Hop Back Winter Lightning

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

Serve in English pint

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Cask-conditioned at the Coronation, Bristol 09/02/10. Amber coloured with next to no head. Aroma of caramel, ginger and a touch of nutmeg and cinnamon. Flavour was malty with more of the same spicing, fruity hops and a decent bitter finish. Still one of the better English spiced winter beers.

Cask at the Wyndham Arms, Salisbury. Golden amber with a thin loose white head; rich buttery aroma with a touch of tropical fruit; thick and oily body with some resinous hops; then a lengthy hoppy finish. Assertive, but rather lightly bodied.

Cask at NWAF 2009. A pale amber beer with no head. The aroma has notes of malt and caramel as well as lighter notes of hops, yeast, and ginger. The flavor is sweet with strong notes of ginger on a malty background.

Cask. Orangeish golden colour, small off-white head. Caramel malts, some spicy notes as well as quite bittery grassy and floral notes. Flavour is grassy, floral and also has some balancing malts. Pleasant and refreshing, but feels a bit thin in the body.

Cask (Waterloo Arms, Southampton) - Amber in colour. Slightly spicy aroma with Christmas cake and spicy malt. Fruity and spicy taste with Christmas cake, dried fruit and cinnamon.

cask at cloisters ... copper thin creamy head ...ginger and light hop nose ... sweett metalic malts ... little spice ... light dry bitter linger ... some ginger

Handpulled cask at JDW Stanmore. Amber/gold with a white head. A sweeter version of summer lightning with an extra warming alcoholic presence. Nothing unusual but OK.

Cask @ National Winter Ales Festival 2009, Manchester. Pours a pale amber color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty caramel aroma with hoppy spicy hints. Fruity malty spicy hoppy bitter flavor with some hints of caramel. Has a sweetish fruity malty hoppy bitter finish with some hints of caramel in the aftertaste.

Cask (gravity) @ National Winter Ales Festival 2009, Manchester, England.
Clear medium orange color with a average, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, apple, light to moderate hoppy. Flavor is moderate sweet and bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium to light, texture is watery to oily, carbonation is soft to flat. [20090123]

a sim rate: (on tap at Battersea Beer Festival) Nothing winter about this beer except that I’m drinking it in February! Almost floral but overwhelmed by bitterness. Like Caz would say, "just smells like beer". Almost grapefruity in the flavour. Not impressed at all. Watery.