Adnams Broadside Strong Original

Dark amber. Small head. I recognise mostly raisins in the aroma. A bit of sourness on the tongue. Some prums but overall a bit flat. No aftertaste.

A softly pleasing, oft confusing Strong ale from a brewery that I do love. This beer just lacked flavour integration personally, though I must say it did fill a void. At just on cool, into an Adnam’s pint. It pours a very deep, ruddy copper, hazy from the ill-fated yeast and abundant in very fine, minute streams of bubbles. The head, an impressive half inch of off-white whipped cream. It attains for the length and daubs the glass in sudsy rings. Sweet, gooey, fresh-baked, sultana-rich dumplings in a hot toffee and marzipan sauce is the best I could gather from the aroma. Sorry! Yes it does smell lip-smacking good. A few tiers down from the aroma is the taste, disappointingly. The palate is quite frothy, the body difficult to judge. Ripe plums meet bitter burnt fruit, some burnt toast also. Front is a bit washed up - some feint roasted almonds; the back a little salty and the finish has more acrid, burnt fruit, some raisin-bread prominent to dull the transition. Alcohol is in hiding, it doesn’t warm the cockles the way I wanted it to. Some residue of sweet and burnt fruits linger on the lips and palate. Quite aside itself, I couldn’t quite get into this. I’ll take their Bitter, please!!! (50cL, 25/07/07)

Bottle at The Sanctuary in Iowa City. Poured a slightly hazy brown-orange color. Thin off white head that didn’t leave much lace behind. Aroma was of plum, raisin, and malty molasses. Relatively thick mouth feel with slight sweetness. Dried and fleshy fruit flavors rounded out by some toffee.

Pours darker than I would have thought with thinner head. Aromas of apples and hops, with flavors tsting the same. Apples, tobacco, touches of light sugars as well as a souring dry finish

More balanced towards malt big notes of burnt brown sugar Page 11 of Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide and only 189 of his Classic 500 Brews to go.

12oz, no date from kenb. My label says 6%. Pours a clear reddish orange with a one finger quickly fading beige head. Aroma of nuts, spicy and earthy hops, some toasted nuts and toffee, and a hint of wet paper. Flavor adds a hint of lightly tart and sweet raisins with a stale tobacco sour finish--hard to explain. Bitterness is pretty low. Thin body with low to moderate carbonation. A decent beer.

Bottle 500ml. Pours murky brown with a big tan head. The head soon flattens. A sweet, fruity aroma greets you on opening. The flavours are unexciting really, just a malty fruity taste - nothing complex about it. Fairly thin on the palate. Bitter aftertaste, which is not unpleasant. Drinkable but overrated, in my opinion.

Bottle, BWS, Alfred Cove, WA Pours a rich deep brown with tawny hues. Aromas is of dark fruits, spicy, and roasty. Flavour is big heavy roasted and crystal malts, dark plum and spicy date, lightened by fine carbonation. Great Winter Warmer.