Farmer's Ales (Maldon Brewing) Reviews

ITFCDan	2.6 Farmers Ales Five Gold Rings Monday, April 10, 2023
ITFCDan	3.1 Farmers Ales It's Virtually Christmas Monday, April 10, 2023
Dedollewaitor	3.2 Farmers Ales Steel Cow Cask @ West Riding, Dewsbury. Real Ale Trail. Manchester. 29/9-2022. Pours golden with a white head. Toffee and biscuit. White bread. Smooth. Friday, October 14, 2022
FACambridge	2.7 Farmers Ales Edward Brights Stout (from old notes) - Aroma : Roasty Chocolate malts, little hints of coffee, liquorice & red berries Taste : Medium body. Smooth light oily texture. Moderate roasty bitterness throughout. Actual flavours though a little thin. Not 'robust' enough. Bang average Thursday, July 7, 2022
wslydiate	3.2 Farmers Ales Steel Cow Bradfield....nice blonde ale. Lemon grass tones Friday, March 25, 2022
DJMonarch	3.4 Farmer's Ales Farmer's Golden Boar Cask Handpump at GBBF 2012, Kensington Olympia 10/08/2012 Floral hop aroma. White head. Golden coloured hoppy and a little fruity with a hint of dryness and bitterness in a crisp and slightly creamy malt finish. Monday, March 14, 2022
DJMonarch	3.4 Farmers Ales Mr Mussel Cask Handpump at GBBF 2011, Earl's Court 05/08/2011 Floral hop aroma. Golden coloured smooth on the palate and hoppy with a hint of bitterness and dryness in a slightly creamy malt finish. Sunday, January 16, 2022
SHIG	2.6 Farmers Ales Five Gold Rings Sample thanks to Grumbo: Poured a golden with a white bubbly head. Aroma is astringent, citrus, malty. Taste is bitter forward, citrus, grain, malty, cereal backbone. Saturday, June 26, 2021
SHIG	2.7 Farmers Ales It's Virtually Christmas Sample thanks to Grumbo: Poured an orange with off white head. Aroma is fruit, kinda sugary. Taste is fruity, some citrus, light hops tingle. Sunday, May 23, 2021
ITFCfan	2.4 Farmers Ales Five Gold Rings Rating catch up. Shared 24/4/2021 with Dan and Grumbo. No full review but rating breakdown taken and discussed at the time. Monday, May 3, 2021
ITFCfan	2.9 Farmers Ales It's Virtually Christmas Rating catch up. Shared 04/04/2021 with Dan and Grumbo. No full review but rating breakdown taken and discussed at the time. Monday, May 3, 2021
Grumbo	2.2 Farmers Ales Five Gold Rings 24/4/2021. Bottle shared with D&J at the welcome to Eva beer share. From Hopsters, Ipswich. Pours clear pale gold with a small frothy white head. Aroma is grainy, citrus, straw, skunky, wet dog, touch of vinegar. Moderate sweetness, medium husky bitterness. Moderate body, watery texture, average carbonation. Well within BB date but didn't seem quite right. Friday, April 23, 2021
Grumbo	2.9 Farmers Ales It's Virtually Christmas 4/4/2021. Bottle shared at the first post-lockdown Ipswich beer share. From Hopsters, Ipswich. Poured clear gold with a small frothy white head. Aroma of malt, overripe tropical fruits, stone fruit, veg and caramel, with some earthy smoky fireside notes developing. Moderate sweetness and medium bitterness. Moderate body, average to soft carbonation. Started a little rough but mellowed and improved but wasn't today's highlight. Sunday, April 4, 2021
FACambridge	2.2 Farmers Ales Centaur (from old notes) - Aroma : Light tofeee maltiness, subtle fruity hop notes of maybe peach & tangerine. Taste : Thinnish body with thin & understated flavours to match. Light dry bitter-sweetness throughout. Not nasty just a bit insipid Friday, March 19, 2021
Idiosynkrasie	3.1 Farmers Ales Christmas Stout 500ml bottle [courtesy of Grumbo-ho-ho - thanks!]. Opaque, darkest brown colour with average, thick, creamy, moderately lasting, minimally lacing, off-white to beige head. Roasty, dark malty aroma with a minimally grainy touch, hints of coca, chocolate, coffee. Taste is roasty, dark malty, minimally salty spicy, hints of dark chocolate, salted dark chocolate, a touch of cold coffee. Watery texture, dry, minimally metallic palate, medium, minimally prickly carbonation. Rather restricted maltiness, nice salty touch - OK. Thursday, December 24, 2020
FACambridge	3.2 Farmers Ales A Drop Of Nelsons Blood (from old notes) - Aroma : Medium toffee maltiness, light touch of dark fruits prune/raisin, a little wet leaf hop note. Taste : Body is on the light side of medium. Moderately bitter with a short sharp raspberry tang before sweeter toffee malt comes through. Well above avg. ord/best Sunday, November 1, 2020
