100 Beers, 100 Days: Day #17
This being an English beer, I sampled it in the English way by not letting it reach -45F in the fridge. Instead, I drank it at a much more moderate temperature. Sadly, I did not have a cask of it in the cellar that I hand pumped into my glass. I had to settle for a bottle. I hope my English friends won’t report me to CAMRA.
The rather attractive bottle says this is a blonde, but that’s not true. This is a bitter through and through. It pours a great straw color with plenty of citrus hops up front and plenty more grassy hops in the aftertaste. The website says it’s hopped with Styrian and Fuggles. I guessed Fuggles were involved before even looking at the website. Perhaps all this drinking is starting to pay off with identifying what’s in the beer.
It’s a pretty standard ale, really, but that doesn’t bother me. I do love a good glass of bitter and this certainly was one. Of course there is some malty sweetness present perhaps even with a touch of biscuit malt (again, I figured that out before looking at the website), but the centerpiece of the beer is really the hops. They’re not at all overdone which makes this a very pleasant beer. And the relatively low alcohol content makes this something easily drank as part of a session in your favorite bar.
Thanks for a job well done, England.