Chalky's Bite
Sharp's Brewery

As stories go behind the birth of a beer, Chalky's Bite has one of the better ones I've heard. The execution? Not so much.
A well-known English restauranteur and raconteur (with a BBC cooking show) challenged Sharp's to make a recipe to pair with fish, a common staple in the Cornwall-by-the-sea kitchen. Knowing that many Belgian brews pair particularly well with shellfish, this challenge went in that direction... by mistake. Cornwall is not Brugges or Antwerp or even Ostende. Anyhow, Sharp's produces a good ale and it wins awards and it pairs well with fish (probably best fried, but no one is saying that after two decades of accolades.)

Anyhow, Brits (who use tame yeasts) don't have much experience with Belgians (who use messy, fruity yeasts.) So Chalky's Bite, ultimately, gets mis-styled as a Belgian Pale. Who am I to argue two decades later ?

Chalky's Bite Looks average for a BPA, clear and without foam. It Smells interesting, but not like any BPA I can remember. (The label says fennel is used, and I can believe that.) Tastes are balanced, but where is my fruit? However this is medium-mouthed and the bubbles would cleanse my mouth of a great variety of dishes I might eat. Drink again? Not.

330ml brown glass bottle.
L: Clear, golden amber colour with several streams of microbubbles rising to a thin white head that leaves arcs and trails of lacing.
S: Rich and honeyed with a subtle spice backdrop. Very appealing.
T: Clove, banana, honey and sweet malt. Unusual flavour profile but highly enjoyable.
F: Medium body, velvet mouthfeel, gently bitter.
O: Like a Belgian pale ale/English pale ale mashup. I liked it a lot. The 6.8% alcohol is pretty much invisible which could cause some difficulty on a summer afternoon/early evening in Cornwall.

Still brewed in the original brewery in Rock, Cornwall.

Blind-tasted beyond what is on the front lable..
L- Golden straw, pours clear with a 3mm white fine-bubble head.
S- All I get is some somewhat bright grain. Then again the pollen forecast is off-the-scale high this week... shame.
T- Quite bright and punchy hops, refreshing, but with a sense of being full-flavoured.
F- To carry off this level of hops it has to have solid ABV% to balance it. The lable is 6.8% though I don't directly sense alcohol, just divine it as there in the whole.
O- Good summer beer for someone seeking a punchier brew than the more youthful seem to favour these days. That palate seem quite trad to me, tho as^ my palate/nose ain't all there this week. Nice to try.
1st time I've seen this beer on sale, in Waitrose this week. 330ml bottle.
Review done I'll now check the back-lable for any further intel. 3 hops, 2 grains, fennel seeds(!), sugar!? and it's not bottle conditioned, why would they do that apart from $$....

Bottle. Clear gold with a bubbly head.
Smells of herbs and grain with a tinge of yeast.
A light citrus flavour mixed with light spice. Fennel is distant.
A crisp feel. Light in body and carbonation.
I can see how this would go well with fish.

 

A: poured from a 330 ml bottle into a pint glass, golden amber colored with a large white head that dissipates quickly leaving little lacing, hazy

S: yeast and slight grain, coriander

T: yeasty, orange, coriander, slight peppery flavor, green banana

M: thinner with medium carbonation

O: not bad, flavors are subtle but reminiscent of a traditional heffewizen

Bottled and bottle conditioned
Rick Stein’s, Falmouth, Cornwall, amber with white head mellow bitter taste with a hint of apple, and a nice mellow bitter aftertaste, nice.

 

 

 

 

Rerate, 330 ml bottle, from Selfridge’s food store, London. ABV is 6.8%. Golden colour, large white head. Fairly nice aroma of grassy, herbal and fruity hops, hints of candy. The flavour is fairly sweet, the alcohol is not very well hidden. Fruity and slightly spicy flavour Original rating: Bottle, at RBESG 2007 in Glasgow, Grand Tasting. Golden colour. Nice but moderate fruity aroma. Fruity and somewhat acidic flavour. Not too impressive.

Drank from my St Bernardus chalice.

A - Pours a beautiful cloudy golden colour with hint of Ruby. The head is white and reduces to a lingering film.

S - Quite a zesty aroma from the bottle. Once poured becomes more pungent.

T - Very nice flavours of spice and citrus as well as some malt. Very well disguised ABV.

M - Medium body and carbonation

D - I'm staggered at the way the smoothness in this beer disguises the ABV. It's such an enjoyable beer and very much recommended.

