Located in some old agricultural buildings in Bungay, Suffolk in the United Kingdom, St. Peter's Brewery produces about 60,000 pints of beer each week, some of which makes its way across the Atlantic to stores in the United States. I picked up a few bottles at a local gourmet market recently and gave them a try for the first time.

St. Peter's opened for business in June 1996 and uses an on-site well for water as well as locally-grown barley for most of its beers. The goal is to create traditional beers with typical English character.

You can watch the video of my tasting above for more details, but here is some of what I learned.

English Ale. This is described as having a delicate character, which I agree with. My first impression was bitterness, but it quickly mellowed out into a warm toasted nuttiness. It was a bit mild for my taste, though certainly enjoyable to drink.

Golden Ale. The label calls for a grainy aftertaste, and again that seems accurate. It seemed to have a more subtle aroma than the English Ale. I picked up less nuttiness and much more graininess, both in taste and perceived texture.

India Pale Ale. Described as "full-bodied," this turned out to be my favorite of the tasting. It blends some of the toastiness and graininess of the first two. It had a nice mouthfeel that coated my tongue with a warm nutty flavor (notice that I'm nuts for nuts). It finishes with a bit of bitterness, but not in an unpleasant way.

Cream Stout. This was the disappointment for me in the tasting, but that's just my taste. It had a powerful coffee-like smell and taste. It seemed a bit thin for my liking, not nearly as thick as say a Guinness might be. It had a bit too much of the over-roasted, Starbucks-style flavor.

Overall, none of these knocked my socks off, but I am not a frequent beer drinker. I do enjoy beer on occasion, and I would certainly return to the IPA in the future.

The beauty of tasting is that we all have our own perspective and opinion. Please do share your views and let me know where I have gone completely off my rocker.

You can learn more about St. Peter's beers at http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk