Wells Bombardier (Pasteurised)

Brewed by Wells & Youngs
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Bedford, England

Dark reddish brown apperance, aroma is malty caramel and herbal. A decent example of the style although perhaps a bit atypical due to a darker malt personality than I would expect. The overall result is not very distinctive, not inspiring me to reach for another.

Pours deep reddish brown with a healthy tan head. Aroma is rich caramel / butterscotch malt with a bit of creaminess. Starts spicy with caramel malt mixture, then the spicy hops start taking more of the taste with malt falling into the background. Medium body with sharp carbonation leading to a crisp taste. Bit of pepper comes out on the finish. Good beer.

Bottle. Reddish brown beer with a nice light head. The aroma is dry and caramel, and the flavour is smooth, dry and caramel. Overall a good beer.

Dark chestnut with brassy undertones. Fairly still, little head or carbonation. Aromas were chocolate, toffee, caramell, alcohol, yeast and herbs. Flavor was exceptionally balanced with initial notes of caramel, chocolate and vanilla giving way to herbal hops and then full-blown metallic hoppy bitterness, which sticks around awhile. No fruit sappiness here, just good old fashioned malt, yeast and hops.

Umber color with a moderate but stable tan head and some streaks of lace. Caramel and floor malt dominate with just a hint of floral hops. Some toasted whole grain and light sourdough aromas as well. Sweet earthy malt start with a mild balance of nutty flavors and a minimal balance of weedy hops. A longer hops finish, but not an exciting one, just some bitterness that sticks to the tongue and perhaps calls for some satiation, but is not answered by the next swig. Another disapointment from the MJ500.

Draft at the Barking Dog. Two different pints, near the beginning and end of a keg. Dark brown with a sturdy medium-depth head on the early glass; the late-in-the-keg glass had some lacing but that was it. Creamy but still enormously refreshing on a hot day--that’s not something you can say very often. Plenty of carb. Sweet dark malt, toffee, molasses, some light earthy hop at the end. The late pint picked up some ground coffee (a la MJB) notes, not char or acid but that heavy dryness was a surprise.

Nice bitter. Nice hoppy aroma. Good strong flavor with only a slight kick. Could of been a tad stronger.

Grabbed a bottle for the flight home from Heathrow. Very decent stuff here, not as much as on cask, but a very drinkable session brew. Love malts. Love life.