Burton Bridge Empire Ale

Brewed by Burton Bridge
Style: English Strong Ale
Burton-on-Trent, England

I’m afraid I got a bad bottle on this one... It poured with absolutely no carbonation! It just sat there like off-colored water in my pint glass... I was disappointed to say the least, but I drank it anyways. Aside from the aforementioned defect, this was a pretty decent beer. it was a nice clear, amber color. The aroma was was toasty malts, but with plenty of earthy hoppiness, and while the taste led and finished with hops prominent, the mouth seemed to dominated by a big, malty backbone that upstaged the hops. I would like to try this one again; maybe a better bottle would prompt a better rating.

500 ml Bottle from Biererei via armando629. Pours hazy orange color with lively, huge head that diminishes quite quickly, but leaves some lace. Moderate aroma of citrusy hop resin with slight sulphurous and earthy feel. Massive loads of floral hop resin oils. Taste like mellow pears and fermented apples blended with spicey herbs and roots with a distinct hop bite. It has a dry hoppy feel at the finish. I don’t get the Brett yeasty statements, but it’s very earthy in the yeast profile indeed. The body is medium to full with oily, resinous texture with slightly acid mouthfeel and mild carbonation. It’s a tricky, spicy, dry and sweet fruity complex brew. Feels like it’s somewhere between a good european pilsener and an american IPA.

Bottle 50cl. @ home. [ As Burton Bridge Empire Pale Ale ].
Clear light sparkling, medium amber orange color with a average to large, frothy - fizzy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to light light heavy malty, caramel, fruity, moderate hoppy, light to moderate yeasty, light alcohol. Flavor is moderate to heavy fruity sweet and burnt malt + peel bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is watery to oily, carbonation is soft to lively, finish feel is light alcoholic. [20091001]

0,5 l bottle, bought in Biererei, Vienna.
Poured hazy amber with a froathy white head what diminishes slowly with a nice lace on tha glass. Fruity aroma with caramel and earthy malt, fine resiny-floral hop. Lively carbonation on the oily palate, mild resiny hop flavor, caramel and malt taste. Dry bittery and spicy aftertaste.

Hazy orange pour. Light herbal hop nose with sweet malt notes. Decent amount of biscuity malt sweetness...somewhat bready. Yeasty fruity ester, Herbal, earthy hop highlights. Hard for me to get too worked up over this.

500 ml bottle purchased at Beertopia in Omaha, Nebraska. Pour is a fully hazed orange copper golden with a very active four inch off white head that is somewhat loose, but still quite lasting. Extremely fine carbonation jets from the bottom of the glass to the surface. When the head eventually falls, there is some real nice lacing. Pretty beer. Aroma is orange and pineapple fruit hoppiness and leathery earthy Brett yeastiness. Straw and floral behind that. Nothing in the nose is real strong, but all are nicely soft and well integrated. Taste is a floral caramel maltiness out of the gate, followed by sweet honey floral and then the straw earthiness of the Brett. Aftertaste features spicy clove, garlic and pepper. As it warms, there are some nice mineral notes. Palate is lighter medium bodied with a really nice soft carbonation. Interesting, soft, complex and really easy to drink.

500 mL bottle from Sam’s Quik Shop in Durham, NC. Pours a hazy amber color with a large frothy head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma is tart cherries and stone fruits. Some spicy hoppiness. Taste is spicy, leafy hops with light bretty notes, lifesavers and dry fruity notes, including apple, pear and cherry. Medium bodied. I was expecting an English IPA here...definitely not something with brett, so this is a surprise, and a pleasant one at that.

I don’t know, I guess when I’m told I’m about to drink an original recipe IPA I expect something less refined and more provincial. I wanted a stronger hop flavor, and an unbalanced malt character. You know, something imperfect, but perfect at the same time because you know they were tinkering with a new stye of ale: just trying to make it not spoil on the way to their imperial holdings. Overall I’m not really impressed, and feel that I’ve outgrown most British ales (with a few exceptions of course). It might also be a problem that I’ve been living in the Pacific Northwest for the last five years and expect my IPA’s to burn the skin off the inside of my mouth. Therein lies my bias. Ten years ago this might have been my favorite beer. That being said, the beer is beautiful to look at. Giant frothy head, and a dark amber color reminiscent of fall and German Hefs. For some reason I’m also into how fizzy it is; again probably due to my overindulgence in thick, flat porters and heavy double IPA’s. Right now though, I’m enjoying it. There’s also a long spicy burn that coats your mouth, kinda like McDonald’s french fries. Lardy? Can I really describe the mouthfeel as lardy? Why not. Sour beer fans might also find an appreciation of this brew. Normally not into sour beers, I like the long sour apple drag this beer has. It’s weird, I like the beer’s aftertaste more than the initial forefront flavors. Weird.