March 2008 Archives

This is a pretty standard bitter brewed by Ruddles in Rutland. It is 4.7% ABV.

However, although it smells and seems like a standard session bitter, it has an unusually nice bitter flavour. Apparently the hops used, Bramling Cross, are the cause of this pleasant crispness. Or so says the label on the bottle anyway. I was surprised. When I first opened the bottle and smelt it, I thought it was just going to be a bog standard, reasonable but not very special beer. I still can’t really identify anything interesting about it except that the hop flavour is really quite nice - not astringent at all. I suppose I could best describe it as a standard ale, but a superbly well created standard ale.

This is a rich, dark beer by Theakston. It is 5.6% ABV.

It has a strong, simple flavour. It is pleasant, especially for people like me who prefer dark beers, but it isn’t special. There’s no edge to the flavour or any complex blends of flavour. Just one rich flavour. It would be perfect to accompany a feast of roasted meat.

This is a Scottish beer which is aged in oak barrels. It is brewed by a brewery of the same name and is 6.6% ABV. It only seems to be available in 330ml bottles, which is a shame as I’d quite like a whole pint.

The oakish flavour is fantastic. It’s very mellow, balanced by smooth malt and a slight citrus flavour. It is hard to describe - it’s a subtle blend of many flavours, which the blurb on the back of the bottle suggests comes from the thirty days it spends in oak barrels. It isn’t a strong flavour; it’s a very pleasant, interesting combination of flavours. I just wish it came in bigger bottles.

This is a lovely, dark beer brewed by the Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire. It is 5.2% ABV.

It is made with roasted malts which give it a deep, strong flavour, set off nicely by a hint of bitter hops. This is a powerfully flavoured beer for sipping. Well, for drinking relatively slowly anyway. I know what I mean.

I suppose the flavour isn’t really very interesting. It’s just one, strong flavour on its own. But it is a good flavour and I like the depth and strength. As you might have guessed from my other tasting notes, I am not a big fan of very bitter beers. I do like some very hoppy beers (for instance, the new generation of American IPAs are really rather good) but more often than not I find astringently bitter beers boring and not that pleasant. I like my hops to balance or accentuate the real flavour of the beer, which (in most cases) comes from the malt, rather than to stand out on their own, which I find tends to result in an unpleasant aftertaste. So I like the fact that the hops in this beer are noticeable but only as a sort of defining edge to the thick, roasted malt flavour.

I don’t know if I’m pretentious or just very bad at expressing flavours in words. Probably both.

The variety of hops is not mentioned on the bottle but rumour has it that Styrian Goldings and Fuggles hops are used. Styrian Golding is a seedless clone of Fuggles, apparently.