Ruby Star
Young & Co Brewery PLC

A - Decent reddish colour and firm head that did not last too long.

S - Quite subtle but got hints of dark fruits possibly plums.

T - Slightly caramel but bitter almost coffee like in the finish.

M - Smooth carbonation, nice feel.

D - Decent enough but would be looking elsewhere for my next drink.

Definitely in the worth a try category.

Bottle conditioned, brown 500ml, best before 14 Sept 2007, drank Feb 2007.

Poured into a straight pint sleeve glass, it looks OK, sadly the huge slightly off white head soon left, leaving behind a poor, wispy excuse of a covering. Not really ruby, but there is a red tint to the brown body of the beer.

Hops, malty biscuits and not much else hit my nose, a hint of that strange mushroom aroma that some beers have, was also there, as the beer warmed up.

Good bitter flavour to it, sharp, tangy and fresh tasting, a dash of citrus fruits, a spoonfull of sugar to even it out? I don't know, it is a complexed taste, which I enjoyed.

My mouth knew a beer had been in it, 5.5% isn't too strong, but this beer carries the weight well, it feels stronger. A sourness stays at the back of your mouth for some time, retension of flavours is good.

The head leaving trick apart, this was a very enjoyable beer, just what I needed, after dog sitting for my daughter.

Purchased at the Tesco suparmarket. The bottle-neck bears a mark "Tesco Drinks Awards Best Beer". BB 14 SEP 2007, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: dark amber hue, coming with a thick and fluffy off-white head that sustains really well, on top of medium carbonation full of tiny and medium-sized bubbles.
S: the first sniff is reminiscent of Young's London Special Ale, albeit with a lesser profile--pronounced, 3D, "smelly" Fuggles hops along with a deeply citric-fruity and floral edge of other hop varieties dominate the nose, backed by sticky dark sugary maltiness and a mildly sour-sweet hint of prunes... all mixed rather harmoniously.
T: lively-textured, vertically-bodied bitter-ing hops prevail from the very first second (with a little dried-grassy and roast-tea-ish hints), backed by a less assertive malty entry with bitter toastiness as well as an timid edge of sour-sweet dried dark fruits; the whole-leafy and tannic bitterness manifests itself gradually and intensifies, giving abundant hints of Fuggles' flavour and its lingering, flat-textured bitterness...
M&D: the texture remains refreshing thanks to an endless input of tiny fizziness; the body is light for its colourful flavour but just enough to make it an easy-drinking Premium Bitter. This is a solid, well-crafted hoppy beer that the new company "Wells & Young's" has managed to produced--not as complex as the old London Special Ale but way much better than the now purely Bedford-made Young's Bitter and Special...

Appearance: ruby-brown. good clarity, frothy layer of off-white foam that turns rocky, great head retention

Aroma: blooms of floral hops with a sweet malty undercurrent and a touch of hop "cheese"

Flavor: solid malt backbone balanced against a full vegetal hop flavor and bitterness; orange marmalade, fresh plums; finishes dryish with a hopped-up caramel aftertaste

Mouthfeel: medium-full body, prickly carbonation, slight raspiness

Other comments: Nice to see another bottle-conditioned beer from Young's, who do pretty well even with their filtered beers. Quite scrumptious, this one.