Binary Botanical From The Good Living Brew Co
Published On Tuesday 23 Apr 2019 by Sticky Beak
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One of the things I love most about my blog is meeting people and getting to try the products that they’re so passionate about. Every so often, something comes along that makes you sit up and take notice due to its uniqueness; take the Good Living Brew Co’s (GLBC) Binary Botanical offering.
Binary Botanical is described as “an alternative to Beer or Wine” and is “lightly sparkling with a fresh aroma and tangy clean taste”. From my point of view, when it arrived via courier, it had that instant wow factor thanks to the vine leaf cut-out detailed box that it came packaged in. The marketing material also suggest serving Binary Botanical cold and in a stemmed glass, so the GLBC team had thoughtfully included a branded stemmed glass for me to enjoy their beverage from. I love a bit of official “Merch” me; it doesn’t take much to please me!
I really liked the labelling on the two sizes of bottles that we were sent; just enough colour and design to catch the eye, but not garish in any way. So, onto the product itself, is it any good? Yes actually, it’s jolly good, not just for the gloriously tropical fruit aroma that hits your nostrils when you pop the bottles cap off. You definitely get that light crisp Prosecco taste on your tongue, and the gentle effervescence helps enhance the wine aspect of Binary Botanical.
Sovereign and First Gold Hop leaves from the English Countryside are used in this brew and they give a wonderful “beery” note in the mouth that just deepens the character of this drink when swallowed. I should mention too that Binary Botanical comes in at 4% abv, so a 125ml glass contains 0.5 units of alcohol, the 250ml standard bottle yields precisely 1 unit, and the super-sized 660ml bottle has 2.7 units in it. It goes without saying, but drink responsibly – and if you’re driving be extra vigilant as to your drinking; better still, don’t drink at all or grab a taxi or night bus home. Safety first and all that jazz.
Binary Botanical definitely has a hint of lager/beer in there too, probably down to the malted barley and wheat in it, as well as the Hop aspect. It really is a curious mix of the beer and wine genres that on paper makes you want to just go “eeewwwwww”, but curiously it somehow works. The reason it works, I suspect, is down to the brewers at the Good Living Brew Co.; their love of science drove them to experiment with tastes and flavour combinations, and their love of brewing meant they knew when they’d created something palatable and enjoyable.
Another great thing about this product is that it’s suitable for Vegans, as well as being sugar-free, low calorie and low alcohol. The GLBC team say that “glass for glass, Binary is less than half the calories and alcohol of wine, without any compromise on taste”.
All these aspects will give Binary Botanical a wide appeal on the market I think; at least I hope so, it’s too good not to try! Oh, and if you’re wondering where it got its name, the Binary alludes to Hops growing on Bines (not Vines), and Botanical means that it’s made from plants. Although technically an Ale, Binary Botanical definitely has a Wine note on the palate that might well spark debates among groups of friends that are all enjoying it. Ale or Wine? Try it and make up your own mind. As for me, I’m staying schtum; His Nibs and I have enough debates to contend with without adding this one to our list!
I really enjoyed this and I suspect that a lot of you will too. For more information head over to www.binarybotanical.com or email info@goodlivingbrew.com. Hot Wings given here, quite happily
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