Hop Back Red Ember

Brewed by Hop Back
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Salisbury, England

Serve in English pint

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Cask at Charlie’s, Copenhagen
Hazy amber color; nice head. Perfumy malt and hop aroma. Quite nice, light malt flavor, a bit fruity, with a pleasant yeasty touch. Pleasant golden (?) Ale.

Pint at Hobgoblin in Reading. Looks more brown than red. Slight aroma which is a little fruity and rich. Very light and easy on the palate. Its bitter and a bit more watery than fruity. Almost no head, but leaves a steady residual head as the glass is drained. I was a bit disappointed, its just a bit too watery, though they probably don’t need to tweak the recipe much to get a good beer out of this. Has a bit of chocolately richness to it.

cask ... copper ... thin tan head ... sweet copper ... sweet fruity hop ... dry fruits ... little woody

Cask in the Market Porter. Alround rating: Caramel and biscuity hop, raw grassy hop character, noteably bitter. Its not balanced, but its not over sweet or bitter, yet not bittersweet. Iv no idea what was going on here.

Real Ale. A small pint tasted at Kittys. Pale head. Copper brawn pale colour. Soft and fresh taste at beginning. Hoppiness at the end.

Cask (Kitty’s, Helsinki)
Rich red, healthy head. Smooth grainy aroma, cereally. Sweet malty taste, some bitterness and candi-sugar. Adequate, but not exciting. Too sweet. Is this a golden ale with caramel added for colour?

A Mes rate. Gravicask at the Bree Louise. Dark copper with a thin off white head. A bit of condition in it too. Excellent balance of earthy malt and grassy hops in the aroma. Delicate but pleasant. Similar flavour. Again nicely balanced. A touch of cinder toffee and caramel in the finish with some late dusty bitterness. Straight forward but very enjoyable. Decent beer.

Cask at Market Porter Fine amber beer. Lovely session bitter. Fine malty body, enough bitterness to balance it, smooth enough to let it glide down. Moreish!

UPDATED: DEC 7, 2010 Cask at Wellington Arms, Bedford. Amber with a small white head. Odd aroma: earth, ash and mothballs - better than it sounds. Rich sweet sour earthy malt taste, indescribable and appealing. Lingering bitterness. Good one. 7.12.10 Same location. Aroma was sweet and malty. Very nice. Taste has slightly burnt piecrust. Once again I really liked this, Rating:7,4,8,4,13:3.6

Dark brown, red pour, small head. Taste is ok, some strawberries and malt, cereal. Finish is a little harsh bitter. Ok overall.

[on draught at The Hobgoblin, Reading] Hint of spices (chilli? cardamon?), hint of smoke, hint of autumn fruits but otherwise not that interesting a flavour. Smooth, easily drinkable. Overwhelming bitterness and dryness in aftertaste killed it for me.