Adnams Old Ale

Brewed by Adnams
Style: Old Ale
Southwold, England

Serve in English pint, Snifter

Malty caramels, raisin, milk, bit of liquorice spice, but still blander that I was hoping for, and I’m not sure it was in the best condition off the cask.

Cask (Castle, Cambridge)
6 Simple sweet malty aoma, some caramel.
4 Deep red, brief head.
6 Treacly caramel retronasals. Very simple taste, just sweet malts. Where’s the old classic taste gone?
3 Soft palate, carbonation low. Nothing special going on in the finish. hint of green hops, but more caramel too.
12 Not really doing it, too dull and sweet. This used to be such a great beer, before Adnams did their blandness death-spiral. I was hoping the new brewer could restore it to its former glory, but he probably never had it at its best, so didn’t know what to aim for.

The Victoria Inn, Beeston, Notts. I’ve been pleasantly stunned by some of Adnam’s recent bottled efforts, and so persuaded to try one of their cask beers- an arse-about-tit way of discovering English beer, maybe. Attractive, resolving mahogany with a fine, bone-coloured collar. Aroma of rust, wet hay and boiled sweets. Taste the same, with added streaks of raisin, milk chocolate and well-worn leather work boots (if you ate them). Glug of sugared supermarket bruin- Pelforth? Likeable sweet brew with a dapple of complexity.

Cask at the Green Man (JDW), Queen Victoria Street, London. An attractive reddish copper colour with a dense cream head; fruity aroma; clean and crisp with apple and red berry flavours and a dry finish. A tasty ale.

Cask at Sole Bay Inn, Southwold, England.
Dark reddish brown colour with small tan head. Caramel and some roastiness in mild aroma. Flavour is roasted malt and mild bitterness. Smooth but slightly flavourless.

Cask - The Glass House (JDW), Norwich. Poured a dark, ruddy brown with a thick & creamy lasting beige head leaving a dense lacing. Red fruit & subtle roasted malt aromas. Nutty & cakey, some more mid fruits on the tongue . Almost no bitterness to speak of, just a dash on the finish. A bit watery & metallic for my liking. Seemed just a step up from a keg smooth bitter really.

Cask at the Cleveland Arms, London. Pours a dark, ruby-brown with a mild, creamy tan head. Malty nose, with some kind of ripe fruits. Very sweet flavor, with dark malts, grape and prune, along with some licorice and toffee perhaps. Medium in body with fine carbonation. Dark fruit finish, nicely sweet, with very little bitterness. Plenty of lingering grape. Could use a bit more "umph" but decent overall.

Cask. The Gunmakers. London. Reddish brown colour with a beige head. Malty, caramel/chocolate, lightly roasted, lightly fruity, some licorice. Dry towards the finish.