 downender (1532), Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
Jul 17, 2008
Cask-conditioned at the Cornish Beer Festival, The Star, Bath 17/7/08. This was a reddish-amber and badged at 6.7%. Spingo special could never be accused of blandness - I found it to be a sweet English strong ale with plenty of toffee and red fruit, with accompanying moss and lichen by the shovel load, giving rise to some real earthiness by way of contrast. A half pint was great to experience a classic English beer. A pint would have been challenging, a session too much. Fortunately I had the half and enjoyed it.
Fin (2189), Merton, Oxfordshire, England
May 19, 2008 Bottle, Westholm Londis store, Goring-on-Thames, Oxon consumed 18-05-08 Dark brown, cloudy with huge off-white frothy head, which continued to froth out of the bottle 5-10 mins after I had poured half the bottle into my glass. The taste is somewhat unusual, Glens right with the earthy, yeasty description but to be fair it also reminds me of my last attempt at homebrewing i.e. shockingly amateurish. I’ve argued with others before on the forums about Cornish beer on the whole being average or worse save for the odd exception this lends weight to my argument. The label proclaims this to be the famous Spingo and Jack at Westholm stores was so excited about this beer, I really think that I need to get the homebrew kit out because I feel that this is really quite poor I’m afraid to say.
Pub (4046), Banbury, Oxfordshire, England
Apr 29, 2007 Bottle conditioned, 330ml, aged 6 yrs. Cloudy brown with beige head. Being drunk in honour of Birminghams promotion from The Championship to The Premier, Yeehah. Smooth but sweet beer with an earthy, yeasty note. Absolutely volcanic on opening. Toffee, caramel. Not great, but who cares, i’m celebrating.
cgarvieuk (2385), Edinburgh, Scotland
Mar 3, 2007 slightly clowdy brown, with a toffee caramalised malty nose and flavour,nicly balanced
ALLOVATE (1108), Perth, Australia
Aug 2, 2006 Cask, handpump @ the Blue Anchor Inn, Helston, Cornwall.
On the blackboard in chalk it read easter special and I was delighted. An hour later the head brewer dissolved it as just ’the Special’ so I was equally delighted. Hell if it was anything like the rest I would have been delighted just to try the brewing liquor!!. Anyway, in the pint it sits a deep cola brown, quite bright with a wafer thin, densely formed tannish head that held out and left a little legs. Strong and long lived waft of sun dried berries, figs and other savoury fruits with just a touch of aged timber. Thick, syrupy, port-like presence in the mouth. Very smooth, wine-like and a follow through of the aroma for flavour. Beautiful depth of vinous fruit with just a lick of bitter fruit to show the void between palate and swallow. Doesn’t hold the ABV well, and hell that is what makes it so enjoyable. It’s an after dinner dessert of a beer. Big presence in the mouth and long in the swallow. A huge brew. Lovely.
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