O Shea's Ale and Stout, Aldi

Technocentral

Was in Aldi earlier they have these, it seems to have replaced the Ale they used to sell that was made by O'Haras, its in 50Cl bottles for 1.99, bought two of the ales (pic attached)will give my verdict later.

irish_goat

The O'Hara's Traditional Ale was still available in Maynooth's Aldi yesterday. I might call in today and see if the O'Shea's were there. I'll be seriously annoyed if they take the O'Hara's away...must stock up.

Technocentral

I Wonder if its made by O'Hara's as well?

irish_goat

Few on here reckon it's O'Hara's.

http://www.beoir.org/community/viewtopic.php?p=62664

Sergeant

I was always a fan of the Aldi finest ale. Found it better than O'Hara's own Red Ale. The small bottle size always annoyed me though. Will pick up a few bottles of this when I get the opportunity.

Technocentral

Its quite similar in taste to the Finest Ale they used to sell, maybe a bit hoppier, though at 1.99 I wouldn't be too tempted as its not as good as say London Pride which costs the same in Tescos, if they reduced the price to 1.50 though I'd buy it regularly, or even better did a hoppy IPA like O' Haras for a good price.

irish_goat

Tried both these last night, thought the Ale was nice but a bit blander than the O'Hara's one.

The stout was not to my liking, had a very roasted, almost burnt taste which I didn't enjoy. I've another bottle of it in the fridge so I'll try it again in a day or two and maybe see if it's any difference.

gurramok

Oldish thread but I recently drank a few of the O'Shea ales from Aldi which were quite nice to my liking.

Was looking at the small writing on the bottle, it does not say where they originate from, it just has the usual brewed for Aldi stuff. Anyone have any idea? Are they actually made here or in the UK?(UK as it states UK units in alcohol warnings on the bottle)

BeerNut

gurramok wrote: »

Anyone have any idea?

Yes. Seamus O'Hara told me it's still them. Aldi just wanted to try a different tack.

irish_goat

Despite the fact that a few on here have said they've told it's the same recipe I'm still not convinced the O'Shea's ale is quite as good as the traditional ale (330ml). On top of that the traditional ale was €1 per 330ml so it was better value.

Saruman

No it's not the same recipe. Just the same brewery (Carlow).

slayerking

Saruman wrote: »

No it's not the same recipe. Just the same brewery (Carlow).

Im fairly sure I asked Liam about these and he said it was the same recipe, just packaged in different bottles, Although I do agree they taste completely different, the original Aldi Traditional Irish Ale being much nicer IMO.
He's not the easiest man to get a recipe out of so maybe he was just saying they were the same!!

BaZmO*

It's absolutely 100% not the same recipe. Not even in the same ball park.

It's a real pity they discontinued the Traditional Ale, really loved that beer.

cunnifferous

Seems they have a new Golden Ale. Not very nice, quite bland and a lingering astringent bitterness.

A shame because I really like their pale ale and red ale for the price. Never seem to see the pale ale in my local Aldi either. Hope they haven't replaced it with this golden ale...

Blackjack

cunnifferous wrote: »

Seems they have a new Golden Ale. Not very nice, quite bland and a lingering astringent bitterness.

A shame because I really like their pale ale and red ale for the price. Never seem to see the pale ale in my local Aldi either. Hope they haven't replaced it with this golden ale...

Had a bottle there Saturday. Thought it was quite ok myself.

cunnifferous

Blackjack wrote: »

Had a bottle there Saturday. Thought it was quite ok myself.

Not awful, but without a doubt worse than their existing range imo. Price has crept up to €1.99 as well.

To be honest most golden ales are pretty bland in my experience, would have liked if they added a porter or even a vienna larger to the range.

An IPA or american pale ale would be great but I guess hops are expensive and it is a budget range of beers.

Ruben Remus

cunnifferous wrote: »

Never seem to see the pale ale in my local Aldi either. Hope they haven't replaced it with this golden ale...

I'm also a fan of the pale ale and hope it sticks around.

It just won some awards (See:http://www.aldi.ie/en/about-aldi/award-winners/great-taste-award-winners-2014/products-detail-page/ps/p/o-sheas-traditional-irish-pale-ale/) so hopefully that will help keep it in the Aldi repertoire.

dan1895

The Pale Ale can be hard to get sometimes as it's so popular and I believe that they get the same amount of stout, red and pale in each delivery.

Tried the Golden Ale myself last week and thought it was ok but the others are superior.

bennyineire

I have to say I think the Red ale is the nicest Irish red ale I have had, save for maybe a Rebel Red

Big Nasty

Hate the way they mix the cases and you have to root through them all to get the pale ale.

Ronan|Raven

Shame to see it having gone up to 1:99.

cunnifferous

Used to be €1.69 didn't it? That and (mostly) the poor supply really have stopped me going into Aldi when I'm looking for beer.

I would have thought Aldi would start buying the stout, red and pale ale in separate boxes at this stage, it's extremely obvious that there are different levels of demand for each and I'm sure they are losing some business beacuse of this.

Ravelleman

cunnifferous wrote: »

Used to be €1.69 didn't it? That and (mostly) the poor supply really have stopped me going into Aldi when I'm looking for beer.

It was €1.89, I believe. The unpredictable stock is quite frustrating, indeed. Might see if I can get some tomorrow though. I'm so weak.

cunnifferous

Ravelleman wrote: »

It was €1.89, I believe. The unpredictable stock is quite frustrating, indeed. Might see if I can get some tomorrow though. I'm so weak.

It's last price was €1.89 but when it originally came out it was even cheaper than that. Either €1.69 or €1.79, can't remember exactly

BaZmO*

cunnifferous wrote: »

It's last price was €1.89 but when it originally came out it was even cheaper than that. Either €1.69 or €1.79, can't remember exactly

When the red ale was in it's smaller 330ml guise it was €5.99 per 4 pack, then €5.69 after one of the budgets, then €3.99, and got as low as €1.99 per pack when they were trying to off load it before the rebranding and changing it to 500ml bottle.

The first post in this thread says that it was €1.99 for the 500ml bottle but I always thought it was €1.79? Maybe that was just once in a while specials?

Ravelleman

cunnifferous wrote: »

It's last price was €1.89 but when it originally came out it was even cheaper than that. Either €1.69 or €1.79, can't remember exactly

I guess the price creep is natural. Still good value, I reckon.

cunnifferous

BaZmO* wrote: »

When the red ale was in it's smaller 330ml guise it was €5.99 per 4 pack, then €5.69 after one of the budgets, then €3.99, and got as low as €1.99 per pack when they were trying to off load it before the rebranding and changing it to 500ml bottle.

The first post in this thread says that it was €1.99 for the 500ml bottle but I always thought it was €1.79? Maybe that was just once in a while specials?

Yeah it was €1.79 in 2012 according to the Beoir thread below.

http://www.beoir.org/community/viewtopic.php?p=98830

Big Nasty

It was €1.89 until very recently. In fact I didn't notice the price increase on my last shop but I was getting other things. At €1.99 it's still very good value for a fairly decent 500mil pale ale IMO.

54kroc

Big Nasty wrote: »

Hate the way they mix the cases and you have to root through them all to get the pale ale.

It is very annoying, I actually used the contact form on the Aldi website to mention it to them, got a phone call a few hours later to say they would pass on the feedback to their buyers.
If anyone feels that they should stock more of a particular product it might be worth contacting them and saying it.

drumswan

You might see a bit more on the shelves with the Budgets recent lifting of the craft tax break capacity cap. I believe Carlow were producing something close to the limit.

n97 mini

Lidl soon to launch their own Irish craft beer range.