Grumbo	2.9 Farmers Ales Azimuth 11/9/2020. Bottle at the Gorzow GP bottle-share, from Hop Beer Shop, Chelmsford. Pours clear pale amber with a small frothy off-white head. Aroma of sweet malt, citrus, flowers. Medium sweetness, moderate bitterness, very slight tartness. Moderate body, slight watery texture, soft carbonation. Not much to it. Saturday, September 12, 2020
FACambridge	2.3 Farmers Ales Agnes Fountain (from old notes) - Aroma : Toasted toffee malt, light autumnal red fruitiness. Taste : As aroma. Moderately bitter with a light sweet if Indistinct fruity undertone Saturday, September 12, 2020
madmitch76	2.5 Farmers Ales Blank Planet 24th June 2020 No phfft when popping the lid on this one. A clear gold beer, a few pale cream colour bubbles don't even come close to forming a head. Surprisingly there is some carbonation still here, enough not to be completely flat. Light malts, reasonably sweet. Some vague gueuze notes amid very modest citric hops. Light pine. Light finish. A wrong-un and a most lacklustre tribute to the great Porcupine Tree and the storming song this beer is named after. Saturday, July 11, 2020
madmitch76	3.4 Farmers Ales The English 24th June 2020 BBE Dec 18. Oops! Almost clear deepish gold beer, short pale cream colour head that dissappates in an instant. Palate is light with a decent minerally crisp bite. Light malts bring a light sweetness, slightly thin, just a whisper of caramel. Plenty of floral bitter bite from the English hops. Light citrus and peel on the crisp finish, some modest pine as well. Leaves a typically Brit hop bitter linger. Doesn't taste aged at all but then it has been stored properly. Saturday, July 11, 2020
Beese	3.4 Farmers Ales Christmas Stout Cask at the Cambridge Winter Beer Festival on 21/01/2010. Big dark malt and dried fruit aroma. Smooth body and sweetish linger. Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Beese	3.4 Farmers Ales The Hotel Porter Cask at The Battersea Beer Festival on 11/02/2009. A malty, somewhat sweet Porter with a medium to full body. Slight hint of smoked fish on the nose, with dried fruit and cakey notes. Friday, May 22, 2020
FACambridge	3 Farmers Ales The Hotel Porter (from old notes) - Aroma : Medium roasty dark malts with subtle hints of chocolate, coffee & nut, a little dark red fruit with a slightly fusty earthy note. Taste : As aroma. Flavours are a tad understated. Little sweet at first before a mellow bitterness kicks in. Not outstanding but o.k. Wednesday, April 29, 2020
FACambridge	2.3 Farmers Ales Bottoms Up! (from old notes) - Aroma : Toasty caramel & chocolate malts, hint of citrus/soft fruit with a light earthy note. Taste : As aroma. Thinnish body. Nice bittersweet balance, light dry finish. O.K. if very average Friday, April 24, 2020
FACambridge	3.2 Farmers Ales Born to be Mild (from old notes) - Aroma : Mellow roasted maltiness, bags of chocolate, a little sweet caramel and red fruit with a slightly fusty note Taste : As aroma. Smooth mellow roasty & bittersweet throughout with a quite pronounced fusty earthiness. Decent Thursday, April 16, 2020
madmitch76	3.2 Farmers Ales Fountain Of Salmacis 25th January 2020 Bright clear gold beer, small bubbly whitish head. Palate is light and semi dry, decent fine carbonation. Thin malts, just a very mild sweetness that barely contains the bright spicy bitterness of the unspecified hops. Thin lemony tangerine citrus in there. Crispy semi dry finish. Farmers Ales know what they are doing with these trad English ales, I just wish they would use that knowledge and take these trad ales to the next and crafty level. Saturday, January 25, 2020
madmitch76	2.9 Farmers Ales Holly Daze 25th January 2020 Clear amber - brown beer, small bubbly pale tan head. Palate is thin and fairly dry, decent fine carbonation. Thin malts, whisper of unsweet and tangy caramel. Floral bitterness and repressed tangy bitterish fruits. Light semi dry finish. Does what it says on the tin, it’s a straight up bitter and does the job but leaves me fairly cold. Saturday, January 25, 2020
madmitch76	3.6 Farmers Ales Christmas Trifle 25th January 2020 Bottle. Clear amber beer, big cream colour head. Nose is nicely spot on strawberry and vanilla. Palate is light and semi dry, decent fine carbonation. Strawberry and vanilla carry over from the nose. Thin malt cream. A little spice on the crispy finish. Good fun and quite drinkable. Saturday, January 25, 2020
