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Wild Swan
Thornbridge Brewery
- 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:
- 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:
Reviewed by jazzyjeff13 from England
3.98/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
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, 2011Poured 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.
More User Ratings:
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
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, 2022Reviewed 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
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, 2021Reviewed by rex_4539 from Greece
3.35/5 rDev -9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
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, 2017S: 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.
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
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, 2017Reviewed by Spike from England
2.81/5 rDev -23.8%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
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, 2016S: 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.
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
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, 2015S: 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.
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
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, 2015Look: 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.
Reviewed by safaricook from Netherlands
3.95/5 rDev +7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
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, 2015Just had it again almost 6 month after best before date and still great!
Wild Swan from Thornbridge Brewery
Beer rating:
84 out of
100 with
46 ratings
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