Elveden Harwich Charter Ale

Brewed by Elveden
Style: Old Ale
Thetford,, England

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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A dark, “Coca-Cola” looking brown beer with a light effevescence. The nose is strong, malty and very alcoholic. Reminiscent of brandy liqueur! There is a hint of fruity sweetness. The taste is strong, alcoholic and malty. There is a dry chocolate like flavour with a touch of burnt sugar caramel and liquorice. From a mushroom corked bottle labelled ’Arctic Ale’.. (Bottle - purchased for £4.50 a bottle from The Real Ale Shop, Branthill Farm, Wellls-next-the-Sea, Norfolk).

RBESG Sheffield 2009 Grand Tasting @the Harlequin. Dark brown in color, creamy medium off white head. Sweet ripe fruit aromas with a touch of sorness.Taste of ripe dark fruits some roasty malts and an (unintended ?) sourness.

Gravicask (Cambridge Winter Ale Festival 2011)
Lovely vanilla aroma, says barrel aged in bourbon barrels to me. Fairly sweet roast, in no way extreme, in fact it’s pretty mellow. Feels quite strong, perhaps up to 8%, but never 10%. The roast is very rich, but has no ashiness. For me, the beer of the festival. Seems more an imperial stout, not an old ale. There’s no sourness at all to it at all, it’s just barrel aged in the same way an imperial stout would be, and has a malt profile that exactly matches an imperial stout of the time. ("Old ale" was not a style in those days, it was a condition that an ale would be, and that ale could be of any style.)

375ml bottle, as ’Arctic Ale’. Required an aggressive pour to rouse a head which soon faded anyway, being small, creamy & tan in colour atop a clear though dark, ruddy brown body. Predominantly tart cherry & apple aromas with some developing demerara sugar. The tang comes through on the tongue though it’s surprisingly not at all boozy in feel or taste. Bittersweet apple & cherry flavours. Slightly warming in the throat. Fairly soft on the palate, lighter in body than the ABV might indicate. Finishes with a short, mildly bitter green apple skin note.

[bottle @ RBESG 2009, Grand Tasting] Molasses and brunt almond aroma with some toffee. Almost opaque red-black with some dots on top. Sour coffee flavour with vinegar. Light to medium body with a slightly bitter finish and moderate carbonation.

From the Bottle at RBESG Harlequin, Sheffield 19/07/2009 Very fruity sour aroma. Dark coloured strong in alcohol slightly fruity and sour flavoured with a little dryness in a strong alcohol finish.

Bottle at RBESG09 ... deep black ... thin tan head ... ligth roast nose ... slight sour ... lots of toffee ... little balsamic...

Bottle at the RBESG09 Grand tasting, sheffield. Alround rating: Very yeasty and unclean, massivly sweet molasses like, dusty and pritty undrinkable in my book.

[RBESG, Sheffield]
Grand Tasting @ The Harlequin, Sheffield.
Pours a nice opaque black with a small, beige film head. Aroma has liqourice, raisins and some milky, lactic tartness. Almost no carbonation, fat mouthfeel. Flavour is sour, some balsamic vinegar and light chocolate. I don’t think the sourness was intended, nor that it works.

Bottle 375ml. @ RBESG 09 Grand Tasting @ [ The Harlequin, Sheffield, England. ]
[ As Elveden Arctic Ale ]. Clear dark brown color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, berry sour, wood - oak notes. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet. light to moderate berry - fruity acidic and moderate bitter with a long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is flatt. [20090719]

Bottle @ RBESG Grand tasting 2009 as Elveden Arctic Ale. Deep dark brown color. Malty aroma with hints of balsamic vinegar. balsamic vinegar flavor, sour with notes of citrus. I dont think that the sourness was intended but it works.