madmitch76	3.5 Farmers Ales Nine Feet Underground 25th January 2020 Semi opaque dark brown beer, decent tan head. Smooth and semi dry palate, decent fine carbonation. Smooth dark malts, nicely integrated mellow coffee and mild dark chocolate. A fruity back end with a light spice, rounds things off. Standard stout done very well. Saturday, January 25, 2020
madmitch76	3.2 Farmers Ales Snow Goose 25th January 2020 Bright clear gold beer, small white head. Palate is light and fairly dry, reasonable fine carbonation. Thin malts, clean and with a modicum of sweetness. Light floral hops with a mild spicy bitterness. Trace of esters underneath. Dry finish. Standard stuff but quite drinkable. Saturday, January 25, 2020
Grumbo	2.8 Farmers Ales Christmas Trifle 30/11/2019. Cask at the Dove Street Inn Winter Beer Festival. Pours pale amber with a small bubbly white head. Aroma of strawberry syrup, strawberry trifle, sherry and biscuit. Medium plus sweetness and light bitterness. Moderate body, sticky texture, soft carbonation. Lots of trifle but not much Christmas. Saturday, November 30, 2019
Grumbo	3.1 Farmers Ales Fountain Of Salmacis 16/11/2019. Bottle from Hoppily HQ, Leigh-on-Sea. Pours clear very pale gold with a small bubbly white head. Aroma of malt, flowers, light spicy hops and grass. Moderate sweetness, medium bitterness. Moderate body, oily texture, average carbonation. Slightly biting bitterness to finish. Quite drinkable. Saturday, November 16, 2019
Beese	2 Farmers Ales Dark Horse Cask at GBBF 2016, Kensington Olympia. Dark ruby with a halo of offwhite head. Aroma of wet malt and damp grass. Fairly light flavour. Thursday, October 17, 2019
madmitch76	3.8 Farmers Ales Imperial 12th October 2019 Opaque dark brown beer, tidy pale tan head. Smooth palate and pretty light for the 9% bill. Decent fine carbonation. Smooth and fairly mellow dark malts, a little creamy sweetness. Mild mild licorice undertone to some pronounced fruitiness, semi sweet plummy fruits with a traces of parma violets and fizzers. Finishes smooth with a fair helping of spice, hint of chilli about it. An interesting and tasty Impy. The quality of Farmers Ales beers goes way up with the abv and away from trad styles, wish they would do more like this. Saturday, October 12, 2019
madmitch76	3.2 Farmers Ales Azimuth 12th October 2019 Almost clear amber beer, tiny pale cream colour head. Light palate, reasonably smooth and semi dry, modest fine carbonation. Light malts, a little tangy caramel, not that sweet. A pronounced floral slant on the backend bitterish and spicy citric peel hops. Not quite a perfumey floralness but getting there. A lighter and slightly fresher citrus on top but by no means would you call it bright modern hoppage. A curious little bitter, plenty going on here but it didn’t engage my heart as much as it did my head. Saturday, October 12, 2019
madmitch76	3.4 Farmers Ales Punkadiddle 12th October 2019 Almost clear gold beer, small pale cream colour head. Smooth palate, mildly dry, reasonable fine carbonation. Soft and semi dry malts bring a reasonable amount of sweetness. Tangy citric peel hops with a pinch of spice. Lighter floral citrus on top. Cherry blossom if you search hard for it. Smooth semi dry finish. The hops could be brighter but this is a pleasant golden, a good key kegger at a Camra fest. Saturday, October 12, 2019
madmitch76	3 Farmers Ales Amarok 12th October 2019 Light haze on this darkish gold beer, small pale cream colour head. Smooth palate, fairly dry, reasonable fine carbonation. Malts bring a modicum of sweetness and a whisper of grain. The Mandarina hops are not the brightest here but do bring a tangy and somewhat ripe citrus. A modest floral bitterness on the end. I keep hearing rumours that this brewery is moving away from trad beers and going craft. Based on this beer I say don’t believe everything you hear. Saturday, October 12, 2019
wheresthepath	3.2 Blackwater Brewhouse Panta Extra Pale Ale Bottle from Poplar Nurseries Farm Shop, near Colchester. Golden beer with a slight haze, a large off-white head, and a moderate fizz. Coriander seed, grapefruit, bready yeast, wheat chaff, some crisp autumn leaves. Quite spicy. Odd powdery mouthfeel. Mildly bitter and very dry finish. Sour lemon aftertaste. Unusual; better than I feared. Ok. Sunday, July 7, 2019
madmitch76	3.3 Farmers Ales Maldon Port Stout 28th April 2019 Clear but very deep brown beer, small pale tan head. Airy palate, fairly dry, decent fine carbonation. Dry and slightly thin dark malts, a touch of bitter dark chocolate. Touch of ash. The ruby port is there on the dry finish, blackberries and a little mulchy red berries. Mild bitter linger. Sunday, April 28, 2019
