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Anyone know where I can buy badgers hopping hare in Swindon (bottles)?  Need to take some to Sweden in Aug and have never even heard of it before.

Could try here although it looks like you have to buy a case.

http://www.badgerdirect.com/buy/index.asp?product=1&brand=16

Also from here it looks like Waitrose, Tesco's and Sainbury's all stock it:

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/#/tesco-price-comparison/beer/badger_hopping_hare_500ml.html

Bought some at Aldi about three weeks ago as well.

Great, my little brother said he's seen it in tesco before so fingers crossed.

This guys about to have a baby, loves british beer so I want wet the baby's head.  Any suggestions for other good beers, he's really into IPA's

St Austell Proper Job is a lovely bottle conditioned IPA, Fuller's Bengal Lancer is also well worth trying.  Another personal favourite is Bristol Beer Factory's Southville Hop but there's not much chance of getting that in Swindon.

Hopping Hare is lovely (if you're a fan of IPA style beers) and, thankfully, it's everywhere.  Go to your local Tesco, for example, and I guarantee you'll find it.  And then buy lots.

Some CAMRA purists can be a bit sniffy about Badger beers - but only, I suspect, because they're popular and accessible.

Aldi do a box of badger beers every so often, pick up a box of 12 for around £15.  This years offering had 3x tanglefoot 3x hopping hare 3x first gold 3x blandford flyer, went down a treat.

http://www.badgerdirect.com/

Cut out the middleman :D

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/white-horse-village-idiot/50358/

Named after Tans

Not really into beers as i like my lager (Skinners). I know there are some light, refreshing ales out there but can anyone suggest any that would be worth sampling? A half-way compromise between lager and ale would be ideal.

Try Horizon by Wadworths - pale gold, bitter with a citrus aroma and aftertaste. Works well in bottles and is best chilled.

Moles brewery at Melksham do some great ales and have an on line shop with resonable prices. www.molesbrewery.com

Thornbridge brewery do some of the most exciting beers in Britain. Not like Brewdog's Daily Mail baiting 10 and 20% monsters - these are really crisp, clean sophisticated pints - Wild Swan is a really good low-percentage 3.7% beauty. Kipling is the 5.2 one and has a wonderful tropical fruit flavour - get both in Waitrose.

Jaipur is their IPA, it's a bit more US in style - aggressively hopped - but is is fantastic. 7 something % though.

Bristol Beer Factory is a good shout - Southville Hop is very good, Milk Stout is great.

There are IPA/lager crossovers - Caesar Augustus - Alloa (Sainsbury's) is a deliberate attempt to blend one but it is a bit average. Wooden Hand - Cornwall (Tesco) do a craft lager but it ain't great (I don't really like lager anyway).

To be honest Badger stuff is too sweet for me, it's flavoured, over-scented beer. A good way to start but once the palate gets used to it, you'll move on.

It's lovely stuff - I buy it regularly in Tesco's in Hertford, so I assume you can get it in Tesco's anywhere ?

If you like Hopping Hare as much as I do, then you will like the even better Crouch Vale Amarilo - also available in Hertford Tesco - but it could just be Tesco trying to look local, so maybe not down in Tesco bumpkinshire

have you tried many czech lagers?  i'd sat they're a happy medium, try pilsner urquell.  i don't often drink lager but will drink that very happily, although i wouldn't necessarily call it light

The first stop, usually, for lager drinkers wanting to try something different is an IPA (or IPA/lager crossover, as mentioned above).  Hopping Hare is a good example.  I'm also a big fan of Summer Lightening, produced by the Hopback Brewery - which is Salisbury based, so plenty of it around in Swindon.

Gluepot has a good selection of Hopback beers. Summer Lightning is a good shout as is Crop Circle.

Discovery, made by Fullers, whilst not an IPA is a nice golden ale and was my 'gateway ale' to other non-lager alternatives.

Stop beating about the bush and being so helpful. You're just a big fan of any alcohol, admit it. Its the first step.....

That's not fair.  You're basing that on one evening last April outside a dodgy pub in Aldershot when we were knocking back beers like bastards in the certain knowledge that we were going up that night.  (And then didn't.)

Actually, scrub that.  You may have a point.   :)

We had a couple of really good light ales at our beer festival recently, not sure if they are available in supermarkets but worth looking out for. They were Everards Sunchaser, a really light refreshing ale similar to a lager but without the fizz. Loads of people who usually drink lager really liked this one. The other one was Corn Dolly from 3 castles brewery in Pewsey - again a really light summery ale.

Otter Bright is a good shout, failing that Old Golden Hen is pretty good.

sunburst or tribute

I love that crop circle in there....though after three or four i have a vision of Reg Pressley from the Troggs fame smiling at me.
They do some lush cheese rolls in there as well.