Ivanhoe - Ridgeway Brewery (5.2% ABV)

Another week, another Beerbods, and this pale ale from Ridgeway is the perfect accompiament to a warm spring evening. This is a bottle conditioned, with a label that sticks to medieval 'theme' of the Ridgeway range.

Pours a clear amber and is capped by a decent frothy white head that drops down to a thin layer after a minute or two.

Nose is malty goodness with lashings of toffee and cherries and fruity yeast aromas - lovely smell.

Initial malt hit is brown bread, toffee with a hint of chestnut. Mildly earthy character with a touch of citrus come at you, before the fruity yeast flavours envelop the palate; watermelon, bramble fruits and maybe some strawberry in there too. Finishes with a brisk bitterness and pine hop flavour.

Full bodied for a pale ale, minimal carbonation and finishes a tad too astringent. However, this is a brilliantly constructed ale that has great depth of flavour and is balanced perfectly. The bottle conditioning help add a bucket of fruity flavour, and blends well with the pre leant warmth of the alcohol

Organic Pale Ale - Samuel Smiths (5.0% ABV)

Got me a job lot of Samuel Smiths beer in my latest haul, and this is my second bottle, after the very successful Imperial Stout

Pours clear amber, and is capped by a lovely thick off-white head. Tons of lacing and good retention.

Nose is all sweet caramel and crystal malt goodness, with hints of green apples, bramble fruits and a waft of alcohol warmth.

Taste gives you brown bread and a mildly yeasty character at first, which develops into salted caramel and toffee, roasted walnuts, wood chips, dried leaves, and then you get the fruity sweetness from apples and raisins. Finishes bittersweet and slightly metallic with a clean, mild pine bitterness.

Medium/full bodied with moderate to high astringency, although it manages to avoid being unpleasant. Carbonation is brisk and helps deliver a smooth and easy drinking beer.

Decent beer, this. It's not going to stick in my memory for any reason, but it's worth trying out

 

XS - The Hop Studio (5.5% ABV)

Beerbods time, and this beer is from a fledgling Yorkshire brewery that produce a small range of beers. This is an extra special ale, sporting a questionable style of label... Seems a tad pretentious to me.

Pours a clear amber, but, try as I might, I cannot get any amount of decent head on this beer...

Nose is not that pleasant, with overcooked apples and plums, strong floral aromas, alcohol and a hint of mineral.

Taste isn't much better; sticky toffee and brown bread from the malt at first, then a slight hint of citrus, salt and then those horrible apples and plums again which give a sour and tarte bite. Walnut bitterness comes in at the end with some pith bitterness. Linger is bitter, sweet and sour - but not terribly nice.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but too thin and overly astringent. Carbonation was almost non-evident.

Urgh. I was really disappointed by this. The sour/bitterness was the most off-putting element, and mixed in with the high astringency, there just wasn't much for me to like. The malt flavours were ok, but everything else was off target, and the whole thing seemed unbalanced.

Snake IPA - Flying Dog Brewery (7.1% ABV)

What a pretty label. Flying Dog sure know how to make a beer look attractive, but it's the golden liquid inside that is more important.

Pours a clear amber and is capped off by a meringue-like sticky white head. Tons of lacing on the glass.

Nose throws up biscuit and caramel malt underneath a muscular fruit bowl of gooseberries, lychees and fresh oranges. Lovely aroma that smells fresh and inviting

First off, you get a quick taste of the creamy malt; light and biscuity with a caramel sweetness. Then you get hints of lemons, oranges, pith and a light peppery bite. Then the sucker-punch comes in at the end: a bucket load of bitterness from citrus pith and hop oils that deliver a looooong linger of pine and resin. Very nice, but that bitterness strips away a lot of the other great flavours which is disappointing.

Light/medium bodied with a creamy texture thanks to the brilliantly smooth carbonation. Astringency is moderate, but restrained, given the high bitterness that this beer packs. Also, you would never guess this was 7.1%. The alcohol is very well masked

Top notch IPA that delivers exactly what you would expect from something with such a venomous name

Imperial Stout -Samuel Smiths (7.0% ABV)

My first try of a Sam Smiths beer, and this beauty comes in a very attractively labelled bottle, capped off with some pretty golden foil... Everyone loves the golden foil. Here goes...

