Burton Bridge Empire India Pale Ale
Burton Bridge Brewery

Burton Bridge Empire India Pale AleBurton Bridge Empire India Pale Ale
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From:
Burton Bridge Brewery
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English IPA
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
81
Avg:
3.58 | pDev: 17.88%
Reviews:
134
Ratings:
170
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 07, 2021
Added:
Apr 01, 2002
Wants:
  18
Gots:
  6
In the 18th and 19th century, Britain being one of the great naval forces of all time faced the problem of supplying its serving men in it's World Empire with beer. In particular voyages to the continent of India with its tropic climate lasted for months and the dark, fruity ales of Britain turned sour and flat. In 1790 George Hodgson, brewer at the Bow Brewery in East London met the breweries' challenge by simply adding considerably more hops, more brewers' sugar and more grain to obtain a pale, highly attenuated, strong and very heavily hopped beer. The classic style India Pale Ale was born.

Burton Bride Brewery located in the famous beer town of Burton-on-Trent has now re-created this famous style. Thanks to the sulfur rich waters of the river Trent that enhances the clarity and the bitterness of the beer Burton Bridge's Empire India Pale Ale with its alc./vol. of 7.5% is now considered the "benchmark" of this classic style. Its complex combination of dryness hoppyness and fruityness has won numerous accolades throughout the world of beer.

1998 Silver Award, Champion Bottled Beer of the Year

1997 Guardian Newspaper Bottle Conditioned Beer of the Year
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by yelterdow:
Photo of yelterdow
Reviewed by yelterdow from New Jersey

2.86/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Served in a nonic at fridge temperature. No freshness date.

Appearance- Huge, four-finger head that redefines "rocky". Hazy light orange with sporadic, light lacing that settles eventually to thin mat. Quite messy with a wild array of different size bubbles after pouring the remaining contents, less the sediment.

Smell- English hops with an earthy, slightly grassy character. Some metal, cold steel. As it warms, a mild floral note peeks through... wrapped in metal, though.

Taste- Some wet bread followed by a metallic hop bitterness, lingering well into the painfully long finish. Puckering, to the point where I look like DeNiro in Goodfellas. A dry, skunky atmosphere is left in the mouth.

Mouthfeel/Drinkability- A little rough in the mouth at first, mellowing slightly after each swirl in the glass. A big beer in its own right, just lopsided in taste. I'll pass next time.
Sep 23, 2005
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.73 by Daneve76 from Australia

Jun 07, 2021
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

4.11/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
- Note: Bottle conditioned, and for the first time I've seen the bottle has an additional slot-on paper neck tag advising you how to handle and open/decant such a beer.

L- Pours light chestnut brown. A very slight haze, and 5mm off-white head (later clears to ring + lacing that holds well).
S- Mild aroma, but I get a sense of something fresh and slightly aromatic with spicing.
T- The briefest hint of citrus, maybe mandarin orange, then wham right into meaty and malty body. ...now I'm getting some deep/rich spiced marmalade notes. This is liquor-ish too, the 7.5% comes through loud and clear, it has that high-ABV% alcohol tang. Blind-tasted it wouldn't be hard to pursuade me it's even 8.5%-9%.
F- This is a very fine beer, and I note zero out of place/balance in it's attributes. This is disctinctive; I don't recall another beer I've had of late anything like this. Impactful too, one for me to slowly sip and relish!
O- You try beer after beer that don't quite live up to expectations and then - boom! - you find something like this gem from a brewery you hadn't even heard of. I like suprises like this - I'll definitely be buying this again.
BBE: Dec-2019 500ml bottle, from BeersOfEurope. Late ps. I rechecked the price and it's a quite weighty £3.39/bottle, though I'm not surprised, and I think it's worth it.
May 06, 2019
 
Rated: 2 by Macamah from England

May 14, 2016
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Reviewed by Beginner2 from Illinois

3.94/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Giving credit where credit is due is, I hope, an important BA tradition. And this is a great beer deserves lots of credit.
Empire IPA adjusted its market and methods in the early 19th Century to brew for British colonials in India and the ale, that took America by storm in the 21st Century was born.

BB's Empire IPA was reviewed at length in Roger Protz' " 300 Beers To Try Before You Die!" and it deserves to be on this list. Also reviewed in a broader context by Garett Oliver in "The Brewmaster's Table" he gives Burton Bridge credit as the source (water source) of how to make "hoppy" beers without having to use tons of hops as other brewers do. (I often think a few American brewers should try to "Burtonize" their water -- prickly water taken from limestone wells -- and avoid the hops.)

As for my review and MHO, Empire IPA Looks and Smells like the real deal. Its Taste is even fuller (perhaps it's the water.)
For Feel, I found this chewy. OA it went well with Indian food. A great versatile ale.
May 03, 2016
 
Rated: 3.25 by jrob21 from North Carolina

Oct 28, 2015
Photo of importedfromdet
Reviewed by importedfromdet from Michigan

4.05/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Holy foam batman! I opened this from my cold fridge and an explosion of foam.

Poured into lager glass. Looks like a great IPA. Semi-opaque dark orange. Very foamy head, about 1/4 foam. Tons of carbonation bubbles, almost like champagne.

Smell is very interesting for a pale ale, very fruity, lots of floral notes as well. Very unique smell.

With this interesting smell and marketing as the old school authentic IPA, taste was not too entirely different from a basic IPA upon first going down, but suddenly the crisp hos give way into something more darker and woody, it is quite pleasant. Cask aging I take it, and tastes great. Notes of alcohol come in as well, which add to the taste. Tastes old school, fo sho!

Mouth feel is of an IPA but the wood is left in your mouth with a little bit of hops bite. Wouldn't say it is unpleasant, but very unique. Dry. Longer after the drink the more dry your mouth is, eek.

That carbonation and ABV hit you quick and you feel like you are sipping some history. I dig it but not at the price. Would definitely have again.
Jul 07, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by sporklift87 from Colorado

Mar 29, 2015
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Rated by kscaldef from Oregon

3/5  rDev -16.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Very unusual. Woody, thick with resins. And I think a hint of brett
Jan 21, 2015
 
Rated: 3 by goast8127 from Michigan

Oct 29, 2014
Photo of Dwkasper
Rated by Dwkasper from New York

4/5  rDev +11.7%
Funky and delicious. Bright and refreshing. Taste follows nose. Grape must, lemon, oak. Tastes like the stodgy old grandpa of american IPAs
Oct 26, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by tommy5 from Michigan

Oct 19, 2014
 
Rated: 2 by Doomclaw from Massachusetts

Oct 07, 2014
 
Rated: 2 by StrayteEDGE from Massachusetts

Sep 25, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by AnitaBrewski from Massachusetts

Aug 20, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Joey-bags1990 from Missouri

Jul 05, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Ser_Finn from Pennsylvania

May 06, 2014
Photo of Foyle
Reviewed by Foyle from North Carolina

2.63/5  rDev -26.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75
Appearance: billowy 3" off white head settles very slowly with much lacing. Cloudy golden appearance.
Aroma: Floral and earthy hops, toasted grain
Mouthfeel: medium and a bit sticky with a semi-dry finish
Flavor: spicy hop presence with a sweet malt backbone. Somewhat astringent and a bit of a cough syrup flavor.
Overall: good but not great. Glad I tried this but I doubt I would buy it again at $6 for one bottle.
Apr 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by beruski from Massachusetts

Apr 12, 2014
 
Rated: 2.75 by Phishagonia from Connecticut

Mar 29, 2014
Burton Bridge Empire India Pale Ale from Burton Bridge Brewery
Beer rating: 81 out of 100 with 170 ratings