Speculation Ale
Freeminer Brewery Ltd.

 

Half pint at 'spoons Society Rooms in Glasgow. Poor lighting in there, but this appeared to be a dark amber to brick red coloured beer with an offwhite 'spoons head and a somewhat malty nose. It starts with a sweet caramel flavour, then goes through a lengthy acidic phase before a more bitter finish. Alcohol becomes more apparent the more I drink, rendering the finish rathe rminty. This is pretty decent, although I'm not clear exactly what they were aiming for.

 

From a pretty fresh cask, this beer is dark and murky amber shading to brown in the middle and lighter amber on the sides. Since it was hand-pumped it got quite a bit of head, a full finger's worth that never budged the whole session and coated the pint glass with plenty of thick foamy lace.

Smells of fruity esters, most noticeably of rose water notes. Hops are prominent, giving off plenty of floral and grapefruit notes. Opened to some nice caramel scents on the verge of smelling like maple sugar. A fair show of English Bitter goodness and much stronger than most versions I find of this style.

Tastes of fresh and abundant English hops, full of lemon, floral, and oily dry flavors. These lead into a textured bitterness that tickles on and on in conjunction with a roasty-chocolatey complex palate of malt. Finish is incredibly long as the hops become interminably dynamic, showing a wide array of character while wrapping around the equally complex roasty and grainy malt. Thin-to-moderate mouthfeel but relatively full-bodied because of the hand-pumping and lightly oily from the freshness. Wow, a whole lot of flavor for a 4.8% abv beer and quite a treat for the British Bitter lover.

This had one of the longest finishes I've ever experienced in a beer this side of Belgium. I could take a sip and have the flavors roll on and around for up to a full 30 seconds afterwards - that's impressive and delicious. The bartend said the cask was fresh, and boy was she right. A picture perfect example of what cask-conditioning can do, and especially when done by Brits who know best. So good I passed on the ridiculous line-up of Belgian beers that Monk's Cafe also had on tap - no rush, I'll get to them another day, because this was a beauty to behold.

EDIT: Had this beer again the next day and it was apparent that in just a mere day this ale had lost some potency and sharp character. Shows the power of having casks fresh.

Pours a dark amber-brown with a nose like buttered toffee. Take the chocolate off of a Heath bar and sniff. That is this beer. Hints of diacetyl and brown sugar in the background.

VERY round - this one gently fills the mouth with flavor. Toffeeish, slightly nutty, with butterscotch/diacetyl. As it finishes earthy slightly citric hops join the party along with a well controlled bitterness and a dark sugar (molasses, grade B maple syrup sans maple) component in the background along with some faint but noticeable diacetyl that tends to go away as the pint warms. A slight astringency detracts ever so slightly. Not at all a bad session beer, although a bit buttery for extended consumption.

Massive over-carbonation on the pour, especially for an English bottled bitter. Really lovely malty aroma, cookie like, with some citrus and spice. First thing you noticed tastewise is the juicy/prickly malts, really firm and well balanced. then comes the citric dry, slightly earthy, spicy, lightly grassy hops, delicious. Really long, soft, rounded finish, delightful biiter. Very well balanced.