Black Sheep Ale (Bottle)

Brewed by Black Sheep
Style: Bitter
Ripon, England

Serve in English pint

I found this beer pretty one-dimensional, but satisfying. The finish is clean, and there is a definite dryness that lingers long after drinking. I found it sweeter and less intense than I imagined (where are the hops mentioned on the bottle?), but that might have been a good thing. It’s a good session beer.

pint bottle...long lasting head, didn’t reall get any aroma from this one.... kinda bland, and over all mediocre.

Has a clear light bronze-red pour with a white and off-white head, head quickly fades to a ring and sparse cover, mild effervescence, aromas of faint caramel and toasted malt, faint fruit sweetness, some earthy fragrances, faint dark honey in the background, flavor of light toasted malt, faint caramel and mild sweetness, little bitterness follows at the finish, and the finish is dry, this was alright.

Pours an amber ruby color with a medium to small sized foamy off white head. Notes of raspberries, toasted biscuits, toffee, and hints of caramel. Pretty basic and highly quaffable at 4.4.

Perhaps it’s unfair to rate this so soon after (and still buzzed on) a good, strong Belgian tripel, but Black Sheep simply tastes like beer. Just plain ol’ beer. Granted, it’s malty and hoppy, with a little bit of burnt oak lurking in there somewhere, and it’s better than the watery piss American and (I’m sad to say) Canadian macrobreweries try to pass off as beer. But the bottle boasts "the culmination of five generations of brewing expertise. Brewed at teh Black Sheep Brewerey in Masham, North Yorkshire - and nowhere else." Really. This is the result. Sure, in Yorkshire, "five generations" usually means about 75 years, but don’t the deep-voiced, working-class heroes of the North deserve better? Is this really the beer of the people who survived political unrest, the Norms, the Viking, the War of the Roses, two cholera epidemics and the tragedy of Sheffield United in the late ’70s? Given the agony being from Yorkshire, don’t they deserve a more memorable beer?

Bottle pours light brown with a slight off white head. Yeasty aroma with some grain and oat in there. Off flavors at the beginning of the sip. Slight burnt rubber taste. Sweeter than imagined before drinking. Average.

0.5l - Dark gold liquid with light tan head, light wood on nose, malt with some hop bitterness on end. Good not great.

Golden orange in color with a small off-white head. Aroma is of fruit, malt, toffee, and caramel. Taste is of caramel, toast and a little hops.