Ballards Wassail

Brewed by Ballards
Style: English Strong Ale
Petersfield, England

Serve in English pint, Trappist glass

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Hand pulled at the White Horse, Parsons Green, London (as part of their Old Ale festival), with Joeh and Maeib. Bright copper, with a slight, sparse head. Some metal and sweet notes. Treacly finish, building some warmth, with alcohol evident. OK, but I can’t find too much to say.

Cask at the Wandsworth spring BF, London. Pours clear, dark amber with a foamy, white head. Toast, leaves, ripe fruits and faint toffee in the nose. Medium sweet flavor with plenty of toasty sugars, bread, light spice and bitter leaves and earth. Medium bodied with fine carbonation. Sticky sweet finish, lightly warming with lots of leafy hops and some leathery fruits. OK.

Murky red, white head, with sweet Toffee and fruit nose. Heavy and sweet. Sweet finish.

I tasted this bottled and at room temperature which really brought out the fruity and spicy aromas. Hazy brown in appearance. Aromas certainly fruit like - pear drops, damson and juniper carried by the alcohol. Lively on the tongue, bitter and fruity as much as malty with the warming sensation of the alcohol content. An ale for cold evenings.

First tasted this in the Evening Star, Brighton in June 1993. Cask, handpump dispense. Dark ruby red in colour with a thin creamy off white head. Strong malty lingering notes waft off this. Creamy mouthfeel and good lacing throughout. Mixed malts give a robust full flavour of fruity maltloaf, syrupy raisins and creamy highland toffee. Bitter metallic tang in the short aftertaste but finish is rich, malty and vineous with a hint of dry walnuts. A right old fashioned English Strong ale and highly recommended.

Bought as a bottle of English Heritage Wassail from Stokesay Castle, Shropshire. Pours a dark honey, going on cola colour with some head. The nose has honey, sweet malt and a real rum ’n’ raisin note. The taste has sweet malt, prunes and alcohol burn. The palate is medium to large in body, there is a thick texture but it is slightly spoilt by the alcohol burn on the finish. Overall, a good beer that could have been better had they concealed the alcohol at least to some extent.

Cask (handpump) @ Market Porter, 9 Stoney Street, Southwark, London, Greater London, England SE1 9AA.

Clear light dark amber colour with a small to average, frothy - fizzy, good lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white to beige head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, toasted, roasted, caramel, malty, wood - resin notes. Flavor is moderate to light light heavy sweet, light light acidic and moderate bitter with a long to average duration, vinegar notes, caramel, dark malt. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft to flat. [20101227]

English Heritage bottle from Dover Castle. Pours a clear brown, with a small off white head. Aroma is slightly tropical, with hints of citrus and toffee. Taste is actually quite bready, with only a slight citrusy fruitiness. Slight hop bitterness at the finish.

50 cl bottle, ’English Heritage Wassail’ from Castleton. Dense opaque nut brown, zero head. Sour cherry aroma, sour roasted malt flavour, prune and leather come out. Brightness of hops come out on the finish.

Cask-conditioned at the Sussex beer festival, Seven Stars, Bristol 6/1/11. Deep, reddish amber with a slight off-white head. Sweet, caramel and red fruit aroma, with some earthy hops. Flavour was also sweet, with a hint of toasted malts and short, dry finish with the alcohol very prominent. Not a beer I would try again.

Pours clear deep cherry brown with small off white head. Aroma is very fruity, full bodied with notes of bread and yeast. Flavor of citric, fidges, dades, malts and is sweet. Palate feel is lean as velvet, very nice. Finishes first acidy sweet then turning into nice tart hoppy aftertaste. Enjoyable.