By George
Tring Brewery Company Ltd.

Tasted this ale by half-pint at the mini-beerfestival at the Lower Red Lion Inn in St. Albans on 29/04/05. It was the very first beer I tasted during the session and the second one I spotted bearing the name of England's Patron Saint...

Served in a straight half-pint glass, the colour is quite straight-forward dark amber, with a minimalist beerhead... looking not impressive at all, especially given the fact that the beer is actually delivered from a not-extremely-distant microbrewery in Herdfordshire (where St. Albans is located as well), and the beer should be pretty fresh and look nicer(?). On nose, there is nutty maltiness and perfumy hoppy scent--quite nice but a bit too overly understated. At the first sip, the excellent quality of this ale is immediately manifest--lively flavour of hazelnuts to pinenuts comes through, with light, refreshing hoppy taste floating on my tongue and in the throat... resembly a nice vertical structure and surprisingly lingering finish. Overall, it's a malt-emphasised bitter (or brown ale) on nose and palate, but on mouthfeel the balance between malt and hops is miraculously achieved! If only the appearance was nicer it could be an excellent ale by all means.