Blue Monkey El Dorado

Brewed by Blue Monkey
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Nottingham, England

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Cask conditioned at The Wellington, Birmingham. Gold with white head. My first experience of the El Dorado hop, it is quite perfumed in character, a bit like summer honeysuckle, quite nasal. The body of the beer is kept light, which I presume is to give the hop every chance to show through. Not sure if it is a hop to have on its own, it could do with something to give it a bit of bitter depth, but otherwise perfectly fine.

Cask, Slug & Lettuce, Leicester. Pale gold with a thin foam. Aromas are biscuit with light caramel malts. Some toast with floral notes and melon. Nutty with low lemon and some mineral notes. Lightly aromatic but fairly complex. Flavours are sweet caramel and biscuit with apple and pear. Marmalade on toast with a floral, herbal finish. Very pleasant.

Cask handpull, The Crown, Beeston, Notts. Bright and brassy, fine white foam lacing generously. Mellow, lychee-hinting hop and biscuit aroma; strawberry and cream Campinos, too. Mouth a silky bag of lychee, slight vomit, red apple hints, clean cashew afters. Slight pipette of seawater. Getting some chocolate as well despite the paleness. Has some slatey, northern (Scottish?) character to it. Good as I’ve come to expect from The Monkey, but doesn’t quite hit the heights.