Yorkshire Square Ale
Black Sheep Brewery PLC

Yorkshire Square AleYorkshire Square Ale
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From:
Black Sheep Brewery PLC
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English Pale Ale
ABV:
5%
Score:
83
Avg:
3.57 | pDev: 11.48%
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
26
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 30, 2020
Added:
Aug 26, 2002
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by vinicole:
Photo of vinicole
Reviewed by vinicole from England

3.49/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Bottle. Light golden marmalade. Quickly dissipating head.
English hops and light toffee.
Tastes as it smells. Muted bitter to finish.
Light to medium body. Low carbonation.
Unexciting.
Jan 31, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.47/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
500 ml bottle, thanks to my beerpal Egil. ABV is 5.0%. Deep golden colour, big and lasting white head. Pleasant fruity aroma of hops, notes of orange marmalade and toffee. The flavour is well hopped throughout, with a sufficient malty backbone, the finish is very bitter with some metallic notes.
Dec 30, 2020
 
Rated: 3.79 by Beer_Rabbit66 from England

Feb 03, 2019
 
Rated: 3.58 by rulisekmartin from Czech Republic

Jul 04, 2017
Photo of Malt_Man
Reviewed by Malt_Man from England

3.63/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Served at cellar temperature into straight pint mug.

L) Attractive light copper colour, clear, a few big bubbles rising. Thin white bubbly head.

S) Sweetish soft toffee/fudge malt with gentle English hops.

T) Definite sweetness in there; sugar is listed as an ingredient, which isn't great. Light fudgey malt flavour and light bittering hops.

F) Light body and moderate carbonation. No bitter aftertaste.

O) Underwhelming, hard to recommend it when there are better beers on the supermarket shelves.
Mar 25, 2016
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.44/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
This is the Sainsbury’s bottled version. Nice sharp, tangy bittereness in the flavor and lingering on the palate. Very tasty...normal pour, color, head, etc.
Jan 19, 2016
 
Rated: 3.51 by Tdenham from England

Jan 25, 2015
 
Rated: 3.3 by PaleAndBitter from Virginia

Oct 18, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by stampfler07 from Colorado

Sep 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by endless1408 from England

May 31, 2014
Photo of jazzyjeff13
Reviewed by jazzyjeff13 from England

3.27/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
A 500ml bottle with a BB of May 2014. Picked up a while back from a supermarket. Named after the famous 'Yorkshire squares' - fermentation vessels made from large slabs of slate that were commonly used in the region. The label features a trendy square sheep motif.

Poured into a straight pint glass. An orangy-amber hue with faint haze and good carbonation. Produces a large head of creamy white foam that lasts for a while before slowly reducing to a patchy surface layer. Slight lacing. Aroma of mild caramel malt with hints of stewed leaves, fruity ale yeast, faint biscuits and a twinge of cardboard in the background. Bit dull.

Tastes of vague caramel malt with a bitter finish. Notes of subtle caramel, faint biscuity grain, fruity ale yeast, stewed leaves and cardboard. Slightly sweet, followed by a restrained, leafy bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and dry, with prickly carbonation and decent body. A tad overcarbonated. Mildly astringent, with an aftertaste of faint caramel malt and stewed leaves/cardboard.

Meh - OK but pretty underwhelming. Looks quite nice, while the aroma and flavour are boring and lifeless. Wishy-washy malt and hops. Lacklustre body with too much carbonation. Doesn't exactly stimulate the senses; just another run-of-the-mill bitter. No need to seek it out.
Apr 08, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by houtappel from Romania

Jan 22, 2014
Photo of EmperorBevis
Reviewed by EmperorBevis from England

3.44/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottled and sadly not bottle conditioned
amber body with a bubbly white head which gradually fades to a ring. Aroma of grassy hops and fruits. Taste of grassy hops, earth, fruit and malts - light sweetness
Nov 14, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by dcmchew from Romania

Nov 11, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by Ciocanelu from Romania

Sep 18, 2013
Photo of BedetheVenerable
Reviewed by BedetheVenerable from Missouri

3.4/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Presentation-Cool (modern art) label on a brown pop top, 500 ml bottle. This is an English pale ale by Black Sheep that utilizes demerara sugar. Best by date of October 28 2011. 5.0% abv.

Appearance-Light copper hue with nice dark ivory cap with great stick and lace.

