. Aroma: sweet, spices, ginger, honey. Taste: light to moderate sweet, citrus hints but the spicy ginger dominates. Light to medium body, average carb, spicy finish. Won't be for everyone but I don't hate it
Bottle, 50 cl. I did not carefully read the label before drinking, merely noticing "golden ale" which seemed perfect to me. However, almost directly when sipping a prominent spicy accent was apparent: ginger. Unfortunately too much ginger in my view. I usually like the Badger products, but this was not an ale of mine.
Pours an orange coloured beer with a white frothy head
Notes of citrus fruits and berries fruits fresh fruits and berries fruits and strawberries fruits and berries
Aroma : Toasty sweet toffee malt, a vanilla hit before you get the spicy ginger soaked in syrup. Complex appealling aroma. Taste : Great aroma but taste isn't! A heavy spicy ginger burn & sticky sweetness throughout overpowers anything else that might be there. No bitter balance at all
The worst tasting beer I have ever had, drinking cough medicine is more enjoyable
I have been a fan of Badger for many years but I have to wonder how this made it to the market.
Aroma is reminiscent of Spam not the most welcome sent in a beer.
The taste once you get over the spam smell is of sugar and it is far too sweet to be drinkable.
My recommendation is to avoid unless you want a sweet processed meat taste.
I rather like Badger's 'The Blandford Fly', as well as some of the other beers by this brewery. This one has quite a unique flavour. Definite hints of spice, particularly ginger, but it's definitely not a Ginger Beer alcoholic beverage. I tend to prefer my Amber, Ruby, Dark ales, Porters and Stout's, though I'll drink a good pale ale or IPA, as well. This beer has an amber to light-ish colour. The taste may not be to everyone's liking.
If I had one major criticism, it's that it lost its head virtually straight after pouring it in the glass, though it's well known that the glass in question can affect the quality and longevity of the head of any beverage. Still, I've poured other beers into this same glass, and they held their head far better and longer than this one. But for taste, I like it a lot, despite having a strong preference for dark, stronger ales. Occasionally I get a hankering for a lighter coloured beer. This is definitely worth a punt if you haven't had it yet.
Look: Golden body, white head, fair bit of carbonation
Aroma: Spicy, Caramel Slightly malty, honey
Taste: Lots peppery spice, ginger and malt with a lingering spicy / peppery aftertaste. Reminds me of HP sauce but not in a good way. How this was ever passed off as a beer is beyond me as it really isn't appealing at all. Some might like it if they like the heavily spiced Belgian offerings but it's not for me. I had to pour half down the sink as I just couldn't get on with it.
Bottle 500 ml from Sainsbury's. Aroma is malts, prominent spices, ginger, hay, caramel. Pours clear golden body with big white head. Taste is very sweet with spices, hay, hints of citrus. Very different ale. Interesting but not my style.
Bottle brewed in England. Faint aroma of malt and ginger. Large, moderately persistent head. Somewhat murky amber. Moderate+ carbonation leads into a peculiar sweet, even somewhat soapy tasting beer, with a touch of malt and honey towards the aftertaste and lingering ginger notes (and heat) after that. Gets marks for being very interesting and unusual, and is definitely worth a try, but in turn for not playing it safe this is a beer that is no doubt easy to dislike, despite tasting well-crafted. Not an easy-drinking beer, but could go very well if paired with the right food, or especially supped on a cold dark winter's night along with a ripping yarn.
Sweetish but not cloying. Interesting aroma. Gentle ginger spicy background. Would not drink too many as hard to notice the alcohol level and too many would incapacitate. Not bitter, not hoppy. Very pleasant and easy to drink. Like it a lot, but not a formulaic ale and well thought out. Different.
Bottel 2019 года
Appearance: Amber color with dense foam cap.
Aroma: Spices honey ginger
Taste: Sweetness with spices ginger at the end of a small sharpness of pepper.
Aroma; nuts, malts, minerals, sweetly spiced hops, floral notes. Look; off white head n amber clear body.
Taste; malts, nutty caramel, sugar on hops, toffee note, a little pepper, n finishes generally to the sweet side. Feel; ok body n soft soft co². Overall; tasty ESB but maybe too sweet.
[bottle@Supermarkt Finland]
Taste like chutney in beer form but not necessarily in a bad way
Bottle from Sainsbury's. Golden coloured with a thin white head. It has a sweet toffee and ginger flavour with vanilla notes and a warming, spicy, slight soapy ginger finish. Pretty good.
Ich kann mich noch erinnern, dass ich dieses Bier im Winter 2013 getrunken habe, nachdem es in einer Bier-Index-Verkostungsbox gekommen ist.
Es war ein bernsteinfarbenes Ingwerbier, bei dem sich die beiden Kontrahenten Ingwer und Malz gegenüberstanden und durch den Hopfen als Vermittler doch ein recht passables Bier abgaben. Der Inwer passte gut rein, da er gut dosiert und nicht zu viel war.
Auf jeden Fall ein interessantes Bier.
Originally The Blandford Flyer
All I can say is it’s a bloody good tasting beer. Will be looking forward to downing a few in the summer.
I'm so fussy with my beer and totally fed up with all these hoppy craft 'ales' appearing in our country's pubs.
So I thought I'd go and get a whole host of different beers from the supermarkets to find a less or no hop flavour and have discovered some beers that are so much more suited to my taste.
This Blandford Fly is absolutely delicious. I do dislike the taste of hops and cannot detect them in this brew. This must be what original ale was like in medieval times when they didn't hop 'Real' ale. I also like the touch of ginger.
It nice to find a proper English ale I like apart from HSB, ESB and Directors. Time to lay off the tasty Leffe me thinks.
A golden beer, a head is medium and blond. Aroma has ginger, sweetness of caramel. Taste has spicyness of ginger, caramel. Medium bodied. Usually, I don't like ginger, but now this is good, even the sweetness is quite high level also.
pale gold with no head. big ginger smell and big ginger taste. should be marketed as a ginger flavoured beer
Light amber beer. Small white head. Flavour is sweet with a strong ginger aftertaste. May be too sweet for some but pair with a spicy mexican meal, the sweetness and ginger were perfect. Good level of alcohol too.
Bottle from Tesco. Golden colour with a thin white head. Sweet taste of toffee and honey, with strong ginger notes and a hint of juniper. Predominantly sweet with little hop flavour, and a very noticeable ginger flavour. Tastes more like ginger syrup than fresh ginger. Too sweet and not enough hops.
Short foam with low density. Honey coloured and a little bit cloudy.
Smells like a lager but with the touch of ginger and somewhat sweet.
On mouth, tastes like a lager but the presence of ginger is really high and it comes with a sweetness that maybe cloying for some people.
Despite that, this beer have satisfying bitterness at the end of the sip and on the aftertaste.
Short foam with low density. Honey coloured and a little bit cloudy.
Smells like a lager but with the touch of ginger and somewhat sweet.
On mouth, tastes like a lager but the presence of ginger is really high and it comes with a sweetness that maybe cloying for some people.
Despite that, this beer have satisfying bitterness at the end of the sip and on the aftertaste.
Golden thin lasting head. Almost tastes like it has a lemonade top. Very light the ginger is noticable but not overpowering.
Bottle at home from Tesco. This is more ginger beer than beer and is really not my thing at all. It definitely wasn't an artificial ginger flavour, but was not to my taste as there was no integration.
Bottle from Makro. Pleasant without being exceptional. Strong ale with a ginger edge.
500ml bottle from sainsburys.co.uk. Amber colour with white head. Sweet malt, ginger, light stone fruits, light spices, watery toffee. Nice enough, could do with some hops.