Jeremy Clarkson's provocative humour is an acquired taste.. but this beer certainly isn't.

I carried out a taste test and as he himself might have said in his Top Gear days, this is not an ordinary bottle of beer, what it is is the smoothest and highest quality bottle of beer [pause]… in the world.

Hawkstone Lager is brewed with barley grown on Mr Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm and brewed by Rick and Emma Keene from the Cotswold Brew Co in Bourton-on-the-Water.

It is made from only the finest ingredients, and allowed to mature for a full four weeks, and it certainly far superior to your standard tipple.

It's light but with a more malty taste than a Peroni or similar and definitely more flavour.

The flavour is very subtly bitter, and big on the citrus.

Eight hours after its launch in November 2021, it became the biggest-selling beer on Amazon, outselling well-known brands like Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois.

The Hawkstone website describes it as "the perfect blend of barley, belligerence and outright brewing skill".

In February Mr Clarkson ran a competition in The Sun to win a five-year supply of his latest lager – and said he'd even deliver it to the winner.

If you buy from the website six 330ml bottles (School Night) cost £15. Quite a lot but maybe he's including his petrol money in that.

When it comes to the cider, however, that really is moreish. Sweet and bitter, only gently sparkling, it's medium dry and delicious.

The cider is Kaleb Cooper's area who, after breaking his back, cultivating malting barley for the lager, announced he was more a cider man himself.

It is produced by Guy Lawrence, a fifth-generation cider-maker from Herefordshire whose family-owned mill dates back to the 1880s.

Clearly aimed at a sophisticated drinker it uses the fresh pressed juice from apples picked locally, fermented with champagne yeast and matured for up to six months.

The bottles are classy, with a stylish minimalist look and upmarket font. I wasn't surprised Mr Clarkson did not feature on the label – given his Marmite appeal - but I thought Diddly Squat Farm might get a mention.

Twelve 500ml bottles (Just in Case) from the Hawkstone website cost £25. Or you can support some of the local “44 best pubs in the UK” which all coincidentally serve his brews.

I would go a bit further than Scott who left a succinct review on Amazon: "Five stars. Good bottle of cider."

All in all, Mr Clarkson should be as thrilled with these latest offerings from his burgeoning business empire as he is that Top Gear is nowhere near as good or successful now that he's not in it.

 

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This story was written by Miranda Norris, she joined the team in 2021 and covers celebrity and showbiz news across Oxfordshire as well as news from Witney.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Miranda.Norris@newsquest.co.uk