2.8 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
Cask, handpump at the brewpub, The Exeter Arms, Barrowden, Rutland, whilst cycling in this Rutland Water area 14.05.11 Pours mid amber touch hazy. Not a lot going on here and I was beginning to become a little disappointed, but the next three beers were much better. Mostly toffee, touch watery and thin, lacking any real hoppy profile and bitterness, sounds like I’m slating it but it was just an ordinary boring brown bitter. A6 A3 T5 P3 Ov11 2.8
2.9 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 10/20
30th April 2011
At the brewpub. Clear amber beer, good white head. Smooth semi dry palate. Even malt, a tad tea like. Well balanced hops, mild but fruity. Semi dry finish. Mildy bitter aftertaste. Not bad.
3.1 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
The Exeter Arms, Barrowden (brewed out back). Red amber. More rounded and less spiky than the ’Beech’. Mellow leafy hop and citrus aroma. A bit thin and lacking in hop aromatics, but assertive presence in a dry finish. Shampoo again. Some almost rum-like grainy alcohol notes. Pretty good, but the Hop Gear is better.
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 18/20
Cask at the Leicester Beer Festival. Excellent in both flavour and aroma. A very earthy beer, almost mushroomy in flavour. I liked it so much I had it twice.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 17/20
Cask at the Leicester Beer Festival. This was the 1st place bitter of the festival and it is very good indeed. It’s a nice amber colour, with a full-on fruity aroma. The flavour is full, rich and balanced with earthy malt and some sweetness but plenty of sharp bitterness from the hops. Richly deserving of its win, this is a beer I hope to encounter again.
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