Tomos Watkin's Cwrw Hâf
The Hurns Brewing Co.

Tomos Watkin's Cwrw HâfTomos Watkin's Cwrw Hâf
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From:
The Hurns Brewing Co.
 
Wales, United Kingdom
Style:
English Pale Ale
ABV:
4.2%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.87 | pDev: 8.01%
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
15
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 06, 2019
Added:
Oct 23, 2005
Wants:
  5
Gots:
  2
Our immensely popular summer ale. Very light in colour, produced using no coloured malts, but strong in character and flavour.

A blend of golding, fuggle and cascade hops give this beer a wonderfully refreshing zesty, citrus taste and a light summer aroma.

A great summer drink from the cask and now available in a bottle.
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Photo of EmperorBevis
Reviewed by EmperorBevis from England

3.48/5  rDev -10.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottled in a dark brown body
Pours a crystal clear golden body with decent enough white head
Aroma is dry like semolina powder with cornflake notes
There’s that in the flavour
May 06, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by jeschaefer from Texas

Nov 16, 2017
 
Rated: 3.37 by mdagnew from Northern Ireland

Aug 15, 2017
Photo of Spike
Reviewed by Spike from England

3.88/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From a 500ml bottle.
Gold/amber, clear, light carbonation, two-finger off-white suds & foam.
Bready, understated.
caramel, floral, soft citrus.
Light/medium body, some carbonation tickle, smooth with perfect bitter finish.
A lovely, summery, golden ale. Light but not lightweight. Fruity, hoppy, smooth.
Sep 24, 2016
 
Rated: 3.25 by BogAl from Indiana

Oct 29, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by mrleebob from Wales

Nov 21, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by CwrwAmByth from England

Dec 02, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by jrfehon33 from Pennsylvania

Apr 12, 2012
Photo of rhoadsrage
Reviewed by rhoadsrage from Illinois

4/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
(Served in a nonic)

A- This beer has a clear aged copper colored body with a gentle carbonation and a lumpy beige head that last a good bit.

S- The soft slightly sweet malt has just a touch of tartness and is otherwise pretty clean.

T- The soft slightly sweet toasted malt has a honey malt note with some raw grain character to follow. There is a soft watery flavor in the finish that takes on a citrus juice and bittern note with a gentle green hop hint that lingers.

M- The medium-light mouthfeel has a gentle fizz in the finish.

O- The light flavor of soft malt has a good balance of hops that blended together and grow a bit as the beer warms.
Aug 23, 2011
Photo of gfreed
Reviewed by gfreed from Massachusetts

4.42/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Nice coppery color with a where's-the-head? head that lasted all of 30 seconds. A flowery cloud lifts from the glass, with cocoa, peaches, honeysuckle... leather? Not that junk on your shoes, but a nice, new handbag. Very mellow body with some thickness and light carbonation and smoothness that matches Bluebird Bitter. More peaches and cocoa in the taste, with other citrusy fruityness that leaves just a slight sting as it goes down. The label says to drink this with a carrot, a goat, a pig and a cow, but I had it by itself while painting a window. It seemed to do fine.

This is the kind of thing that makes me glad I drink beer. The more UK ales I drink, the more I like. And from Wales, a country that doesn't believe in vowels, this is a great find.
Jul 31, 2010
Photo of BeerAdvocate
Reviewed by BeerAdvocate from Finland

4/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Beer review from BA Mag Aug 2007.

Summer seasonals are very popular with UK breweries, and generally, they are all Golden or Blonde Ales. Some go as far as Tomos Watkin's by using American hops like Cascade to lend a citric tone to the beer.

Sea-foam lace clings to the inside of the glass, leaving great-looking rings of lace after each sip. The mildly hazed golden brew glows in the light. Delicate floral aroma with a hint of citrus, fresh-cut hay and a fruity yeast in the back. Firm, grassy malt flavor, with a small bite of hop bitterness followed by a woody, earthy, citric hop flavor that's quite refreshing. Doughy, biscuity malt throughout. Slight twang of fruitiness, with some nutty yeast flavor from middle to end. The finish lands semisweet on the palate, with lingering pale malt and woody hops.

