Apple Crumble Ale
Greene King / Morland Brewery

 

12 oz bottle into pine glass, bottled on 6/22/2016. Pours fairly crystal clear deep golden amber/light orange color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of lightly tart green apple, vanilla, cinnamon, toasted pie crust, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance of apple, spices, bready malt, and light-moderate earthy hop/yeast notes; with solid strength. Taste of lightly tart green apple, vanilla, cinnamon, toasted pie crust, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of green apple, vanilla, cinnamon, toasted pie crust, herbal, pepper, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Nice robustness and balance of apple, spices, bready malt, and light-moderate earthy hop/yeast flavors; with a good malt/bitter/spiciness balance. Light lingering hop/spice astringency, but not overwhelming. Moderate dryness from lingering bitter/spiciness, increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and light-medium body; with a smooth and moderately bready/grainy/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is good. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 4.1%. Overall this is pretty good flavored English bitter. All around good robustness and balance of apple, spices, bready malt, and light-moderate earthy hop/yeast flavors; very smooth and easy to drink, despite the increasingly bitter/drying finish. Was a little weird at first, as I was expecting a sweeter fruit beer after the aromas; but I got used to it through the glass. This was still quite tasty and enjoyable. A little candy-like, but not too artificial.

Interesting that this is a one-off & that I was able to score one. I also took the approved pic, just in case you might have been wondering.

Nothing on the bottle's label to transcribe, so for the second time today, I am jumping in with a pour. Make that an aggro pour since it was a fresh bottle with nothing to concern me. The head roared up and then settled into two-plus fingers of dense, rocky, foamy, tawny head with decent retention. Color was a pretty, solid Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9) with NE-quality clarity. I have to disagree with a (the) previous reviewer in that the nose reminded me more of red apple juice or drink, less so of green apples. I will grant that there was a Jolly Rancher-like candy quality on the nose, but green apples equal tart to me and I was not getting tart from the nose. It was definitely apple, but it was also pretty sweet. Mouthfeel was rather thin and watery. The taste, while apple, had a sharpness that was neither bitter nor sweet. It was just ... odd. I was not getting anything in terms of vanilla and the malt seemed lackluster. I began to feel envious in that I was not discerning anything anywhere near pie crust. Finish was semi-sweet, but overall, bland and disappointing. Oh, well. At least I got to drink and review one. Do not fret if the same opportunity does not present itself to you.

Morland Apple Crumble Ale has a medium, white head, a clear, amber, "apple juice" appearance, with suspended, fine sediment, some lazy, ascending bubbles, and lacing splotches, left behind. The aroma is of green Jolly Rancher candy, with a faint pie crust background scent. Taste is of harshly & stark bitter green apple skin, subtle vanilla and a hint of pie crust. Mouthfeel is between light and medium, Apple Crumble Ale finishes medium dry.

RJT