Firebrand Great British Beer
Hop Back Brewery plc

Firebrand Great British BeerFirebrand Great British Beer
Beer Geek Stats
From:
Hop Back Brewery plc
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English Bitter
ABV:
5%
Score:
Needs more ratings
Avg:
4.18 | pDev: 1.44%
Reviews:
3
Ratings:
3
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Nov 05, 2005
Added:
Jun 23, 2004
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by Doiv:
Photo of Doiv
Reviewed by Doiv from England

4.15/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
500ml brown bottle. Brewed by Hop back for Firebrand, this is a bottle conditioned beer.

Pours a mid copper to caramel colour with a head of about a finger and a half, that leaves rings of lacing down the glass.

Nice hoppy and malty aroma with biscuity hints and a spongecake feel. Red berries follow and it finishes with a strong hoppy bite.

Taste is malty, hoppy, biscuity, with summer fruits, and a little citrus hit before a lingering bitter finish gives way to a chocolate hit on the back of the throat upon swallowing. Hoppy and bitter finish.

Mouthfeel is a little bubbly for my liking, but still nice, light and fluffy.

Drinks well
Jun 23, 2004
More User Ratings:
Photo of Dukeofearl
Reviewed by Dukeofearl from California

4.27/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A gift from fellow BA wl0307 during my Sept. '05 vacation to England, hand carried home for this evening's enjoyment. A red label proudly proclaims "created by an award winning brewer-- Bottle Conditioned-- Great British Beer-- 5% Alc Vol 500 ml-- Brewed in Wiltshire, England" the back label has more info including "brewed using Best English Optic pale malt and East Kent Golding hops. It delivers a classic bitter taste and an enjoyable smooth finish." The company is proud that they don't own a brewery, they just brew beer.

Chilled in my fridge (which is pretty cold), then allowed to warm for 40 minutes before opening and pouring into one of my favorite new glasses- a Bath Ales Imperial Pint.

Pours a moderate-deep golden wih a big bubbly white head that is constantly fed by a stream of carbonation from the bottom of the glass. Lots of lace (almost completely covering the side of the glass) hang for a long time.

As I poured it, a ton of fruit hit my nose (it hurt!). Seriously, peaches, pears, sweet apples all hit my nose even before I finished pouring. After that, as the head settled a bit, the aroma settled to a much more bready malty proifle, but it's a sweetbread. Quite nice, actually.

The flavor doesn't really follow from the aroma. The malt profile is sustained, but not nearly as sweet. And the hops have arrived. Didn't notice them at all in the aroma, but they are home! It tastes decent and enjoyable, now I know why it's classed a bitter- but it doesn't match the aroma. More citrus fruit than summer sweet fruit. Hmmmm...

A nice mouthfeel- one of it's better attributes. As with really good English ales, this one is very drinkable- the 5% is well subdued, and I do like this.

I'm glad they didn't claim to be the Greatest British beer, I'm not even sure about Great, but it is pretty good!
Nov 05, 2005
Photo of wl0307
Reviewed by wl0307 from England

4.12/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This bottle-conditioned beer and its label "Firebrand" are co-invented by Hop Back brewery and Thrasher Wines' (a UK chain wine shop) beer buyer, Williams, exclusively for Thresher Wines, in order to boost sale of quality beers... (What's Brewing, Nov. 04) Well, not until reading the quoted article did I finally grasp the fact that the beer itself is brewed by Hop Back's separate, sister Downton Brewing Company situated just several hundred yards away, but "bottled" by HB. Apart from the very last piece of info. nothing about the brewery is revealed on the bottle itself... why is it so hard to get all the useful and simple facts about a beer's identity straight from the beer labels? Anyway, since it's brewed by Hop Back's relative I'm all the more encouraged and interested in this beer. The BB date is 31/05/06.

A: served in a goblet, it pours a dark amber hue, with a thin beer head full of big bubbles, disappearing fast. The carbonation is quite lively at first but settles quickly, with relatively big CO2-bubbles ascending here and there...
S: a balanced note mixed of semi-sweet maltiness (like mild caramel-malt+toffee), semi-sweet nuttiness, a tinge of flowery-honey, slightly skunky wild-plant scent of green hops(?), and a mild note of lemon-cake (=diacetyl+lemony hops...I guess).
T: overwhelmingly bitter and juicy-malty palate starts from the first second onwards... the maltiness gradually decreases in strength as the bitterness gathers force, decorated with a deep flow of mildly citrusy hoppy flavour and a tinge of lovely chewy nuttiness at the back. The aftertaste is medium-bitter but lingers well, with a slightly warmish feeling deep down the throat.
M&D: soft mouthfeel kept lively by the medium-fizzy body. Overall this beer shows a very clear structure with good depth of maltiness and bitterness, albeit not extremely complex in terms of flavour. A very decent, or "good honest", English bitter, bitter enough to quaff, delicate and tasty enough to sip.
Sep 15, 2005
Firebrand Great British Beer from Hop Back Brewery plc
Beer rating: 4.18 out of 5 with 3 ratings