It is quite a deep and heavy pie, which is always a pleasing sight, marked with a triangle on top to denote the flavour. As it cooks in the oven, I can confirm a slight buttery waft is emanating from inside, particularly pleasurable in my case as I am still very slowly getting my smell back after the dreaded COVID.

The crust is very prominent, a lovely golden brown colour, slightly flaky but crisp to cut into. I get some scissors to cut out the foil tray, as it doesn’t seem to be lodging but I manage to keep it intact and out on to the plate and it is well baked and perfectly formed.

I open her up and find a good inch and a bit of prime steak packed into there. Any worried about dryness quickly fade away, as there is a pleasant layer of gravy type jelly (or jelly type gravy) surrounding it’s interior. The cutlery is out on the plate but it isn’t required, as this pie holds together well and can be eaten by hand. The large chunks of steak are exceeding juicy and tender, and I find myself salivating with each bite.

There is a bit of airspace at the top but this isn’t at the expense of content, it merely gives the meat a bit of air to breathe. It doesn’t feel overwhelmingly boozy, so I’m not really picking out the ale, but the gravy is sweet and wraps around the earthy finish of the beef.