Badger The Cranborne Poacher
Bottle
Rich & Fruity
Ruby Ale
Name changed from Poachers Choice to the Cranborne Poacher in May 2018.
They say there’s no such thing as a free meal – but as you wind your way through wooded hills towards the tiny village of Cranborne, you might chance upon a charming rogue who says differently. For years, the Cranborne Poacher has roamed these parts, outwitting both authority and prey in pursuit of pilfered plums and a pheasant for his pot.
Crystal and chocolate malts provide a full-bodied taste with sweet, complex flavours of damson and liquorice.
Rich & Fruity
Ruby Ale
Name changed from Poachers Choice to the Cranborne Poacher in May 2018.
They say there’s no such thing as a free meal – but as you wind your way through wooded hills towards the tiny village of Cranborne, you might chance upon a charming rogue who says differently. For years, the Cranborne Poacher has roamed these parts, outwitting both authority and prey in pursuit of pilfered plums and a pheasant for his pot.
Crystal and chocolate malts provide a full-bodied taste with sweet, complex flavours of damson and liquorice.
3.2
298 reviews
Blandford St. Mary, England
Community reviews
Pours mahogany, decent head. Aroma of...I'm not really sure its quite complex. Take your pick out of raspberry, cherry, plum, damson, cranberry, blueberry, blackberry. Maybe all of them. A chocolatey malt is also evident in the background. Taste also has a complex fruit and strong malt base. Its slightly too sweet but not to the extent of that other Badger marmite beer 'Blandford Fly'. Slightly syrupy beer and low carbonation. The finish is a battle between sweet and bitter with the sweetness winning out. Not quite balanced.
A flawed strange beer but it grew on me. There is the basis of something great here but they didn't pull it off.
Dark mahogany brown, decent white head. Aroma of blackcurrant. Blackcurrant and blackberries again in the flavour, very fruity - roasted malt, cocoa, vanilla, quite sweet - even syrupy. Quite a weird ruby ale, intense, and something oddly artificial in the flavour, but I liked it.
500ml bottle from Sainsbury’s, Epsom. Pours deep amber with a white head. Aroma of berries and plums. Similar taste. Sweetish finish.
Creamy off white head stayed on reddish brown still body.
Red berry & spiced aroma.
Medium bodied, nicely carbonated over the tongue with a smooth creamy back.
Malt, blackcurrant, jam & spicy tastes with a peppery finish.
Nice.
Dark ruby appearance. Aroma is fruity and malt. Flavour is hops, fruity, rich, malt, toffee, mince, bramble and plum.
500ml bottle [courtesy of Grumbo - cheers Graham!]. Clear, reddish, dark copper colour with average, thick, creamy, moderately lasting an dlacing, off-white head. Sweet-ish malty, fruity hoppy aroma, notes of blueberry, some bramble, plum butter, cranberry, a touch of raspberry, some toffee, a minimally toasty touch. Taste is sweet-ish malty and fruity hoppy, notes of blueberry, hints of bramble, some plum, cranberry, a fruit acidic touch of raspberry, dry, grassy hoppy overtones, mildly sweet caramel and toffee basis. Slightly oily texture, smooth and soft palate, fine and gentle carbonation.
Fantastic colour and very tasty - I found an unexpected pearl.
Slightly stout aroma. Taste is fresh to start with but then settles into a plum pudding finish. Nice but not one for a session, more for the end of the evening
Pours an orange coloured beer with a white frothy head
Notes of citrus fruits and berries fruits fresh fruits and berries
Amber color with good foam.
Nose. Malt, hints of blueberries and currants.
Taste. The medium-density body is very soft and pleasant. The taste is sweet and berry tart.
The aftertaste. Bitterness and tart
Cool ale.
Aroma : Toasted sweet toffee malt. Lots of odd fruitiness; mixed soft summer fruits, blackcurrent/ribena, medicinal strawberry cough syrup. Taste : As aroma. Very fruity with an acrid astringency up front, quickly giving way to a medium sweetness that builds into a cloying sweet finish. Not entirely terrible but definitely a bit weird. Not one to be revisited any time soon!
500ml bottle. Reddish amber colour with white head. Big sweet malt, big sweet berries, sweet blueberry, blackcurrant (Ribena?), sweet cherry, light raspberry, medicinal (Calpol?), bready, blackcurrant wine gums, light fig, light plum, light brown sugar, light metallic. Really weird sweet berry / medicinal type flavour profile, definitely not what I expected, pretty weird + unique English strong ale. Kinda messy but I enjoyed it for some reason
Bottle from Tesco, Aldershot. Fruity, spicy almost cinnamon aroma with a marzipan edge. Medium brown. Thin frothy off-white head. Sour berry edge with underlying bitterness. Along the lines of a hoppy Vimto. Light-medium bodied. Slick if thin. Long dry astringent finish. Nice enough. Only, the fruity sweetness and bitterness are on the verge of clashing.
