Burton Bridge Thomas Sykes Old Ale

Cask Stillage at the Town Hall, Stockport 30/05/2002 Amber mid brown coloured and extremely strong in alcohol. Fruity flavours and a warming malt finish.

Cask@Chelmsford Beer Festival. Unbelievably phenolic butterscotch aroma and flavour. The alcohol isn’t well masked t all. Too much sticky caramel and butterscotch, and way too much alcohol in the finish.

Gravity at the Swan in the Rushes, Loughborough. Dark brown and flat looking. But an excellent barley wine. Sweet and syrupy. Brown sugar, malty, smooth with an excellent mouthfeel. Great alcohol finish.

Bright bottled, from the Thurrock Beer Festival.
Viscous, crimson, orange colour. A classic barley wine and style that all barley wine freaks would appreciate. Sweat and syrupy this strong beer laid it all out on the table. Strong bitterness and sweetness forced together in a single beer.

Thurrock Fest. Soft, warm, sweet - but not heavy, and with a healthy balance of bitterness in the finish. This was getting all the attention at the Fest (well, from the half-dozen or so people who were there!) [4.0] . Bright bottle: Alcohol is more noticable, and some of the fresh flavours have slipped away, as has the gentle sweetness. Bitterness more strongly felt. [3.7]

Now this is a barley wine, for sure. You can sense the alcohol from a couple of feet away! Spirity, alcoholic aroma, counterpointed by strong elements of fruity malt. The alcohol hit continues through into the flavour and finish, but all sorts of other complex tones there as well. Very well made and balanced with a mouthfeel that is far less heavy than one might expect, thus drinks very easily. Unfortunately, no matter how I try, I cannot really get to appreciate that candy sugar finish that these strong beers tend to have. Maybe its because I do most of my drinking in a social atmosphere in the pub, rather than sipping at home. No doubt a real aficionado of the style would give it a couple more points. Handpump, Head of Steam, Euston, London NW1, December 2003

Super boozy, with alcohol vapours and a warm feeling. This is as complex as Xmas pud and one of the best beers I have had at a festival. Very, very powerful. Very good. Good ole Burton Bridge!

Gravity Head 2003-I have had few imported Barley Wines and this one is simply amazing.Malty smooth cookielike and caramel flavours. So drinkable it made me want another but this being Gravity Head I was forced to move on.Fruity sugary sweetness that my palate loved this strong ale is a winner