madmitch76	3 Farmers Ales Cadence & Cascade 28th April 2019 - Clear gold beer, small bubbly white head. Smooth light palate, fairly dry, reasonable fine carbonation. Light malts impart a very modest sweetness. Modest floral bitterness. Mildly tangy citric peel. A little itchy hop spice before the dry finish. Much like King Crimson, this beer leaves me bemused! Sunday, April 28, 2019
madmitch76	3.4 Farmers Ales Northern Lights 28th April 2019 * Insert a feckin page break here * Pretty much a clear gold beer, small pale cream colour head. Smooth and fairly dry palate, reasonable fine carbonation. Smooth malts, a whisper of something smoky perhaps. Not that much imparted sweetness. Aurora hops bring a mild noble hop bitterness with a light and tangy floral citric peel. Whisper of bitter lemon and lesser lime. Light and fairly dry finish brings a mild spicy tingle. Interesting. Don't need the stealthy smoke mind. Nice choice of tracks, I loved 'Northern Lights' by Renaissance since I first saw it performed on TOTP 40 years ago. Those soaring vocals, that fantastic bass line and those evocative lyrics. If this beer was that song ... Sunday, April 28, 2019
aguamoose	4 Farmers Ales Steel Cow Friday, January 25, 2019
madmitch76	3 Farmers Ales Clear Light 22nd December 2018 Almost clear gold beer, a few pale cream colour bubbles. Light palate, semi dry, modest fine carbonation. Clean pale malts, mildly sweet. Some balancing floral bitterness. Light citrus. Traces of apple and a bare whisper of tropical fruits. Light finish leaves a bitter linger. Lacks carbonation and that really detracts here. Saturday, December 22, 2018
madmitch76	3.5 Farmers Ales Whaler 22nd December 2018 Hazy amber beer, small cream colour head. Palate is light and mildly dry, decent fine carbonation. Light malts, a pleasant sweetness but as these buggers so often do, Farmers sneaked some smoke malt in here. Crisp hops, mostly orange peel and thin marmalade. Finishes smooth e dry with building floral bitterness. Clean and crisp and goes down easy. Saturday, December 22, 2018
madmitch76	3.4 Farmers Ales Full Natural 18th November 2018 Hazy gold beer, small pale cream colour head. Smooth palate, fairly dry, decent fine carbonation. Malts are smooth and sweetish. Dominant flavours are from the additives. Bitter elderflower and lesser lemon marmalade. Finishes dry with bitterish lemon, slightly Schweppes like. Long bitter linger. Bold and interesting if a tad too bitter. Sunday, November 18, 2018
madmitch76	3.1 Farmers Ales Maeldune Fyr 18th November 2018 Light haze on this amber beer, untidy cream colour head. Light palate, mildly dry, modest carbonation. Smooth malts, touch of creamy sweetness. Mellow smoke, obvious but never acrid. Light ripe fruity note. Touch of bitterness on the end. Standard stuff done reasonably well. Sunday, November 18, 2018
madmitch76	3.2 Farmers Ales Handlebar 17th November 2018 Light haze on this amber beer, untidy pale tan head. Light palate, fairly dry, reasonable minerally carbonation. Thin malts, not much sweetness here or not enough to check the slightly harsh bitterness. Touch of floral orange peel. Brewer doesn't descibe this as a smoked beer but they have done the same in the past. Plenty of smoke on the back end mixed in with more bitterness. Light dry finish. Long bitterish linger. Robust. Saturday, November 17, 2018
Sandro Mosque	3 Farmers Ales Santa Maria Thursday, November 15, 2018
madmitch76	2.9 Farmers Ales Sideburns 4th November 2018 Hasy amber beer, a few pale tan bubbles. Palate is light and fairly dry, modest fine minerally carbonation. Thin malts bring a bitterish toffee, ripe fruits and a mildly bitter floralness. Another old school beer from Farmers. Turn away from the dark side boys, turn away! Sunday, November 4, 2018
madmitch76	2.9 Farmers Ales Verdi 4th November 2018 Hasy amber - brown beer, a few tan bubbles. Palate is semi dry and has a mild minerally carbonation. Light malts but with a fair dose of bitterish toffee. Floral bitterness. Whisper of ripe citrus. Tangy fruity bitter finish. I've heard on the grapevine that Farmers are turning to a more modern style of beer and there is evidence in some of their other brews that this is the direction of travel. Not here. Proper old fashioned brown bitter, to be Frank, the modern hops are wasted here. Sunday, November 4, 2018