Brew Wharf Top To Bottom 69 Hop Ale

Brewed by Brew Wharf
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
London, England

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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From tap at the brewery. Pours dark amber with a small white head. Aroma is fruity, grapefruity and slight citrusy. Bitter and crisp hoppy. Slight breadish and roasted malty. Lingering malty and crisp hoppy finish.

500ml bottle given to me by Mes - reakt suggested strongly that I not let any grass grow under this one. Nice "gissshhhhhh" of carbonation when I opened it, that’s a good sign. Well, it has some impressive little asteroid floaties in it, but that doesn’t deter me one bit - a nice bubbly amber with a large lasting rocky/foamy beige head. That aroma - holy crap - it’s not huge, but my nose balked, I have no idea what I am smelling - perfume, herbal, resin, very dry citrus zest, and there’s an insistent medicinal quality that really isn’t detracting, vaguely like iodine? - I am sure there is solid malt backbone here, but I can’t pull it out of that melange - this must have been incredible fresh, I’m still 7+ on it at this later date. The taste ... it’s a bit like an Islay wort (or whatever they call the whiskey equivalent to wort) - underlying sweet grain, a whole bunch of muted herbal/citrus/grassy/etc bitterness, but a light peat and iodine sharpness ... again, it has probably gone a bit downhill, but I am still 7- (I am a sucker for Islay character, even if it isn’t intended). It’s thick, only lightly astringent, modestly carbonated, with a long, odd, shifting, nebulous bitter/medicinal finish ----- I am enjoying this immensely, and giving it 15/20 based mostly on "now" and only a snick on what I imagine it was like in its prime. Cheers, Mes! (and Ang).

Bottle 500ml.

[ Courtesy of Alex420 ]. Clear medium amber colour with a small to average, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, toasted - caramel, moderate to light heavy hoppy, citrus, dusty hops, orange - citrus, grapefruit notes. Flavour is moderate to light heavy sweet and bitter with a average to long duration, hoppy, bitter hops, dry, caramel, medicine notes. IMO a bit messy in the hop profile ! Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft to flat. [20110512]

Cask gravity at planet Thanet Bf 2011. Clear deep brown colour with thhin bubbly off white head. Strong hoppy aroma. Its really good. Lovely strong pink grapefruit flavour some sweetness from the malts to balance. Lovely bitterness on the finish. Very drinkable.

Bottle; thanks to Reakt Kinda malt caramel bomb appearance; aroma is lots and lots of hops; pine, citrus, oranges, fresh bread, bitter espresso, cream, oil, cranberries, blackcurrants, . Taste is oranges, clemantines, black currants, cream, oil, cranberries, blackcurrant, petrol, floral hops, quite bitter, a thoroughly interesting beer. Not as fresh as it should be. Shared with Stuart after his gig.

31st March 2011
On tap at the Brew Wharf! Clear brown beer, residual bubbly white head. Light palate, semi dry. Mild carbonation. Nice malt base, not too heavy and fairly sweet. Some piney hops on top. Overall quite a sweetish IPA and a very decent drinkable beer.

Cask at Brew Wharf. Pours a deep copper, with a medium off white head. Quite creamy mouthfeel, while grassy, lots of passionfruit and orange, with a bitter lemon finish.

Draught @ Brew Wharf. Clear medium dark oaky brown colour with a good head. Sweet grassy hoppy aroma. Strong sweet hoppy flavour. Quite smooth & oily. Not much fizz.

Draught/Cask@Brew Wharf
Clear nut brown color, small off-white head. Woody hoppy, a bit toffeish nutty flavor. Decent body (thanks to 5.4%). Nutty, a bit sweetish flavor with below average bitterness for IPA. Leans more towards to ESB. I read description afterwards - seems that using 69 hops didn’t add much, although it is not a bad brew.