A gift from my parents, possibly because there's a picture of a dog on the bottle? Chalky's Bite pours light-amber in colour, opaque with a light cover of white head and ring around the glass. There are some little unidentified black specs sitting at the bottom. Can't say I've encountered this before; could this be remnants of Chalky's Bite?

Not too much smell here but what I can pick out is a bit weird. Light caramel, mandarin orange, honey, lightly soapy hops, a hint of something a bit off (like burnt rubber or something) and subtle spices; though I wouldn't have identified fennel without already knowing it was there.

This is a bit of a strange brew. It was intended as an English attempt at Belgian complexity but comes off as an English ale with added confusion. Without the description on the back of the bottle I would be totally baffled as to what this was even supposed to be, though the overall character does remain English somehow. It's hard to identify any one thing here, the flavours are all basic and without character; you've got some bitter, sour, astringent and a little sweet. The sweetness shows a little caramel and the sourness a touch of lemon juice. The astringency is where the bite lies, I suppose, but it doesn't come along with a specific flavour. I'm not picking up on any fennel or much of anything else, period. I will give it one thing: it's pretty smooth for 6.8%ABV. Not really any alcohol shows.

The feel is way off, though it does certainly have "bite". Way too foamy; it feels like the carbonation is attacking your tongue like an ill-tempered terrier, making it difficult to really taste much of anything. The finish is overly drying, leaving your mouth feeling dehydrated.

I can't say I'm too into this one. For what reason is this English failure available at liquor stores in Manitoba when you can't get the majority of the top Canadian beers there? Good old government liquor stores...no clue. "Looka this'un...it's gotst a dawg!"

A - Cloudy pale straw, with some fizzy head that doesn't stick around.

S - Herbal and spicy. Some citrus with malt undertones.

T - Taste follows the nose with herbal spicy and citrus. Didn't notice the licorice in the nose, but you can taste the licorice hint of the fennel.

M - Nice mouthfeel. Smooth with a bit of a bite with the citrus and fennel.

D - Quite drinkable. I don't think I'd have too many in one sitting though.

330 mL brown bottle poured into a pint glass.

A: light brown/tawny ale similar in colour to a rich pale ale or English bitter.

S: picking up the fennel in the scent, makes it slightly more interesting than your average English ale.

T: conceptually, they were trying to create an alternative to a Belgian ale by adding fennel to the brew. While there are some similarities, this doesn't quite live up to the aim. However, if that hadn't been stated, I'd say this was an interesting spiced ale. Not spectacular, but interesting nonetheless.

M: falls a little flat in the mouthfeel department.

D: 6.6 is a bit high, but in the smaller bottle, it's not so bad. I won't rush to try this again, but it was moderately drinkable.

Lightly tart with a few light citrus notes. A little bit musty with just a hint of bitterness in the aroma.

Fairly cloudy gold colour with a small, shortlasting white head.

Soft malts dominate the start with a few notes of light lactic tartness. The hops are subdued and the wild Cornish fennel is lacking any punch although it is present. It's okay.

Medium-light body with moderately high carbonation. Acceptable but hardly great.

This beer is unfortunately infected, a poor reflection on the technique of the brewery. The idea of fennel in a beer is interesting and I could see this (even in its infected state) going well with seafood. An interesting beer but poorly executed this time.

Interesting beer with quite a big flavour profile that is very dry on the finish and full of almost a Belgian flavour in the midbody. Not a typical english old ale but rather a strong pale ale spiced with Fennel. worth the purchase as it is quite orginal in style

Bottle: Poured a golden amber color ale with a large pure white foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of medium sweet malt with nice floral undertones and some wild dry hops are also noticeable. Taste is a very delicate and refined mix between some lightly sweet floral malt with some grassy wild dry hops. Very well balance with great mix between malt backbone and hop profile with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Very drinkable and well done though even more hop profile would have benefited this beer.

Poured from 330ml bottle at room temperature.

A - Golden straw, pilsner-like in colour, but slightly cloudy with small sedimentation. Good frothy head.

S - Grassy hops and chocolate.

T - Dry and sharp. Clear malts, and floral flavours. The flavours are very delicate and subtle.

M - Very fizzy and lively. Dry finish.

D - This is a great thirst quencher with a sharp dry taste. I will try this again but chilled next time, as I don't think the flavours are big enough to carry off the beer at room temperature.