Burton Bridge Thomas Sykes Old Ale

Cask Conditioned at the Royal Standard, Wooburn Common. Pale copper colour. Alcoholic, fruity and sweet aroma. Flavour is sweet fruit, syrupy with lots of alcohol upfront. Notes of raisin, plum and a hot alcohol finish. Drinks extremely easy for a beer of it’s alcohol content. Quite amazing beer, almost perfect for me.

World class aroma of mineral, lightly glazed pecans, pumpkin, candied bready malts. Firm, lightly syrupy palate. Beautiful flavors of apple, medicinal tinges, sugared malts with a hint of hay. Unbelievably long pale malt finish. Maybe the most exquisite beer I've ever enjoyed on hand pull. Obviously some very fine malts were used in this to achieve such amazing character. These notes were taken from memory; my written notes were confused with someone else's napkin.

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

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 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.

Cask pull at The Map Room, Chicago. Brassy brown color with a thin but bubbly head. The smell betrays little of whatever is concealed within, just a thin (that word again) hint of crystal malt. The taste tells all, however. The fruitiness of a nice long warm ferment, some caramel malt with a bit of toffees, apples and grapes. A warm alky burn that’s somehow gentle at the same time. Some pretense of sherry, back by floral or fuity hops. Difficult for the novice, but fascinating to beer geekdom.

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]

Cask conditioned at Merton Beer Fest 07. Copper coloured with bubbly white head. It had to be done, it was there so it had to be conquered, and quite pleasing it was too. Thinnish initially but then an instant alcohol burn on the tongue, but this is balanced with some mid roasted malt and a mildly fruity finish. A pleasing lack of medicinal note, one of the better big uns.