Brewers Droop
Marston Moor Brewery Limited

A 500ml bottle with a BB of July 2011. Contains barley and wheat. The rear label has a message that begins: 'the copious consumption of this strong ale may induce a serious wilting effect....'

Poured into a Sam Smith's pint glass. A golden-amber hue with good carbonation and considerable floating sediment. The bottle also contains evidence of live conditioning. Forms a massive and very stable head of creamy white foam - this could rival Duvel for head retention. It eventually subsides to a surface layer. Aroma of earthy, nutty yeast along with a hint of grain and notes of citrus hops.

Tastes of light malt with a dominant yeasty flavour and mild bitterness. Yeast esters are quite earthy and dry. Notes of aromatic citrus hops in the background, and a fruity note like orange zest. Mouthfeel is smooth and tingly. Dries the palate slightly, and leaves an aftertaste of yeast and faint citrus.

Quite a nice ale, although the yeasty flavour seemed out of proportion. This bottle is a bit old, so perhaps the yeast has had too much time to develop? Criticism aside, the balance was decent even if the hops could have been a bit more pronounced. Drinkable, and probably worth sampling fresh.

(Notes of 15/07/2007) Tasted by a half-pint at the Devonshire Cat in Sheffield, served by a sparkler-pour in a half-pint, over-size Nonic glass.

A: bright medium-amber in colour, coming with very low carbonation and creamy off-white frothy head with good retention.
S: earthy as well as Styrian Golding's spicy-fruity notes come quite lively, with a "stimulating" edge as if from over-ripe pineapples mixed with burned sugar; some peach or stone-fruit-like notes also linger in the background. Not bad, very fruity.
T: lots of earthy and Goldings-like hoppiness comes on top of a sound base of chestnutty, biscuity and lightly-toasted amber malts... yeasty hints (akin to banana-toffee) and dry-ish hop bitterness intensify in the aftertaste, with a little sour-sweet as well as licorice-like root herbs' undertones. Utterly dry-ish bitter and chewy in the finish; satisfying as a fruity, premium bitter.
M&D: quite exciting and complex at first, but decreasing in intensity as it goes, a slight pity. That said, overall this medium-bodied, smoothly textured amber bitter is well-balanced - b/w malts, full-bodied hops and a good dose of yeasty undertones - and highly drinkable.