Burton Bridge Thomas Sykes Old Ale

Brewed by Burton Bridge
Style: Barley Wine
Burton-on-Trent, England

Cask at Spuyten Duyvil. Pale golden coloured beer with a thin white head. Aroma is lightly malty with a softly honeyish aroma. A bit of toasted grain and light caramel along with a bit of herbal character. It’s lightly oaky but without any real spirit character. A bit of mint and a touch of lingering oakiness. A lightly lingering oaky chewiness.

Cask @ Spuyten Duyvil. Poured a hazy golden orange color with a small white head. Malty and sweet aroma with some fruit to it. Peach skins and apples. Malty flavor with a touch of fruit. Then very dry and fairly bitter. Long dry finish.

Cask at Spuyten Duyvil - hazy gold beer - the smell is peaty, earthy, and slightly medicinal - the flavor is kind of the same - dry, scotch-like, mildly medicinal, buttery/bready - the back end is some dryer kind of british maltiness (marris otter or golden promise) - fairly bitter in the long term, with lingering hops - diacetyl on the back end - a little bit of a mess for me.

Handpullled cask at Watford beer fest. Copper coloured beer. The aroma has alcohol in abundance together with cream. It is quite sweet in the nose and almost sickly. The taste is thick and smooth. It is fruity and alcoholic. Touches of vanilla and very tasty.

A Mes rate: gravicask at Twickenham beer festival.
Absolute madness. Mad as a bag of frogs. Deep dark copper colour with a very slight haze and struggling to just about hold onto a filmy head. Massive cheesy barley wine type notes fall out of the glass and fill the air with funk. This is so bloody rich. Loads of fruity pineapple and sweet alcohol. It’s rather decadent and downright naughty. Thick and close to cloying but I really am enjoying this. One of those beers where you know it’s gonna get you seriously messy and every part of you is game for the banter. Excellent stuff. Bonkers Conkers if I may... Crap rate but it kicked my ass. Especially when we started mixing it with the bit of a Goose Bourbon...

On tap at Rich O’s Pours clear amber with a fully receding white head. Aroma of grape, toffee, red wine, light tart note. Taste of red wine, phenols, tannins, tart/acidic, cherry and oak. Medium to full bodied, dry with light alcoholic note, and no carbonation.

Cask at Twickenham Beer Festival 2007. Pours red copper colou. Small bubbly head. Nose of toffee and caramel. Some malt and hops. Sweet, sticky and hoppy and finishes quite bitter. Alcohol burn. Quite complex.

Cask @ Twickenham BF. Copper colour with not much head. Alcohol aroma hits right away followed by a rich / sweet / caramel aroma. Taste is sweet / toffee / honey. Great barley wine. Smoother and more drinkable than I thought it would be.