Burton Bridge Empire Ale

Brewed by Burton Bridge
Style: English Strong Ale
Burton-on-Trent, England

Serve in English pint, Trappist glass

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I give this one a perfect rating. Reminded me of a weaker version of Piraat. Nice foamy head, beautiful taste with nice bubbles that lasted on the tongue, and what a great hoppy aroma. At first I thought a little pricey, but it was worth every penny. This beer has definitely gotten my interest renewed in IPA’s. Amazing that an English Ale can taste this good and hold its content from 1st sip to last.

Why can’t a domestic IPA taste this good? Simply incredible....hits the tip of your tongue right away with that hoppy bitterness

UPDATED: JUN 29, 2007 Original rating 6/27/07 - **Correction it has been 1630 days** ... since 1/9/03! It has been 1462 days and 406 ratings since I last sampled and rated a perfect beer. That streak ends today with this entry - Rating # 665. I was so focused on rating the Dark Lord for # 666 that this one came out of the blue to slap me upside me noggin. Who would have thought? Superb nose of flowers, perfume & pine, dried fruit & resin, berries & wheat. Pours a super sparkling golden. The fully lasting titanic uber-stiff off-white rocky head leaves hunks o’ lace on my glass. The brew has superb depth and balance. Warmth, bitterness, low acidity and dried fruit tones in the finish. The medium body is soft and creamy, the finish feels astringent. Everything I love, and nothing I don’t. Perfect!

Pours copper w/ a full, semi creamy froth. Good hangtime w/ a nice thick lasting lace. Aroma is rustic and sour w/ slight medicine. Full nectar w/ mellow, creamy residual effers. Very different indeed. Snappy hops, rustic citrus rind, old boot leather, and a bit of grapefruit meat. Theres a slight sweet medicinal property in the flavor that is rich yet enjoyable. I pour in the second half of the bottle to include all the sediment and the flavors turn chalky w/ a more pronounced hop profile. The finish is bittered nicely w/ citrus rind and leaves a fruity citrus flavor to linger. This is very English indeed. Highly recomnended.

"The sun never sets on the Empire". And indeed, in Britain’s Empire days, it never did, Britain had colonies that spanned the globe. India was one such colony. British troops stationed in India needed their daily beer, and the pale ales of Burton on Trent answered the call. But India was a long way from England, pale ale would spoil on that long sea voyage, and trips over land. What was a brewer to do? The answer? Take that famous Burton pale ale, brew it to a higher gravity giving it more alcohol, and add generous additions of hops to act as a preservative. This hoppy, potent brew becomes very popular among the British troops stationed in India, and a sub style of pale ale is born. This beer is now called India Pale Ale. The Burton Bridge Brewery, of Burton on Trent, in the village of Staffordshire, England brewes a historical version of India Pale Ale. Empire India Pale Ale attempts to simulate what this beer might have tasted like to one of those British troops. This beer is a very strong pale ale, with a really firm pale malt body, and a very aggressive hop character. This beer is a real ale it is conditioned for six months in the cask(the average length of the sea voyage), and then is bottle conditioned as well, with the addition of more yeast. This has to be the hoppiest British India Pale Ale, I belive I have ever tasted. It just explodes with British, EKG hop aromas and flavors. Empire India Pale Ale pours to a deep orange color with a rocky, thick white head, and a very lively carbonation. This beer is bottle conditioned, you have to pour carefully, you do not want to pour any of the yeast sediment in to your beer. The nose is the first thing that really impresses. I could literally smell the very fragrant floral hop character as I was pouring this beer. This beer is dry hopped by the bail loads. The nose is very aromatic with hop character, coupled with some pungent yeasty aromas as well. The palate is a very firm malt backbone, really nice biscuit like pale malt flavors mingle with some sweet caramel malt flavor. There is also a vinous character to this beer on the tongue, and again, a slight back drop of yeast flavor. This beer finishes with sweet maltiness up front, then dries with some really nice zesty hop bitterness, and a soothing, slightly warm alcohol burn. This beer weighs in at 7.5% avb, the proper strength of India Pale Ale. An exceptional British tribute to what India Pale Ale must have really tasted like in the Empire days. This beer would be perfect match to spicy Indian fare, and would work really well with fish and chips. I was very impressed with this beer, hands down, the hoppiest BIPA I have ever tasted. The only knock on this beer is it is a bit pricey. This beer is imported by Beverage United, and I paid $4.99 for a 22 oz bottle. I think a beer as rare and special is worth it. Treat yourself to a taste of the Empire, and seek this beer out.

This was flat-out awesome. The flavor was amazing. I only wish I'd been more sober so I could remember details better.

red-amber IPA, lots of hops aroma, full-bodies beer with a great bitterness, long dry finish, very complex beer for hops lovers only

Looks great. Cloudy orange-red. A strong citrus hop aroma with grapefruit. This is pretty darn tasty, even though it seems fruity. Then, it seems to get a bit of oldish flavor to it. A good dry hop bite at the end. Quite nice.

UPDATED: OCT 23, 2007 Bottle. Head is initially huge, frothy/creamy, rocky, off-white, fully lasting. Body is hazy light amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately yeasty (barnyard, leather, horseblanket, cobwebs), moderately hoppy (flowers, herbs, apricot, grapefruit), moderately malty (toasted bread, cookie), with notes of lemon peel, oak, grape, band-aid. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly to moderately bitter, lightly to moderately acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately to heavily bitter. Medium to full body, creamy texture, lively carbonation. England’s version of Orval, quite simply. Bretty/farmy/oaky aroma, huge lasting head, lots of yeast character (yet balanced with the malt and hop notes), etc. Complex and remarkably elegant for being so rustic. An amazing beer, truly. Have only had one ho-hum bottle in all the years I’ve been sampling it (very young/fresh bottles may not have as much yeast-driven characters). An IPA that can age quite well.

An outstanding beer. I had no idea what to expect from this one but I was very pleased with my purchase. Pours a cloudy orange/amber with a huge white head. Aroma reminds me of cream sherry. The hops dominate the flavor with the warming effects of the alcohol poking through the bitter hop haze. Wonderful.