Wells Bombardier (Pasteurised)

bottle, 500ml; Amber colour, malty, raisins, good balance and nice dry finish.

Bottled An amber coloured beer with a large whitish head. The aroma has obvious pasteurisation with cardboard notes together with a little fruit and nut. Reasonable maltiness in the mouth but still got that papery edge. Not a patch on the cask version.

(Bottle, Huxley’s, London Heathrow Terminal 5, 26 July 2009) Reddish brown colour with frothy, beige head. Malty, toasty nose with notes of raisins, dark fruit and a touch of spicy hops. Malty, toasty taste with nuts, caramel, citrus, raisins and spicy hops in the finish. Medium body, balanced sweetness. Better balance than in the cask ale. Quite nice actually.

Draught at the Britannia Arms. Drak amber-brown color with a creamy, lasting head. The aroma is nothing much, just some toasty grain and caramel malt sweetness. The flavor is sweet in balance, but not really sweet in itself, with some dark bread, and light caramel and toffee followed by a nutty finish and some mineral and hop bitterness. Medium-light in body with soft carbonation. Pleasant overall, with an earthy finish.

It poured a clear dark amber liquid with a medium foam that left a nice big lacing on the side of the glass. It had a fairly weak scent of caramell, malt, grassy hops, hay and a hint of rosehip. It tasted of caramell, butter, hay and grassy hops. It also had a quite thick and creamy body with some stingy bitterness. Not very smooth or easy to drink.

Quite a decent, refreshing beer to drink, pouring with a so-so head and a nice, dark colour. Aroma was slightly malty as was the taste. A good drink.

poured clear dark amber with a nice head and good lacing. smells a little metalic and a little caramel notes. tastes is smooth caramel with english bitter aftertaste.

Crystal clear, she sparkles like a polished ring of deep garnets and brilliant rubies. Crowning her bejeweled beauty is a small white head which lingers long and slow, fading into a thin layer of tiny, tightly packed bubbles. Freshly toasted white and wheat breads, melba toast, crumbly bread crusts, and faint esters of bananas drift my way. Keeping her toasted nature from going stale is a gentle undercurrent of molasses and maple with a crisp crunch of red apples sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Delightfully delicate when one takes the time to notice her nose. Ever ready, my first quaff is clean and a bit thin with gentle notes of maple syrup that lingers. Melba toast, white bread and crust ride the incoming tides to my senses first while a brisk presence of lemon zest lingers in the back of my throat for a touch of dryness. Each quaff leaves a trail of lace along the sides of my glass as caramelized pecans and cinnamon sugar spice things up a bit. A gentle crunch of red autumn apples is followed by faint notes of dates, prunes, and raisins before more maple carries them away upon a current of toasted breads. The lemon zest which refreshes and cleanses my palate for the next quaff increases her presence a bit, leaving a gentle tingle both on the tip and at the back of my tongue. Keeping her delicately complex palate in mind, my Wells Bombardier is so clean, so smooth, she makes drinking a pleasurable delight.

I have to confess that I avoided the Wells Bombardier on draft for a few weeks because, after all, how good could an imported keg of basic English ale be? How wrong I was. I was humbly reminded once more to never judge a beer until I have tasted it in its unbiased entirety. Make sure to look for a few bottles of Wells Bombardier at your local liquor store, and on that note, look for a best-by date because, for a delicate English Ale, that is very important in ensuring the freshest quaffing experience.