This pours pure black; there is no light getting through this. Topped off with a frothy mocha coloured head that goes down to a thin layer after a few minutes.

The nose is a boozy mix of deep, roasted malts giving off dark chocolate, burnt sugars and a mix of cherries, figs and raisins. Very nice.

The taste is equally complex. First, the thick, chewy malt wraps around your tongue: tons of roast, and that bitter dark chocolate comes though with coffee and chestnuts with undertones of smokey wood chips. There is some lactose sweetness in the middle, along with hints of anise, burnt brown sugar, figs, cherries and other complex fruits flavours that I can't quite pinpoint.... It's all deliciously wrapped up in that alcohol, which makes itself known at all times, but sits in the background and doesn't take over. No real hop flavour of note, but I didn't miss them...

Full bodied, rich, thick, creamy, chewy and delectable. It's top drawer indeed. There is little carbonation, and has a pleasing astringency. I have a few more bottles of Sam Smiths beer sitting my beer cellar (aka, kitchen), and If they are anything like this, then I'm in for a treat.

5 Barrel Pale Ale - Odell Brewing Co (5.2% ABV)

I've been wanting to try a beer from this brewery for a while. Heard plenty of good things about them... but I could say that about 100 other breweries! Sadly, I am unable to order an unending supply of beer due to work, kids and other pointless distractions..

Looks great upon pouring; a hazy caramel / orange colour that produces a thick, creamy off-white head. Sticks to the glass nicely all the way to the bottom.

The smell is amazing! Oranges, gooseberries, grapefruit and hop resins. Light touch of honey and pale malts underneath those pungent hops...

Malt comes through at first upon tasting; light and creamy with a gentle sweetness. It doesn't stick around for long though, as the hops deliver a ton of flavour. First, there is the grapefruit and lemon with a definite pithy character. Some spicy grass and cinnamon in the middle, before a hefty dose of oily hop resins and pine flavour on the finish. Some light lager-esque malt lingers on the palate, along with a mild metallic tang.

Creamy, medium bodied with perfect carbonation and a great easy drinking character. Finishes at the top end of the astringency scale, but it manages to avoid being unpleasant.

In fact, this beer is anything but unpleasant. The hops flavour profile is brilliant, and the creaminess of the malts keep it all nicely balanced. Top notch beer from the US once again.

TED - Flat Cap Beers (5.0% ABV)

I've been laying off the booze recently - hence the lack of updates - but I have my trusty BeerBods selection to keep me going on Thursdays. This week we have a bit of a curveball in the shape Ted, a jovial chap who appears to be in his twilight years, and is obviously amused by something. No prizes for label design here.

Pours a golden orange colour, but fails to produce hardly any head. The nose is equally lacklustre, with only faint whiffs off floral hops, elderflower and some light, sweet maltiness.

Upfront, you get a hearty taste of toffee and caramel. This is mixed with brown bread crust, biscuit and some yeasty notes. Tarte fruit (lemon and rhubarb), pine and resin hop flavour come in at the end with an earthy character mixed with some complex citrus flavours. Lots of decent flavour in here and it all seems to compliment each other well.

Almost full-bodied which, for a pale ale, is something I wasn't expecting, but it seems to work. Light carbonation and a moderate, crisp dryness. Starts off slightly chewy, but ends up feeling light and easily drinkable. It's a good beer, but it's not going to blow your socks off. The odd label design is a bit 'marmite', so I wouldn't imagine that this would jump out at you whilst out on a beer shopping spree.

Tribute Cornish Pale Ale - St Austell Brewery (4.2% ABV)

St Austell really need to sort out there bottle design. Their labels are so bland and uninspiring... We'll forgive them though as they know how to make a cracking beer

This is a Cornish Pale Ale. Not much else to it. No bells or whistles...

Pours a pleasant, deep auburn colour and is capped off with a wispy white head that don't stay around for too long.

Nose gives off citrus aromas, some honey, melon and a light maltiness.

Taste of brown bread and cookie dough from the malt with a touch of honey. Earthy, grassy with a hint of herbs in the middle which then develops into a mix of lemon, grapefruit and a touch of orange. Perhaps a bit of candi sugar flavour is in there as well? Finishes dry and bittersweet.

Medium bodied, but feels light and refreshing at the same time. Carbonation is spot on, and the moderate astringency is balanced perfectly to make it crisp and more-ish. Decent beer from SA