Tomos Watkin's Cwrw Braf
The Hurns Brewing Co.

Tomos Watkin's Cwrw BrafTomos Watkin's Cwrw Braf
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From:
The Hurns Brewing Co.
 
Wales, United Kingdom
Style:
English Bitter
ABV:
4.2%
Score:
83
Avg:
3.63 | pDev: 8.54%
Reviews:
21
Ratings:
28
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 24, 2016
Added:
Jan 05, 2006
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  2
Cwrw Braf is a clean-drinking, amber-coloured ale with a light bitterness and gentle hop aroma.

A session bitter yet, with all the flavours and quality you would expect from a Tomos Watkin premium ale.
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Ratings by SaCkErZ9:
Photo of SaCkErZ9
Reviewed by SaCkErZ9 from South Carolina

3.97/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours from a 16.9oz bottle into an imperial pint glass. Slightly cloudy and hazy bronze color with a small white, bubbly head.

Aroma is slightly fruity with some earthy tones. Caramel, biscuity and bready.

Solid flavor. More breadiness and caramel with some toasty and slightly straw-like. Really solid flavor. Not much in the way of hops, flavor or aroma, but pretty solid otherwise.

A nice beer. Very sessionable and quite enjoyable. Not sure of its availability, seeing as its from Wales, but certainly worth the under $5 price tag.
Aug 13, 2009
More User Ratings:
Photo of Spike
Reviewed by Spike from England

3.49/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
From a 500ml bottle.
Clear, orange/amber, streams of micro bubbles, one-finger off-white head.
Caramel, light orange citrus.
Smoky, earthy, bitter.
Light body, moderate carbonation, dry.
Reasonable Welsh bitter. Not exceptional but, for the style, not a disappointment either.
Sep 24, 2016
Photo of vinicole
Reviewed by vinicole from England

3.95/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Medium amber. Thick frothy head that sticks nicely to the side of the glass.
Aroma of freshly harvested grain and malt biscuit.
Fruit and toffee flavour. Well balanced.
Smooth but a little on the thin side.
I enjoyed this one.
Jun 21, 2016
 
Rated: 3.5 by Bandi from New York

Aug 03, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by endless1408 from England

Jun 02, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by BillRoth from Maryland

Dec 08, 2013
Photo of EmperorBevis
Reviewed by EmperorBevis from England

3.5/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottled and the name is Welsh for lovely beer
a clean-drinking, amber-coloured session bitter with decent white head
gentle hop aroma with slight citrus notes
and flavour with a bitter finish
Nov 01, 2013
Photo of StJamesGate
Reviewed by StJamesGate from New York

3.78/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Bright chocolate-tinged amber with creamy beige head that crusts.
Orange, cherry brack and a bit of must on the nose.
Red candy fruit and orange Fanta hops
Cherry sweet ending and a faint orange linger.
Light, crisp, bright.

Two note, but they're good notes, yet thin with no sustain. More a light amber than a pale ale. Not special, but quite moreish. A summer quaffer.
Jun 30, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by Viceroy from England

Mar 17, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by LJWalker from Indiana

May 29, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by CwrwAmByth from England

Feb 27, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by ROGUE16 from Delaware

Dec 06, 2011
Photo of damndirtyape
Reviewed by damndirtyape from Ohio

3.9/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Single bottle (no date) poured into a Tulip stout glass.

Appearance: Hazy orange to tarnished copper on the table, some red in there when held up to the light. Poured a off-white 1/4" head, but this died down rather quickly to a ring around the glass and a thin skin of foam in the middle. Delicate strands of lacing noted. I noticed after pouring that there was sediment in the bottle, so I wonder what I would have gotten on a gentle pour.

Smell: Some toffee and mild fruit/apple notes. A classic English-style ale smell.

Taste: Toffee again, with some fruity flavors (apple and cider-like, but not a tart apple) moving into a burnt toffee and very mild bitter finish. The bitter finish is again what one would expect from a English bitter, but it is muted due to the heavier malt profile here. That malt profile is still balanced - it's never cloying in my opinion.

Mouthfeel: A little fizzy on the tongue which gets in the way of everything else. And perhaps I could say it is more carbonated than what I would expect in a typical English ale. Otherwise the mouthfeel is nothing special.

Drinkability: A very solid ale - went very well with a meal (mustard pork chops and potatoes) and I could see this going well with a lot of foods. Easy to drink and while I keep comparing it to English-style ales, I have to remember it is Welsh and some of the differences may lie there, such as the carbonation. I rather like this one and wonder what it would be like fresh out of a cask.
Jan 22, 2011
Photo of claspada
Reviewed by claspada from New Jersey

2.99/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4
Aromas of lightly toasted and biscuity malt with caramel and dried fruit.

The taste is kind of a letdown to be honest; caramel, toffee and biscuity maltiness. There are underlying notes of doughy yeast with an small finish of undecipherable hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is extremely light bodied, it really flies across the palate but a little patience reveals a crisp, clean note.

