Trapped in Amber

 Trapped in Amber (440ml, 3.2% ABV) Staggeringly Good

Table beer, or small beer, used to be a very fashionable thing – a beverage with such low alcohol you could drink the stuff all day, even feed it to your kids! Of course, people didn’t need much persuading, given how disease-ridden Britain’s water supply was at the time.

Trapped in Amber is Staggeringly Good’s take on table beer, but this is no mere water substitute.

The can features comic-book art in a wraparound panorama that is impossible to photograph in its entirety and really has to be appreciated in the flesh. It might just conceivably be a scene from a certain famous dinosaur film, accompanied by a quote from the ever-mysterious Jeff Goldblum.

The colour is, to an extent, a matter of choice – a careful pour will give you a hazy yellow, while a more vigorous sloshing results in a swampy orange. Watch out for the foam, though: this thing’s got a head the size of a T-Rex*.

A pungent aroma of grapefruit and lemon gives way to a slightly mellower taste: oranges, peaches and a subtle spiciness. It manages to hide its lack of alcohol well, with a body that wouldn’t be out of place in a beer of 4% ABV or more.

The finish is very long, bright and fruity finish – a great example of how to get flavour from a beer of moderate strength.

Written by Richard Salsbury

* The dinosaur, not the Marc Bolan fronted rock group.