Arkells Kingsdown Special Ale

Brewed by Arkells
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Swindon, England

Serve in English pint

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Beer flavoured water? Weird dryness but quite sweet. Gluggable. Lightly honeyed and then again dry in the finish. Weird and stale.

It is strong in its aftertaste despite having a weak body, but what ale flavour it has is poor.

Cask at the Blue Boar, Billericay. Pours dark amber with a faint orange glow and a creamy off-white head. Bitter hops dominate the aroma but there is a faint fruitiness. Palate is thin / medium. Initial taste and texture is reminiscent of devouring peach flesh but this is quickly over-layed with fruity caramel and a burnt-sugar sweet maltiness followed by a dry bitter aftertaste. Lovely lacing down the glass too.

Amber/copper colour with a thin pale beige head. Fruity hoppy long bitter finish. I’ve said this before - I don’t want to knock some sod’s work but this isn’t for me. It wasn’t awful.

Cask by handpump at Last Post, Paisley (6 Jan 12) - light malt aroma, pours clear brown with a small cream head, hint of apple in the flavour, but unbalanced and a bit sickly.

From cask. Pours clear and golden orange with a small white head. Aroma is mild fruity and roasted malty. Bitter and slight fruity. Dry and bitter finish.

cask at JDW ...red coppper ... thin creamy light tan head ... rich toffee malt tart cooking apple nose ... again apple and odd toffeee ... not very nice

cask @ the White Hart, Stow-on-the-Wold, England. amber pour, notes of dried fruit, sweet malts, very sweet, medium mouthfeel. @ 5% one the higher ABV we encountered in cask.

Not bad, but nothing special. Bitter and dry, but a tad thin and fairly bland. Little hops and malt.

Clear dark copper. Very bitter but not in an interesting way. Very faint malt and tastes filtered. Pretty dull.