Black Sheep Ale (Bottle)

Brewed by Black Sheep
Style: Bitter
Ripon, England

Serve in English pint

Very dark bitter ale. Very british. Drank this while walking by Buckingham palace from a pint bottle. It might be a little bit too bitter for me, but still excellent. Not quite a black sheep amongst british beers, but still worth drinking. Also has a higher alcohol content than most British beers do.

Colour half-hazy amber. Weak aroma, faint malt. Taste of lipstick, with a bitter long finish with nuts. Didn’t taste much, a bit of a disappointment.

Bottle: Aroma of hops, hops and then more hops, pours a bright amber with lively carbonation and a short lasting beige head. Taste is crisp with sweet malts rapidly replaced with bitterness, and then a long lasting, pleasant, bitter aftertaste. Excellent.

First off I had a negative first impression of this beer because of the name (psychologically, I was ready for the strong taste/smell of sheep farm). As stupid as the statement sounds, it’s the truth. I was very pleased to find out that this was actually a very good beer. No sheep smell at all in this beer, just a good sweet, roasted hazelnut aroma. Body’s a tan orange and a little bit cloudy with a bubbly off-white head of one finger. Flavor is exceptionally well-balanced roast nuts, barley, malt and hops. Consistency is on the fringe of being watery. A note to sheep haters: Don’t let the name curve your decision to buy this beer.

Bottle. Amber colour with a white head. Aroma is hoppy and flavour is malty and hoppy.

Bottle poured into an english pint, cloudy cider color with substantial tan head, still holding on halfway through. Aroma of spicy hops w/ mellow fruityness and complex malts, maybe some oak. The flavor is complex. It seems like an absurd acidity on the tip of the tongue, pulled under control by mellowing malts, smooth carbonation, and dry bitter finish. Maybe some oranges or apricots. Requires a bit of releshment. Beautiful.

(Bottle, Stockholm Beer Festival, 30 Sep) Amber colour with off-white head. Fruity nose with a nice earthy hop aroma (lots of Goldings character). Fruity, rather bitter, taste with a nice earthy hop character. I usually get a bit disappointed with English bottled beers, they tend not to match the cask conditioned versions, but this was a nice surprise. Nice bitter/hoppy character.

A light citrus hop nose. Golden pour topped by a medium off-white head. Light bisquit maltiness with some notes of honey. Mildly bittering citrus and earthy hops. Decent.