Smell-A bit of a letdown from the greatness that I’ve come to expect from this brewery. It’s a bit generically sugary-malty. A swirl brings out a bit of the tropical hop aromas (though again, I can’t really pinpoint any specifics). Not bad really, just not up to par for this phenomenal brewery.

Taste-The taste is a bit of the same, in that it just doesn’t quite work for me. At true cask/cellar temperature, I’m getting some interesting fruity notes (I’m thinking from fermentation character rather than hops, but I can’t be sure). There’s a low-ish moderate bitterness on the finish, though this beer is definitely a bit sweeter than Black Sheep’s other offerings. There is also some nice (if light) malt character through the middle. Again, I can’t pinpoint the fruity flavors, but they do seem a bit ‘tropical’ as the label suggests. It’s not a bad beer; it just doesn’t inspire me like Black Sheep’s other brews do. There’s also a bit too much residual sugar for me, I think. Where I would gladly jump on any brew from Black Sheep if I ever got a fresh example (yeah, right!) in the US, I would probably pass this one by next time.

Conclusion-I went in expecting to really like this beer, and was a bit disappointed. For me, if Best Bitter, Riggwelter, and Special Ale are at the top of the Black Sheep portfolio, and Golden Sheep is somewhere in the middle, this brew is down there towards the bottom end with the likes of Holy Grail Ale. Not that that makes it bad, exactly. It just means it’s like dozens of other generically ‘English’ ales I’d probably pass up if given a second chance. B-
Aug 05, 2011
Photo of fullsweep
Reviewed by fullsweep from England

3.53/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
500 mL brown bottle poured into a pint glass tumbler.

A: dark amber with hints of ruby; thin head but with lots of sticky lacing--very appealing

S: slight sharp and grainy but with a mellow sweetness too

T: this has some of the trademark sharp bitterness that Black Sheep brews are known for, but this one is a bit sweeter and more appealing to this reviewer for that reason

M: smooth with just the right amount of carbonation

O: Great beer that I'd definitely try again!
May 23, 2011
Photo of charlatan
Reviewed by charlatan from Scotland

3.65/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Gold to amber coloured beer with a big, fluffy head. There isn't much of a nose to speak of, just a promising hint of something herbal.

My first impression is that this is a savoury beer, a slow sipper. A very pleasant herbal flavour (a little grassy and lemony) sticks around for a long time without being at all overwhelming. The aftertaste has just a faint hint of sweetness which helps to make the feel rather metallic, something I like, but overall this is certainly a hop dominated brew. I had worried it would be similar to other Black Sheep beers but as far as I recall it is quite different. Would make a great, slow session beer for me as I'm not a fan of quaffing a huge number of beers at one sitting.
Nov 08, 2009
Photo of kmacphail
Reviewed by kmacphail from Scotland

2.07/5  rDev -42%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 1
An amber beer with an off white head that displayed good retention and lacing.

The nose was quite bitter, hops but it also had a smell of rotten fruit, rather an unpleasant note for something that I was about to consume.

This theme continued with the taste an initial hit of bitter hops followed immediately by the rotten fruit again, berries I think, but too skunky. This was followed by a smokey/burnt taste in this medium bodied beer.

I was really disappointed by this as I liked the other Black Sheep beers that I have tried. From the other reviews, this has fans, but it is not to my taste.
Apr 24, 2009
Photo of mdagnew
Reviewed by mdagnew from Northern Ireland

3.53/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
500ml bottle bought from The Vintage, Antrim...

Poured a clear coppery amber colour. Slightly off white head poured fairly loose and frothy then faded quite quickly to light patchy covering. Light carbonation and some light patchy lacing...

Aroma - Ripe fruits (oranges, some apples, light figs), marzipan notes, biscuit malts, grassy, floral honey sweetness, sweet graininess, quite bready, toasted nuts, light butterscotch, faint sulphur...

Taste - Some toasted caramel malts mixed with light juicy fruits (bitter oranges, pears), tea, decent peppery and grassy hop bitterness, bready, honey sweetness, some graininess, faint herbal notes...

M&D - Pretty smooth and creamy... medium bodied... a pretty quaffable brew..

Overall - A pretty bog standard example of an English pale ale... nothing mind blowing but a decent session ale...
Mar 20, 2009
Yorkshire Square Ale from Black Sheep Brewery PLC
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 26 ratings