Adnams Yuletide

Brewed by Adnams
Style: Old Ale
Southwold, England

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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Half pint, hand pulled in the excellent ‘Castle’ (Cambridge in 2011). The Adnam’s owned pub had 8 different beers of their own available in cask form, so half pints were the order of the day. Dark amber to chestnut in colour, with a white foaming head. Brewed with Maris Otter, Chocolate and Amber Malts: the smell was always going to be malty and it certainly was. The hops used are Boadicea and Chinook but they don’t appear in the aroma at all. The taste was of a fruity malt loaf with a slight bitterness from the hops towards the end. The 4.5% ABV sits nicely within the brew making the beer easy to drink, a pleasant enough Christmas beer without ‘setting the world alight’.

Cask handpull at Bohemian, Deal. Ruby/dark brown with lasting beige head. An odd mix of a traditional malty winter warmer and a spicy, peppery beer. Great condition mind. Actually I really like this. Proper spicy winter beer. Soft in mouth. Good dry malts.

Cask at George V, London School of Economics. Malt, caramel, a hint of spice and a whiff of yeast. Fine hoppiness in the finish.

A solid winter ale from Adnams. Very nutty; roasted malts, caramel and a slight coffee edge. Also a tad dreid fruits and nuts. A nice beer. I’d like to have this more often but it is rare. A solid ale poured from cask at White Horse in Chelmsford. Enjoyable and quaffable session winter beer .

Cask (The Regal (JDW), Cambridge)
6 Sweet fruit-coctail childrens sweets, ruby grapefruit and peach. Lots of bubblegum.
4 Very deep red, small scummy head, was from a sparkler.
6 Some apple retronasals, rich roasty almost treacly sweetness. I think I even got some ginger initially, but that didn’t return.
4 Smooth palate, very soft carbonation. Finish has some subtle bitter hops, but they feel a bit muted.
13 Adequate tasty bitter, nothing special.

Tasted this in the Crystal Palace, Glasgow (JDW) in December 2010. Cask, handpump dispense. Crystal clear ruby red in colour with an off white creamy head. Slight hop prickle in the short aroma. Good lacing and pleasant creamy mouthfeel. Pale malts give a digestive biscuit note with dark berry fruit, damsons and sultanas. Slight hint of liquorice in there. Spicy hops are present in the bitter aftertaste. Moreish finish with hazelnuts and sherry fruit notes. Tastes like an old English ale. Another good session ale from the Adnams portfolio.

Handpulled cask at the Duke of Hamilton, Hampstead. Ruby/brown with a thick off white head. Malty and spicy with just enough hops in the finish.

Cask at Wellington Arms, Bedford. Dark red brown with a small white head. Aroma is slightly sour. Taste has malt overlaid by a sourness that began as unripe pear and developed into milk that’s going off. Some bitterness. I wanted this to be sweeter, but, all things considered, it’s drinkable.

JDW, Hackney during the North London Line crawl. Malty - deep and tasty in Adnam’s style. Nice.

Cask conditioned at The Falkland Arms, Great Tew, Oxon. Chestnut with off white head. Roasty malty christmas beer, meant to be a warmer, but doesn’t quite have the body for it. Remains fairly dry through the beer with a reasonable fruitiness. Reasonable.