Bathams Special Strong Ale (XXX)

Brewed by Bathams
Style: English Strong Ale
Brierley Hill, England

Serve in English pint, Trappist glass

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Brown 500ml bottle, best before the end of June 2011, drank and reviewed on a snowy afternoon, 30th Nov 2010. Poured into a ’Batemans’ badged UK pint sleeve. Good amber body with a creamy, light tan coloured head of foam. The head left some good lacing as the beer level dropped. Aroma reminded me of sultanas and raisins, so a Rum hint within the smell, along with a heavy wiff of yeasts and alcohol. The taste is sharp and crisp, with the currents already mentioned coming through in the aftertaste. The alcohol is just about held in check, but not quite. A tinge of cinnamon also appears as the initial flavours fade in the mouth. In other words a Winter Warmer sort of beer. Very drinkable and a good warming brew, it fortified me for the walk into town through the cold and falling snow.

Bottle @ pre-GBBF shindig, August 2009 as Special Strong Ale. I like Bathams as a brewery. They are ultra traditional and have a small chain of pubs in the Midlands. Nothing much has changed at Bathams for decades, beer range included. Unfortunately, the bottled version of this beer didn’t work too well for me. Copper colour. Odd musty notes & a little cardboardy. Not really a strong ale. Not horrible but not too appealing either. Probably an old bottle but there was no BBE date so it is hard to know. Must try to find this one from cask some time.

Bottle 330ml. @ Chriso’s pre GBBF Shindig ’09.
Clear medium yellow orange color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, toasted, caramel, oxidide malt, light to moderate hoppy. Flavor is moderate sweet and light to moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20090801]

Bottle at Chriso pre-GBBF tasting 09. Cloudy gold colour with thin white head. Musty on the aroma. Not good. In fact it was poor.

Slightly hazy amber with a small off-white head. Aroma of caramel and dried fruit. Sweet and fruity flavour

Bottle at Chris-o’s Pre GBBF tasting and 2009 ... amber ... sweet melon watter hop ... big toffeee ... fruity hop ... little spic.

A Mes rate: bottle at the ever brilliant Chris O’s Pre GBBF Extravaganza.
Russet colour, just about holding on to an off white film. Sweet and puddingy. Lots of spice, Something vaguely meadish about it. Faint peppery bitter finish with more pudding. Uneventful and not great. It did however give me the opportunity to use the words puddingy and meadish in my notes.

:)

WIN!

Bottle at the legend of chriso’s pre GBBF09 tasting. Alround rating: Caramel and pale lightly grainy malts, grassy bitterness some floral honey. Good stuff.

Bottled. Golden colour, small foamy beige head. Aroma is sweet malts, some cardboard, mild alcohol and some glueish/rubbery notes. Flavour is quite much the same. Rather sweet notes in the finish.

My Bottom Line:
Oranges surface within the biscuity and honeyed malts of this slick English Strong Ale, while discreet leafy hoppiness adds to the last half of each sip.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-Fleeting foam barely covers the hazy pale amber.
-Am I really tasting alcohol in a 6% brew? Hmmm, I’m pretty sure I am...
-Carbonation is peaceful, which befits the beer’s origins.
-The body is plump with plenty of honey and caramel-like dextrins, yet the finishing result is quite drinkable.
-This was cleanly brewed, but the flavor profile itself was highly forgettable after less than a year in the bottle.

Bottle.