Downton Chimera I.P.A.

Brewed by Downton
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Salisbury, England

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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500ml bottle from Bacchanalia, Cambridge. I was looking forward to this. Some people had bad bottles, so I was in two minds, but I had a good one. Gold colour with lasting white head. Strong citrus astringent hop aroma. Really very leafy floral hop, like De Ranke XX Bitter. Just gorgeous. Enough malt to give it a bit of body. Sour astringent aroma. Sherberty hop finish. Wonderful.

Gold with a white head. Complex and agreeable aroma with some fruit, possibly gooseberry rather than citrus, with a hint of alcohol. Also sweet caramel and hops. the taste is dominated by buttery, malty sweetness, followed by a prolonged, rather grassy bitter hit. Interesting, absorbing beer, made for slow contemplation rather than quaffing.

UPDATED: FEB 20, 2009 Bottle Picked this up in Langton Matravers Dorset, June 2006. I was so impressed with this beer that I had to stop at the brewery on the way home. I met with the young chap who runs it and picked up half a dozen bottles of this stuff.. Warm golden colour, small white head, hoppy aroma and a great hoppy taste. This beer has the most incredible bitter finish that lingers forever and a day. Had a bottle of this sat outside my tent drifted off for forty winks and could still taste the beer an hour or so later. Really loved this beer! (Bottled version states 7%ABV) A7 A4 F8 P4 OV18 4.1 Had this beer again 17-02-09 came in a mixed box from Beers of Europe. Pours warm gold, I love the bitterness of this beer, its not harsh or brash but its there and in abundance, I see it as a very British bitterness. This is every bit as good as I remember, and has to be one of my all time fave UK IPA’s. Great stuff and still a worthy 4+ scoring UK beer, no change to my original score.

Bottle. Pale orange colour with a slim and steady white head. Nice hoppy aroma. Hoppy taste, nice big bitter finish. Some honey sweetness throughout. Slight alcohol warm at the end. Medium to full bodied. This is my sort of IPA, very drinkable, lots of tasty hops, decent amount of alcohol - very nice indeed.

Tasted 01/06/2007. 500ml bottle, Rumble’s. Left to vent for a couple of hours, after some pretty volcanic strong English ales in the past. Just on the pale side of golden. Creamy white head tries hard, but doesn’t stand at chance at this alcohol level (though that might be a different story if it wasn’t cellar temp). Citrus and stonefruit blossom hops fill the nose at first, followed by a rich pale malt character that is slightly caramelly and certainly a little minerally. Warming alcohol becomes prominent. In the mouth it’s richly malty, with a strong sappy, almost steely, hop character. More mineral notes again, with a prominent fruity ester and alcohol character. Quite warming. Intensely bitter. Lingering. Did I say lingering? Barley sugars make an appearance at this stage too, hidden amongst the tongue-scraping bitterness.. A great beer to introuduce the concept of bitterness and a classic English IPA in my opinion. If DAB is the ex-girlfriend who remains your friend, this is the mate that nobody quite appreciates. Damn it’s bitter!

Bottle - Deep lightly hazy golden body with a beautiful white fluffy big bubbled head; Very nice nose with lots of aroma, light colored malt, almost pilsner malt aromas, with very fine citrus hop aromas behind, light and crisp; Big upfront body with a strange mix of full sweetness from the alcohol and a very crisp dry part from what seems like a huge amount of hops, very interesting and definitely very new experience to me; Long finish that become even more dry, again mixed with a full alcohol part that also brings sweetness, there is a harsh part to this beer that I have not experienced before maybe from the huge amount of UK hops being used. Very interesting beer, that I think would have been even better with a little lower alcohol content. Thanks Fin!!!

courtesy of Toni Flükiger - slightly hazy golden-orange colour with a very foamy white head; resiney nose with notes of pear and apple; clean and medium malt body, creamy mouthfeel and with a solid bitterness; very dry and bitter resiney and fruity finish - robust and straightforward

Clear golden of color with a nice white head. Ana aroma of grapefruits, citrus, hops and a light malt profil. A flavor of bitter apples, hops and grass.

Bottled. Very strong hop presence which I enjoyed although some people would find overpowering.Very sharp bitterness and not as smooth as some IPA.s.But none the less a very nice beer.

Bottle from cgarvieuk. Aroma is honey pale malts, floural grassy hints at lime zest and a yeasty dustyness. Taste is initially bittering hop, pale malts with a rock like sweetness rush over, the swallow gives grassy floural bitterness but balancing very very well. This seems strangly carabonated to me, like it seems to have more carbonation than it should, but the bubbles are fine so it goes down well. Alcohol is well hidden, a danger too the cad!