Overall this beer is forgettable like so many other lower end UK breweries' offerings. I am officially done buying/supporting any non-mass produced UK ales. From now on it's Sam Smith or Fullers quality UK brews only because they are cheaper and always better than these smaller less-mass-produced ales.
Dec 03, 2010
Photo of gfreed
Reviewed by gfreed from Massachusetts

2.88/5  rDev -20.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
As go the numbers, so go the comments: this was an average beer, neither good or bad. Nice amber color with a reasonably bubbly head; there were a few notes of malt and citrus in the aroma but even a good snort couldn't pull much more from the head. On the whole it was a bit flat both in the body and the flavor. I know that imported stuff can become diminished in the trip overseas, but for your American dollars you can definitely do better in the UK-ale department.
Sep 03, 2010
Photo of metter98
Reviewed by metter98 from New York

3.78/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
A: The beer poured hazy amber in color with a thin head that quickly faded into lacy patterns of bubbles. Only a very light amount of carbonation is visible from the rising bubbles.
S: The smell is rather sweet and has aromas of caramel malts, dark fruits and toffee in the nose.
T: The taste is very similar to the smell and also has a mild amount of malty sweetness and lots of fruity flavors. Not much bitterness from the hops is perceptible.
M: It feels light-bodied on the palate and has a slight amount of carbonation.
D: This beer goes down smoothly and is very sessionable, particularly given its low alcohol content.
Aug 10, 2010
Photo of macpapi
Reviewed by macpapi from Oregon

3.77/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Purchased a 16.9 oz bottle of this one from local beer store.

Pours a reddish to dark amber color with a nice half inch white head. Also a bit hazy and quite opaque.

Smell is pretty malty with a bit of citrus. Finishes with a bit of toffee and caramel. A nice, full aroma.

Taste begins with malt and biscuity presence, followed by a bit of toffee. Fruity presence--sweet and a bit tart--is at the back of the swallow. There is also a hint of bitterness, but not overwhelming.

Mouthfeel is pretty full with a bit of carbonation and mild hop sting.

Overall, this is a pleasant and very sessionable beer. Low (4.2%) abv and nice flavor make it quite possible to enjoy several in one sitting.
Apr 08, 2010
Photo of kkipple
Reviewed by kkipple from South Carolina

3.23/5  rDev -11%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Well well! A Welsh ale! Unpronounceable of course, but what was I expecting, right? This is likely my first uwkrcbrar from Wales - that's Welsh for beer, by the way.

Welsh, what we has 'ere is a hazy, well carbonated amber brew, with a finger tall head that falls to just cover the surface of this self-described "Session bitter". Good retention. Smells of light caramel malt, supple hops and a surprising amount of fruity esters. Weird...

Tastes like a... well, I dunno... too flavorful and fruity to really be a Mild, not hopped enough and wrong malt bill / yeast / everything for an English Pale... I'd put it as some sort of "Welsh hybrid"; closer to a fruity Amber ale than anything else... light caramel and roast mingles with an odd sourness and a vague fruit flavor, some buttery notes and a noble hop or two. It's thin and highly carbonated, goes down easy 'nuff but leaves an unwonderful sour malt thing behind, slightly reminiscent of a sour mash whiskey. So yes, it's weird. And Welsh.

I... I guess I would drink it again... Cwrw Braf isn't bad, it isn't really *good*... it has character, but to what end? I dunno... much like Wales itself and that cougar from the bar with only one eye, this is a total mystery. I guess you just have to try it and see? The Cwrw Braf, I mean.
Dec 17, 2009
Photo of DefenCorps
Reviewed by DefenCorps from Oregon

3.95/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
With a name like Lovely Ale (as the bottle notes), it's hard to pass this one up. Also, the back label denotes this as a bitter, not an EPA

The pour is quite gorgeous, copper-amber in color with a dense white head with good retention and lacing. Attractive stuff, this. On the nose, this is almost as good, with toffee, caramel and a touch of nougat. Hops aren't noticeable, and the rich, deep, nutty malt backbone is refreshing. Fruity as well, with a slight dried fruit and tutti fruiti character. On the palate, this is beautifully balanced, with flavors of toffee, caramel, a little butterscotch, and a touch of earthy, hoppy bitterness. Surprisingly full in body (for a 4.2% beer), with carbonation that's a touch higher than it need be. The finish is dry, with a little bit of bitterness and unfortunately, a little watery. I'm not complaining, though, this is delightfully refreshing, and I will gladly drink this again.
Sep 27, 2009
Photo of anfield86
Reviewed by anfield86 from New Jersey

4.05/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
pours a slightly hazy dark amber color with a one finger head that dissipates into a small lacing. looks great.

smells of strong malt with subtle hints of caramel....some over ripened fruit scents there as well. interesting.

tastes good. surprisingly strong maltiness, especially for a "Session Bitter" (the label on the bottle calls it this). Not too bitter at all-- the hops provide a nice perfect balance for a session beer. The slightly bitter hops is followed by a slightly dry aftertaste. Wow. Leave it to the Welsh to brew such a well balanced ale.

mouthfeel is nice and smooth, but nothing to write home about.

drinkability is great. i could have quite a few of these (hence the name SESSION bitter)

overall- another fantastic ale by a UK brewery. I think this is my first Welsh ale-- and I'm loving it. I've been trying to find Brain's for the longest time, but this satisfied me. I love English ales, and this one is yet another one to try.
Apr 29, 2009
Tomos Watkin's Cwrw Braf from The Hurns Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 28 ratings