Wild Swan
Thornbridge Brewery

Wild SwanWild Swan
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From:
Thornbridge Brewery
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English Pale Ale
Ranked #50
ABV:
3.5%
Score:
84
Ranked #22,611
Avg:
3.69 | pDev: 10.57%
Reviews:
23
Ratings:
46
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 23, 2022
Added:
Jun 30, 2007
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  4
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by jazzyjeff13:
Photo of jazzyjeff13
Reviewed by jazzyjeff13 from England

3.98/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
A 500ml bottle with a BB of June 2011 and an ABV of 3.5%. A tall bottle with gold foil around the neck and a cool damask background on the label. Picked up from my favourite beer specialist.

Poured into a Sam Smith's pint glass. A hazy pale straw colour with light carbonation. Yields a thick white head with a creamy consistency; this lasts for several minutes before subsiding. A lovely aroma dominated by floral hops. Undertones of grainy malt with citrus notes and a nectary sweetness.

Tastes of crisp aromatic hops with a refreshing bitter finish. Light malt is present but disguised. Notes of grass, citrus and faint pine. Mouthfeel is prickly and lightly acidic, as well as somewhat astringent. Body is a little bit thin. Mild aftertaste of aromatic hops.

A light ale with a fantastic hoppy flavour - very refreshing. Could easily imagine sinking a few of these on a warm summer day. It could benefit from a somewhat maltier backbone to balance the hops - but I'm nitpicking here as the flavour is excellent for such a low ABV. Well worth sampling if you have the opportunity.
Apr 12, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of REVZEB
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois

3.67/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Had on cask. Clear yellow body, white head. Lemon is strong in the smell, garden variety botanical hops. Taste has even less hop to it, lemon is there though, so that's a thing I guess. Feel is bland malts supporting mild hops with a warm light body. Meh
Sep 23, 2022
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.41/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
500 ml bottle, BB date 04.04.2014, from Vaaland, Bryne. ABV is 3.5%. Crystal clear and very pale yellow colour, large white head. Moderate but pleasant aroma of crushed gooseberries, herbs and citrus. Light bodied as expected, medium dry and crisp, with moderate notes of herbal hops.
Jun 09, 2021
Photo of rex_4539
Reviewed by rex_4539 from Greece

3.35/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
L: Slightly hazy golden color, quarter finger white head, messy lacing, loads of carbonation.

S: Spicy, bready, hints of hop. Not much going on.

T: Malty, bready. Not much going on.

F: Light bodied, yet not easily drinkable due to high carbonation.

O: The worst beer I had from Thornbridge. No character whatsoever. Stay away.
Aug 29, 2017
Photo of Ciocanelu
Reviewed by Ciocanelu from Romania

3.65/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Crystal clear bright straw color with white head. Aroma has grains and some spoiled lemons (not in a bad way) along slightly dank hops. Taste has at first just a hint of lemon and not much else but the hops intensify towards the finish with grassy bitterness that dries the palate and lingers on the aftertaste. Light body, medium carbonation. At first it seems quite watery but overall I get what they were aiming for with this beer and I think they succeeded.
Aug 16, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by JavierGC from Spain

Aug 10, 2017
 
Rated: 3.71 by Macamah from England

Aug 04, 2017
 
Rated: 3 by Hayley_86 from Netherlands

May 19, 2017
 
Rated: 3.68 by dcmchew from Romania

Jul 14, 2016
Photo of Spike
Reviewed by Spike from England

2.81/5  rDev -23.8%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
A: Very pale yellow. Crystal clear. Small head recedes quickly. No lacing. Some carbonation visible. Looks like a light beer.

S: Faint nose. Citrus hops. Some grassy tones when swirled rigorously.

T: Some bitterness. Some citrus. But also something metallic. Has the same aftertaste as a Heineken Light.

F: Thin mouthfeel. Light carbonation saves this from becoming watery. There is some bite up front but it doesn't last and the finish is nonexistent.

O: This is supposed to be a very, very pale ale - a bit of a lager/pale ale mash-up - so it succeeds in that aspect. Generally, I like a sessionable summer/golden ale but this example is way too limp for me.
Feb 23, 2016
 
Rated: 3.94 by steverx8 from England

May 29, 2015
Photo of Hoppsbabo
Reviewed by Hoppsbabo from England

4.03/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
A: Champagne coloured. Lots of bubbles. Foamy white head.
S: Rindy tropical fruit. Gooseberries, grapes and lychees.
T: Dry with a pungent, tropical, earthy, rindyness. No malt character but not the most Alka-Seltzer like pale ale. Has a cooling mentholated/eucalyptus type property on the tongue. Not bitter.
O: Not my cup of tea but probably someone else's.
Mar 19, 2015
 
Rated: 3.44 by Tdenham from England

Feb 28, 2015
Photo of interzen
Reviewed by interzen from England

4.31/5  rDev +16.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
500ml bottle served in a nonic pint glass

Look: Summed up nicely by a friend of mine: "It looks like you're drinking pee!" - very, very pale, almost watery, yellow. Slightly off-white head with good retention and some nice lacing left behind. Extremely pale for a bitter, but not far off the mark for a summer ale, which this claims to be.

Smell: Not much going on here - hoppy with herb and floral notes, with the occasional hint of lemon peeking through.

Taste: There's a bit more going on here - there's a nice, resinous flavour from the hops and a none-too-aggressive underlying bitterness. Some small-scale fruitiness but malt flavours were notable by their almost complete absence. Hoppy, but not aggressively so.

Feel: Light, not too fizzy and very refreshing - the bottle describes it as "the pure essence of summer". Can't argue with that - I could easily imagine knocking a few of these back on a hot summer's day. Not that we get many of those in the UK ...

Overall: OK, so it's only 3.5% ABV which would mark it out as a session beer, but even so it's a mighty fine pint - light, refreshing and not too demanding on the palate. Definitely a keeper.
Jan 14, 2015
Photo of safaricook
Reviewed by safaricook from Netherlands

3.95/5  rDev +7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Beautifully golden light english ale with a good hoppy nose of floral and herbal hops. Taste and body are a bit thin but regarding the low abv this ia neither a surprise nor a real flaw. A fantastic, tasty and refreshing session beer.

Just had it again almost 6 month after best before date and still great!
Jan 02, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by stephenlee from England

Nov 02, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by tom10101 from Canada (QC)

Apr 21, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by grahamboudreaux from Tennessee

Jan 23, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by hansavijaticar from Croatia (Hrvatska)

Jan 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by vinicole from England

Dec 04, 2013
Wild Swan from Thornbridge Brewery
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 46 ratings