Master of Wine and wine buyer for Forth Wines This has a deep amber colour and medium froth. It has quite a strong coarse hoppy aroma which is not particularly subtle. I find this rather dry, austere and bitter, with rather a short finish to it. I expected more individuality, flavour and length. I like the idea, the presentation and the rhyme that explains it, but reckon the product itself is rather disappointing, albeit at only 99p a bottle. It may appeal more to traditional bitter drinkers, but I think that general all round appeal is lacking. Success rating out of 25 ­ 10 THE DESIGNER Matt Thompson Associate director of Blackburn's, a brand packaging designer Very much in the idiom of the now passé Dogs Bollocks and Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush. The joke didn't travel. As any class stand up act will tell you, labouring a joke, let alone a tired one, brings little reward. I struggle to raise more than a smirk ­ there being nothing left to the imagination. To compound this, the label itself, more by misfortune than design, is rendered invisible as over 50% of all the world's beer labels are oval. A small fish in a very big pond. Success rating out of 25 ­ 4 THE BUYER Adam Marshall Licensed trading controller at Nisa-Today's The name Piddle in the Hole allegedly stems from an ancient rhyme ­ but it sounds like a cheap marketing attempt to me. The overall impression is not helped by the modern cartoon style label which hardly contributes to the heritage' image that is supposedly on offer. As for the beer itself, the colour is pale gold with a dry, hoppy nose with a slight metallic edge. The flavour is insubstantial, lacking weight and any indication of the 4% abv. Altogether, a poor showing and not worth more than 7. I can't help thinking this has been delivered down to a price rather than up to a quality. Success rating out of 25 ­ 7 Total score out of 100 ­ 29 {{DRINKS }}

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