Pumphouse Pale Ale
Sambrook's Brewery

April 2013: 500 ml bottle, from Vaaland, Bryne. ABV is 4.2%. Golden colour, large white head. Aroma of grassy and citrussy hops, with some unusual and interesting spicy notes in the background, also a hint of tobacco. The flavour is fairly dry, with distinct hops throughout, herbal and spicy notes, ending in a little fruity sweetness.

 

 

 

L- Pale gold, with a very slight haze, pours with 1Cm white head of mixed bubble size.
S- Subtle, I just get some low-key grains.
T- Gentle balance of grains and malt, with decent hopping kicking in towards the finish; adult, but thankfully not OTT hipster levels of hops.
F- It feels very well balanced, nothing shouts out of place and the dry hops makes it refreshing; it is eminently sessionable. It has a decent body to it too, in a blind-test I'd have guessed this as say 4.6%.
O- I'm enjoying this, it's very easy drinking and is refreshing. It's my first beer of the evening and going down well. Sometimes I think lower ABV% beers have to work harder to impress, but this one manages to for me, good going for a 4.2%. I'd certainly buy this again, especially if I wanted an adult EPA on the sessionable side.
£2.05 from Waitrose in London. 500ml bottle, BBE 09/19. Notable that the ingredients are listed in eight languages.
Trivia: Unusual that the lable is intaglio printed, ie the text and detailing is raised and tactile. The lable on my bottle is redesigned to that shown here; orange, black and white featuring a sun-burst design.

Very bright body with a bit of foam, the smell of soft, clean moles, also in the drunk mud, bread, with a very small edge of bitter, earth, spices, apple, giving light dryness

 

 

 

 

 

 

A 500ml bottle with a BB of Aug 2013, so it's a little out of date. Picked up from Sainsbury's last year as part of their 2012 Beer Hunt, and stored in my garage. Fingers crossed it's still in good nick. A golden ale named after the pumphouse in Battersea park.

Poured into a tulip pint glass. A golden-amber hue with faint haze and medium carbonation. Yields a decent head of creamy white foam that lasts for a few minutes before disappearing. Aroma of light caramel malt with hints of mild grain, stewed hops, subtle citrus and fruity ale yeast. A twinge of cardboard in the background.

Tastes of caramel malt with leafy hops and a dry finish. Notes of grain, mild caramel, stewed hops, grass/hay, faint citrus, fruity ale yeast and a hint of cardboard. A restrained bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and dry, with pleasant carbonation and decent body. Mildly astringent, followed by an aftertaste of stewed hops, yeasty esters and faint harshness.

OK, though nothing special. Looks alright, while the aroma and flavour are balanced but uninspired. Satisfactory body. Goes down easily enough, though I can't say that it stands out from the crowd. Perhaps I'll review a younger bottle if I have the chance. No need to seek it out.

Hand Pulled at the Lamb

A_Golden-copper hue with a foamy off white head that quickly diminishes

S_Lemon notes and slightly toasted grain.

T_Sweet notes of grain hit up front followed by a bit of citric hop bitterness. Well balanced between the two. Slight amount of peppery spice notes appear as it goes down. The citrus lessens a bit as it goes down, changing into a bit of apple.

M_On the creamier side with a low pleasing carbonation. Refreshing beer after some site seeing. nicely complex

500ml bottle: best before 20 Aug 2013. Poured into a UK pint sleeve at home on 2 Apr 2013.

Light amber to dull golden body with carbonisation bubbles rising towards a swiftly reducing head of white foam.

Yet another golden brew with citrus notes running straight through it, were my first thoughts: they however changed as I drank the beer.

Crisp, refreshing and fairly bitter, the citrus feel getting less and less, with the bittering hops taking over from the aromatic ones once you get into the pint. This is a complexed brew and although I'm tiring of citrus based golden beers this is a lot better than most.

 

Gravity halfpint at the Sebright Arms.

A: Clear gold body under a solid, fine, sticky eggshell head. Great retention and lacing. Excellent.

S: Floral and fruity hops are foremost, with some bready and biscuity malt behind. The aroma's arresting, I'd argue.

T: Simple, elegant, enjoyable: fruity hops, biscuity malt, clean finish. Apple, citrus, and toastiness. Great.

M: Creamy, well-carbonated, fairly light body. Lovely.

O: This was my favorite beer out of many at the Sebright's festival of local London ales. The malt/hop balance was spot on, it was both hugely flavorful and hugely drinkable, and it inspired me to write alliterative verse for at least one of the scoring categories. Now that's a beer!

Cheers!