Citra - Oakham Ales (4.6% ABV)

Beerbods number 4, and this is bottle is obviously heavily hopped with Citra hops! Oakham Ales don't disappoint with their bizarre label designs, as we are greeted with a perverse, and somewhat sinister human/hop hybrid.

Pours a very clear straw colour - not much carbonation evident and only produces a thin white head.

Nose hits you with a medley of tropical and citrus fruits. No real maltiness to it, but you wouldn't expect it to!

The malt does come through on first taste though. Only a light malt sweetness mind, that is usurped by a punch bowl of passion fruit, oranges, grapefruit and some gooseberry; perhaps a little lemon grass in there too! A heavy, resinous hop bitterness punches you in the tongue towards the end and takes away a lot of that fruitiness away which is a shame. It's a tad too harsh for my liking, but still tasty.

Light bodied, mildly astringent and slightly prickly carbonation. It's definitely a beer that would benefit from being in the fridge longer, and being enjoyed in the summer. Overall, it's pretty decent, but it's let down by that harsh bitterness

 

Gadds No. 3 - Ramsgate Brewery (5.0% ABV)

It's Thursday, and it's another Beerbods. This week, it's an English pale ale from the Ramsgate Brewery in Kent

Very clear at first, but plenty of cloudiness due to the heavy sediment in the bottle. Appears golden orange and has a thick, white head that gives a liberal amount of lacing on the glass

Nose isn't too strong. Plenty of yeasty fruit esters, and the mildest hint of sweet malt... But not much else

Caramel maltiness at the front end which develops into oranges and apricots. Wow, tons of pithy bitterness and earthy Fuggles come through in the middle, before a clean, cleansing finish of hop resin and lingering pithy bitterness with some sweet malt sticking around. Very nice and balanced and I never thought English hops could give this much flavour!

Mouthfeel is light/medium bodied with a crisp dryness and perfect carbonation. This is a top pale ale; it's just a shame the nose is a tad disappointing. Nevertheless, I will have this again as it tastes blooming good

Barbus Barbus - Butts Brewery (4.6% ABV)

Beer number two on my current Beerbods subscription, and this English bitter is named after a freshwater fish. Obviously someone at Butts brewery is a fan of fishing!

Pours a burnished orange colour with a nice thick white head that puts thick lacing on the glass. Nose is heavy with toasted crystal malt, mild toffee sweetness and a pinch of citrus & oily hop resins.

Taste of brown bread and yeasty chewiness initially with some toffee thrown in; hop flavours develop empathically into hop oils, lemon & lime and tarte rhubarb. Heavy, slightly acrid bitterness on the finish which unfortunately strips a lot of the flavour away, which is a shame as the balance of the thick, chewy, sweet malt and the clean, fresh hop flavours is perfect!

Full bodied with plenty of chewiness at the start, but then becomes light and refreshing once the hops kick in; quite unique and unusual (for me anyway). Carbonation is light, but the astringency is a put-off. It was only a minor hindrance for the first half of the bottle, but towards the end, it was too much. One bottle of this would be all I could drink in one sitting - but I would definitely give this another go if I came across it again.

1698 - Shepherd Neame (6.5% ABV)

Good old Shepherd Neame. They sure know how to create a beer with plenty of Fuggles and EKG hops... Hopefully this bottled conditioned anniversary brew will break the mould of their otherwise boring range. I say boring, it's not that their beer isn't any good (it is), but it just all seems to taste the same.

Amber coloured with a soap sudsy head, the aroma is mix of fruity yeast esters, light floral hops and malty sweetness. Not bad at all.

Feels great on the palate and initial taste is pleasing indeed - burnt sugars, toasted malts and a rich, chewy texture that gives hints of butterscotch. Yeast flavours kick-in thereafter with stewed apples and bramble fruits, which develops into a very light hop bitterness, and a gentle, earthy spiciness.

Mouthfeel is chewy, full bodied, rich and warming. Plenty of carbonation which contributes to a lovely smooth texture, and only mild astringency.

Could do with more hops in my opinion, but the balance is sufficient and it benefits hugely from being bottle conditioned. SN have done well, and put something on to the supermarket shelves that deviates from their usual benchmark.

Battle of Britain - Wolfs Brewery (3.9% ABV)

Battle of Britain is rather an odd name for a beer in my opinion, but they donate 10p from each bottle to charities affiliated with WW2 veterans, so it's worth buying just for that reason. No mention of any proceeds going to Luftwaffe veterans though?

Nice clear copper colour with a thick off-white head top, and a strong presence of dark toasted, sweet malt and Floral hops

On the palate, this has a very woody character, with plenty of brown malt and a thick toffee sweetness. Pecans and walnut flavour mid-palate with a hint of butterscotch, before being balanced out with plenty of hop flavour and cleansing bitterness; hop resin, dried leaves, herbs and some spicy grass.

Mouthfeel is quite impressive on this. Medium/full bodied and feels vibrant and chewy with a effervescent carbonation that works really well - goes down very smoothly. Very well balanced with perfect balance.

Nice beer this, from Wolfs brewery, and it's the first one I've had of theirs. Look forward to trying some more!

Stinger - Badger Brewery (4.5% ABV)

This weeks Beerbods offering is a pale ale that is collaboration between the Badger brewery, and that chef guy off the telly, Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall. An organic ale, it 'boasts' the use of nettles which are hand picked; presumably with the assistance of some gloves.

Not sure what Hugh put in this, but it burst out the bottle like a bat out of hell! Had to mop half the bottle off my kitchen counter, but once it was eventually in the glass it produced a fizzy, thin white head which wasn't all that impressive. Golden straw colour with a slight haze to it.

Nose is herbal, biscuity with a strong medicinal background. Nettles are evident too with spicy grass & peaches

First sip is disappointing; seems to lack any depth of flavour and feels really thin, but it gets a lot better as it warms. Biscuit malt base with faint caramel at the front end, before some fruity sweetness kicks from peaches and a slight lemony tartness. The nettle flavour is evident on the tongue at the end, and is complimented by bramble and thistle flavours and some of that spicy grass which lingers nicely on the palate. No real bitterness from the hops, but there is a crisp, clean astringency to it that makes it endlessly quaffable.

Body is light, thin and watery, but there is a nice tingling feeling from the carbonation that works well with the nettle flavours. Other than that, it's nothing too exciting

This is an odd beer. The nose wasn't too pleasant, but the flavour was different and not something I've had before, and I think I enjoyed it. I managed to drink it really quickly, but that's not always a good thing.

Ruby Mild - Rudgate Brewery (4.4% ABV)

Hooray! My first BeerBods (Beerbods.co.uk) offering, of which I took delivery this very morn. If you are not familiar with BeerBods, be sure to check out their website. This is the first mild I have had in several years, and I was never too keen on the style. I always thought of it as an old mans beer...

Pours a black cherry colour with a ruby hue that is capped of with a yeasty, tan head that gives some lacing and retains itself nicely throughout.

Nose is subtle, with roasted malts, dark fruits and a mineral note that can only be likened to the smell of mineral water...

Roasted malts give you coffee and a nutty bitterness that tastes like walnuts. Cherry flavour with a yeasty and slightly salty hint in the mid-palate, which develops further into gentle chocolate and finishes with clean, crisp bitterness that suggests pine, thistle and nettles.

Medium bodied, smooth carbonation and a clean, crisp dryness. Flavours are very fresh and nicely balanced. There is a definite mineral tang at the finish, but it doesn't detract from the hop flavour.

If this is a sign of a rejuvenated 'Mild' re-birth, then I will have to reconsider my aversion to this apparently out of date style. Very tasty indeed.