Ruddles Orchard
Greene King / Morland Brewery

I had this one and didn't take notes albeit some mental ones. It was very tangy and almost sour granny apple flavor (Jolly Ranchers). I'd never heard of this beer when I looked into my friends fridge so I was dying to try it. Where did you get it I asked and he said his roommate brought it back from Ireland when she went there. It was too applely for me, but I'm glad I gave her a try.

Having tried this beer's cask version at a local Wetherspoon's pub last week, it's interesting to see the difference b/w that and the bottled attempt. Clear bottle, BB July 2007. Served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: reddish amber hue, coming with a creamy white frothy head with some retention; sparse large bubbles ejecting from the bottom of the glass every now and then.
S: Ruddles County plus green apple peels, with semi-sweet burned sugary malts, candies constantly at the back. Pretty mild, not as sweet as anticipated, but way too simplistic.
T: lightly metallic and sweet malty on the palate, clashing mouthfeel, while apples are very faint on the palate and flavour except for the flavoured-candy-ish sweetness... gradually the maltiness breaks up, giving some space to a black tea-leafy bitterness and an intriguingly gingery and tangy feel coming with it. Semi-dry bitter finish--finally some signs of hops?
M&D: compared with the cask version, the bottle's mouthfeel and body are thin, flat, and clashing, yet at the same time it's fizzy like a ginger beer... and the unbalanced flavour overall tells a really different story from the cask one, which retains a reasonable balance b/w malts and fruits, whereas this bottle makes me suspect if it's indeed pasteurised? Maybe the unsuccessful bottling attempt explains why the previous reviewers dislike it so much. Having tasted the cask-conditioned one, I have to say I'm not impressed, either.

Appearance: copper, great clarity, lots of bubbles, frothy layer of light tan foam, OK head retention

Aroma: big whallop of skunkiness as soon as the first drop hits the bottom of the glass; under that, a bit of diacetyl, malt, and leafy hops

Flavor: an all-at-one apple cider and Bitter start; then a bit of rust and vegetal hop flavor; somewhat tangy; also hints of passion fruit and a soapy bitterness; finishes semisweet and tart with a residual throaty bitterness

Mouthfeel: medium body, terse carbonation, somewhat crisp

Other comments: Another beer ruined by being in a clear bottle sitting on a supermarket shelf. I know it might be harsh to mark down the aroma for that, but punishment is in order. Brewers KNOW the high risk of skunked beer when using clear bottles, yet they continue to use them for marketing value. Until they get their priorities straight (quality over quantity), then I'm going to continue marking them down for skunkiness. Having said that, the beer tastes alright and the hop flavor is pretty good.

The colour is pale golden yellow-brown. There is almost no head at all.

The smell is mostly concentrated apple-juice; it is a bit artificial with some alcohol.

The tare is sour and unbalanced with an artificial flavour of apple candies. The bitterness is … idle. The aftertaste misses all bitterness, but there are some notes of cheap apple syrup.

Basically, this is the quite dull Ruddles Country with some concentrated apple juice added to it. Completely needless.

500ml clear bottle

Pours with a copper body, off white head, fairly creamy

Smell, weird fake apples, like cheap apple juice. Little hint of musky malt but little else

Taste, some crisp fake apples then a musty dry malt, some hop bitterness on the finish

A pretty piss poor beer, i dont like ruddles ale anyways but with the inclusion of concentrated apples? not a nice beer by any means really