Saturday night, I feel the air is getting hot...

Before I crack on with this post, yes I will admit, it’s Sunday, I know, but the fact is I actually sampled this beer last night and OMG it was absolutely wow, I even started singing Saturday Night by Whigfield, which certainly shows how much I was really enjoying this beer.

Anyway, Happy Easter Sunday to you all! I hope you are all enjoying this four day weekend and enjoying the sunshine. My weekend has been absolutely amazing so far, I’ve really enjoyed going out on my new bike, plus I am really proud of myself that I’ve rejoined my local cycling club!

I absolutely love cycling, I enjoy joining the local club runs and also participating in the Time Trials, to be fair I’ve been doing a lot of training to get myself ready for the upcoming season. On the other hand, you are probably thinking how the hell am I going to keep myself up to date with my beer stash, the fact is I have decided to create a beer calendar that will help me to decide which beer I am sampling each week.

I’ve decided with the amazing weather we’ve had so far this Easter weekend, I have selected to try and sample a new sour beer, a refreshing drink which in my mind is totally perfect for the warm spring weather, so here is my next beer review post on Saturday Night’s Alright (4.5% ABV).

(The above link, is not sourced to the main brewery’s website due to being unavailable, the above link is directed to an online beer purchasing store)

History

Saturday Night’s Alright is a unique lemonade sour beer that has been compacted with fruity flavourings, it’s proudly brewed by Neon Raptor Brewing Company which is a traditional craft brewery that is located in Nottingham within the East Midlands region.

Neon Raptor Brewing Company was formed several years ago, formally around the year 2016 and their aim is to produce and brew beer for everyone to enjoy. The fact is though that this particular brewery doesn’t actually have a specific core range, their aim is to have a standard selection of beers that customers want, these of course get changed around every so often.

Basically, it’s going to be extremely unlikely to find this beer available from the actual brewery at this moment in time, but potentially in the future the brewery may actually decide to re-brew this beer, so you may be lucky and get the actual chance to sample it, or just find it on another beer purchasing site.

So where did it all begin for this unique brewery?

Firstly, it involved using a Wilko’s stockpot and a kitchen hob to produce some small batches of beer, the batches turned out to be a fantastic success, so the team at Neon Raptor decided to enter their beers into the 2015 Brewdog homebrew contest, amazingly the beer that was entered won and this started the brewery story for Neon Raptor.

The beer that won the contest was selected as the first beer to be brewed on a rolling basis, the beer now goes by the name of Endangered (6.6% ABV) a classical porter which was matured in authentic Kentucky bourbon casks, according to the brewery it tastes amazing, sadly though I’ve never sampled it!

Before moving to their current location in Nottingham (Sneinton Market), the team were formally based in my hometown, Burton Upon Trent, this was around the start of 2017, whilst being located in the brewing capital, Neon Raptor acquired the use of Black Hole Brewery kit and the team were able to produce up 100 litres of beer each time.

After a full two years being in Burton, the team relocated in 2018 to their new home in Nottingham where they now use their own brewery kit, throughout 2018, Neon Raptor successfully opened up their new taproom which showcases some outstanding beers, some of the selection of beers do look and sound really interesting.

As the demand for beer started to increase, the team decided to focus on expanding the site which would allow the team to create and brew an enormous amount of beer for the people of Nottingham as well as the outer area.

Tasting Notes

The second lemonade IPA that the brewery has produced, however, this time raspberries have been added for natural sweetness to further complement the lemon tart texture.

The overall sourness of the beer is balanced throughout with the delicate fruity flavourings, this is certainly a moreish beer that is perfect for those warm sunny days!

Review

I have to admit throughout lockdown most Saturdays I’ve enjoyed a delicious curry and normally I would indulge myself in a can or bottled beer so after last nights curry, I was really excited to crack open a can of Saturday Night’s Alright! 

I certainly feel like I deserved the beer after doing a 15-mile bike ride which was extremely fun there was just a lot of hills which to be fair I am not the greatest at, but practice does make perfect!

It had been a warm Saturday and being the start of the sunny season well hopefully, I just knew I had to sample a sweet, refreshing and citrusy beer and I can honestly tell you, Saturday Night’s Alright was a perfect choice!

I seriously enjoy sampling new beers, I always believe it’s important to expand your own personal flavour portfolio so that you can personally find an ideal texture that your palate enjoys. Over the past five years, my palate has been trained to understand and can communicate to my brain what flavours I pick up after taking the first sip.  

Now, it’s certainly understandable that your palate will not enjoy every flavour, I don’t like spiciness in food, but if I drink a beer or whisky and it has a complex kick to it, I will happily drink it, but I’ll be able to tell you that it’s spicy. I’ve briefly mentioned a few times now that I used to have a dislike to sour beers, but after a few months of palate training, I started sampling weaker sours and really enjoyed them and this has now made me realise that I love this unique style of beer. 

So how did my palate respond to this intriguing lemonade sour, well now you are about to found out! 

Firstly, there was a succulent raspberry aroma which was completely sweet, to be fair it was almost the raspberries that had been coated in sugar, it was such an enjoyable aroma to be welcomed by and it really helped to make the taste of the beer absolutely delightful. 

Next, flavour, very interesting, the beer had suddenly changed into a fizzy pop which was hugely appealing, in my own opinion the lemonade flavour was perfectly matched with the raspberries, if you have ever come across the saying, (a match made in heaven) this beer definitely ticked the box for this.

Furthermore, with this beer being classed as a spring/summer beer, I would say it would be perfect to be consumed at a BBQ, plus I would say it’s kinda on par with a raspberry flavoured gin, I would also say this is a style of beer that non-beer drinkers would like, I know its sour, but the lemonade flavour is heavily balanced to make this beer taste perfect!

If you are considering buying this beer, I would like to provide my five-star recommendation, I could happily drink this beer as a session beer whilst chilling outside in the sunshine! I recently purchased this beer at Brews Of The World, which is retailed at £7.00, yes this probably sounds a tad expensive, but you are paying for a decent, quality and beautiful beer, so please do keep a lookout for Saturday Night’s Alright brewed by Neon Raptor Brewing Company.

I really hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and once again a Happy Easter!

Cheeeers 

The Cask Connoisseur 

This is a collaborative post with Brews Of The World, all beer review posts are subject to my own honest opinion.