500ml bottle from Meik, drunk at home on a warm December evening. Clear Rusty amber with not much head, plenty of lacing and a mass of fast-rising carbonation. On the nose, cherry, blueberry, grains. In the mouth, the flavours take over from where the aromas left off, frothy texture at first and then fairly thick despite hints of sourness, some sweetness, high bitterness into a sharp finish, like an old-school English Bitter with a punch of forest fruit. Not bad.
Lovely big ale, with a nice sweet fruity finish
Bottle, many thanks dantomlinson. Clear ruby color with white head. Aroma is plums, cereal, sweet oat porridge with raisins. Taste is the same, biscuits with jam, Ballisto Müsliriegel. Oily mouthfeel with low carbonation.
Crystal clear brown, thin head. Light caramel aroma, flavor is artificially fruity / indeterminate fruit, maybe with oats? A bit funny and to sweet for me.
Bottle. Ruby amber, low foamy head. Dry berries, a bit artificial like in breakfast cereal. Medium body, sweet, artificial, sickly sugary sweet, american instant berry cereals.
Brown. Aroma is cranberry frozen raspberry woth some deep woody malt. Taste is sweet fruit with some tannin. Quite artificial. Meh. Theres one balisto that taste like it
500ml bottle in 2012. Deep ruby with a vanishing offwhite head. Aroma of stewed fruit, biscuity malt and light fennel. Flavour is more dried fruit, dates, prunes and cereal. Fairly sweet.
500ml bottle brewed in Dorset at 5.7%. Rich dark red amber colour. Sizeable microfine bubbled head, lasting a fair while. Very fruity aroma, and distinctly sweet with a hint of liquorice. Low carbonation. This is smooth and creamy with just a hint of dryness at the end, a slight nondescript hop zing and a slight nondescript malt body round out the star of the show, an infused fruit flavour I find most similar to the taste of biting into a blueberry in a blueberry muffin, alongside a more subtle but noticeable liquorice flavour. I found this delicious, but rather obviously it's not going to be for everyone, and certainly doesn't make for a daily drinker. Somewhat like a Bishop's Finger, but much sweeter and with most of the flavour replaced with blueberry - purists will be aghast, but on its own merits this is a delightful drink. It would be nice if Badger listed the exact adjuncts - I don't know what's actually gone into this beer - but still. This is like a better version of the Blandford Fly, and it's not just because I prefer blueberry to ginger flavours either. Long may Badger stay independent, and long may they stay making beer like this!
Unusual fruity notes on this. Not unpleasant just unusual. Nice for a spring afternoon.
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A bottle at the Three Lions in Maji Square near Yuan Shan MRT, on Jayne's leaving day. Aroma: yeasty. Appearance: clear cafe americano, residual lacing. Palate: light-bodied and very smooth, soft carbonation; pleasantly bitter finish. Taste: medium-bitter, a pronounced taste of raspberries, absolutely delicious.
Fantastic pint, the fruit really works and has hints of liquorice. Up there in my top 10. Would love to sample it on tap
Bottle 500 ml from Sainsbury's. Aroma is cranberry, caramel, hints of liquorice. Taste is fruity with obvious cranberry and liquorice notes, blended with malts and hints of caramel. Clear amber body and white head. Not too bad although I wouldn't classify this as a beer.
Pours a reddish amber with lasting off white lace. Aroma certainly has the damsons that the blurb promises and dark malts. Taste is medium sweet to lightly sour and whatever else lurks in there could be bubblegum or some other confectionary from childhood (anyone remember things that were shaped like shrimp?). Not keen on the mouthfeel as it is now categorized. No more than medium bodied and this is reduced further by the above average carbonation, slightly sticky whenever the bubbles flee, and the finish is sour. So the overall impression is mixed--looks fine, smells interesting but something isn't as it should be here. But it is better than several lagers I have had recently, although I concede that the main reason for that is that I am a porter fan not a lager drinker. The palate has never relished the light crisp Pilsner range. (We all have limits).
A 500ml bottle, 5.7 ABV. A enjoyable, good strength fruity ruby ale. Different bottle of beer in my home No. 2022
Excellent beer. Slight disappointment that I cannot find it at Tesco these days as it was always on an offer. Pay more in Sainsbury’s for it but it’s worth it!
Wow what a beautiful beer. Really Rich and fruity, I'm really enjoying this ruby ale
Chocolate fruit cake of a beer. Jammy, with strong sweet berry flavour with a strong undertone of chocolate bringing some balance. Maybe a bit too sweet for a whole pint but the first few sips especially were great