Report from the coalface - drinking this at real ale temperature to give it a chance.
Appearance: pleasant colour, long lasting head
Aroma: good hit of aroma hops, no eau de wheelie bin that you often get with Lion brands that have warmed a bit.
Flavour and mouthfeel: low malt, dry finish. Could do with a bit more malt presence. There's a fair bitterness that's strangely out of balance with the aroma hops and is a bit astringent.
It's more along the lines of a JS Nine Tails with aroma. However an IPA it ain't.
If I was judging this as an APA or an American Amber I'd probably give it low 30s
From the bottle cold it's not a bad swig with a really pronounced hop aroma bomb up the back of the nose. I'd guess Airgead's beer was the plain Pale Ale 25 IBU. I've had a few schooners of Cricketers Arms Lager at the Peakhurst Tavern and it was quite forgettable.
On balance it's drinkable but not an "aaahhh" beer, more of an OK attempt. It's a pity we don't get the basic ingredients listed on the bottle as with Euro beers. I wouldn't mind betting there's some isohop happening there as there is definitely a disconnect between bitterness and aroma with not much in between, and I also wonder if there's some DA SUGAZ happening here,
h34r:
h34r: as there should be far more fullness for a 5.8% ale, Coopers Red would swamp it.
I'd give it a 2 1/2 stars.
Edit: following on from my kidney op from Tuesday I got the stent (connecting bladder to left kidney) removed today by a nice nurse who removed the tape from Mr Wobbly and pulled the string gently
.. started getting some sharp pains later from residual gravel going down the ureter but the IPA has fixed all that nicely so it's good for something
B)