If this is what the Welsh have to offer as part of the wave of UK summer seasonals, send it all our way! We're getting bored of the typical American Blonde Ale seasonal. Hell, we'd drink this year-round!
Jul 06, 2010
Photo of baos
Reviewed by baos from Indiana

4.2/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Paid â chodi pais ar ôl piso.

A good summer beer. In my bicentennial jar.

A: Looks like the quintessential brew. Nice white head with bits of lacing.

S: Nice fresh aroma with hints of malt and the weeist bit of hop.

T: Very refreshing beer. Mild and relaxing but this by no means its no good.. this is a really good beer. The tiniest bit of sweetbread malts and just a dash of hops that balances this cwrw nicely.

M: Very nice for this style.

D: One of the most drinkable I've sampled
Dec 28, 2009
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

3.88/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Pours a cloudy amber color with a frothy head that leaves a spotting on the sides of the pint

Smell: Earthy malt tones and toffee

Taste: Bready, up front, with a growing twangy lemon/mineral aspect that combines with the toffee by mid-palate; after the swallow, the malt kicks up a notch, though the bitter twangy elements persist well into the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with low to moderate carbonation

Drinkability: Very English in style, with a complex flavor profile
Sep 26, 2009
Photo of BlackHaddock
Reviewed by BlackHaddock from England

3.94/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Brown 500ml bottle best before end of Aug 09, drank late July 09. The cut price store near my house still turns up some weird beers, like this, but normally only once, so if miss um, you miss um for ever! Poured into a vase shaped 'Old Speckled Hen' branded pint glass.

Slight chill haze type look to it, hope I didn't store it too cold before opening. The colour was a dirty orange or a dull old gold. There is some wheat in the brew, with the malted barley, which might explain the cloudiness. On top sat an off-white creamy head.

Sweet Pea and hoppy aroma (Fuggles are used), almost like a summer flowergarden fragrance, but without the hay fever sneezing fear.

A fairly rough taste and feel, almost ginger beer harsh at first. A grapefruity/citrusy flavour takes over after the initial shock of the rugged, turbulent first sips. The aroma is at total odds to the taste, both however are fine in their own right.

Interesting and very enjoyable, glad I found it in my Cheapo store down the road.
Jul 27, 2009
Photo of BuckeyeNation
Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

3.63/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
"Names are not always what they seem. The common Welsh name BZJXXLLWCP is pronounced Jackson."

--Mark Twain

I wish I could say that Cwrw Haf is hay shock gold to match the drawing on the label, but it's really more pale tangerine with amber trim. The upper third of the glass is filled with several fingers of manila colored foam that develops a 'wind-sculpted rock formation' appearance. Good looking ale.

The nose is mildly pleasant in a soft summer breeze sort of way. Pale and wheat malts don't contribute much. Goldings, Cascade and Fuggle hops contribute a little more. I hope enough hops have been added to give this bitter a respectable amount of bitterness. So far, it's not looking good.

I know that English bitters aren't as hoppy as your average APA, but they need to be more hoppy than this. Then again, I suppose that such a pale malty, well-balanced beer is tailor made for a long summer afternoon of sessioning. Since I only have this one bottle, I'd like a little more flavor please. It's hard to argue with its quenchability, though.

The bottom end is held down by a surprising amount of lightly biscuity malt, while the top end consists of the expected Anglo-American hop flavor (that favors the Anglos, incidently). Although Goldings dominate, the lemon citrusiness of Cascade is appreciated as well. As is often the case, the bitterness seems to build as the alpha acids acculmulate on the tongue.

Given the style and the ABV, the mouthfeel is more than acceptable. What was too light during the first several mouthfuls is now light-medium. A less than abundant, yet still adequate, amount of carbonation keeps bloating and excessive burping to a minimum.

Cwrw Haf is a pretty good wheat-based bitter that doesn't have enough flash and sizzle for an American hophead like me. I would undoubtedly be more effusive with my praise if I was downing a few pints in a Swansea pub, but then most beer shines brightest fresh off the tap in the land of its birth.
Oct 14, 2007
Tomos Watkin's Cwrw Hâf from The Hurns Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 15 ratings