Cropton's Calamity Ale / Uncle Sam's Bitter
The Great Yorkshire Brewery

 

A - Poured into a pint glass a slightly cloudy golden colour with a few centimetres of head that falls away fairly quickly.
S - Smell is piney & citrus fruit, undoubtedly from the Cascade hops.
T - The taste also gets a fair whack of the cascade hops but also has some earthy, malty character. Slight sourness.
M - Fairly light bodied with a medium carbonation. Dry finish.
D - I've had better & I've had worse. Decent beer worth trying but there are better options for regular drinking.

Dried apricot with a huge amount of carbonation that has created a four-fingers-and-a-thumb head of creamily airy ecru foam. The generous amount of bubbles ensures that the cap will last for a while, so I might as well sit back and relax. Soft streamers of melty lace appear on the glass, but don't look as committed to the cause as they could be.

Eventually, once the head has fallen far enough, I'm able to appreciate a fruity, yeasty nose that doesn't really smell like Cascade hops to me. There shouldn't be much else present to interfere with the grapefruitiness of that particular hop, but something is keeping the aroma from being bright and zesty.

Calamity Jane is a decent English bitter. It's definitely bitter, but it isn't as cleanly hoppy as I think beer of this style ought to be. There are some tart appley notes that are nice and that make me think 'English ale'. I would have thought, though, that Cascade hops would have given the beer more of an American vibe, as intended.

Enough pale malt is on hand to balance things and to provide a bit of underlying sweetness. If I'm not mistaken, crystal is a member of the malt bill as well. Actually, this really doesn't taste much like a bitter at all. It's a bit of a strange conglomeration of flavors that aren't fitting together any better as I enter the bottom half of the bottle.

The mouthfeel is closer to light than to medium, no crime that, and is zippily carbonated. It fits the stated style fairly well so I've decided not to be too hard on it. Bottle conditioning is often hit-or-miss. Still though, a beer named Calamity Jane should have hit the bull's eye with its eyes closed, instead of just winging the very edge of the target.

I appreciate Cropton's effort to brew 'a tribute to the Yanks who lent a helping hand during WWII'. Too bad the U.S. authorities wouldn't let them use the original name, 'Uncle Sam's Bitter'. I wish they had come up with a better beer though.

An English ale made with cascade hops hmm a nice treat,I opened the bottle and bam all over the freakin place!Around 9 of the 16.9 ozs out on to the counter top that upset me,anyways what was left poured a light golden with a thin white head that settles quickly.Love the intense apple cider-like aromas intense and effervescent with a touch of brown suger to make it even better.Apple once again shows itself bigtime flavor wise tart with a touch of sweetness the cascades not nearly as up front as I thought might be show themselves late and linger nicely with some citruis flavors.Very fruity and even a little yeasty I really enjoyed what I had a chance to drink of this beer,I would love to try a whole bottle.

This is a different tasting beer to me.

Pours a nice dark chestnut. Nice foamy head with good retention and lace. The nose is hoppy. The taste is surprising for an English beer. This is the hoppiest English beer I have had. Very tart a tad sweet with a hint of malt. Very dry finish.

This beer is OK but not my favorites. Too tangy.

Even if the bottle didn't list the ingredients as "English malt and American Cascades hops," the aroma leaves no room for mistake as to the hops involved. Piney grapefruit. First sip - whoa! Quite tart, almost vinegar-like. No, the beer has not gone bad, it is just tart and acidic. Highly carbonated and sharp on the tongue, this is a beer to be consumed in small sips, no gulping here. Interesting - fairly hoppy and along the lines of an American pale ale, yet a sharpness that is almost like a sour ale. A worthwhile diversion, but not a beer I plan to go back for more.

I don't know, but this seems to border on a sour ale, rather than on an English Ale with Cascade hops. A pleasant yeasty aroma along with mild malt, hops and bread lasts a good long time as does the overly big beige head and globs of lace. Sweet malt, citrusy hops, a slight astrigent edge and a tad too much tart cider taste make up the flavors. It's got to be their yeast strain that produces the odd acidic, tart taste. It's more evident in Cropton's Rudolph Revenge, which by the way is probably still foaming up in Genaro's sink drain after pouring it out last winter.

Bottle conditioned.

Little overly excited. Popped the cap and it oozed all over my desk.

Orange-amber body with good carbonation streams, topped by a small but characterful oatmeal head. Aroma? It is disconcerting to sniff an English Ale and be flattened by Cascades. Pine a bit over grapefruit, but solid.Taste is a bit different: it's never quite what you expect. It''s like 3 parts of a bitter with one part of a AIPA. Fruity, but not grapefruits, more like lemon and orange. Might be a bit too sweet, could use some additional hopping, Cascades or others.

An unusual English Ale, worthy of at least a try.

Gorgeous clear copper. Immense head, and very highly carbonated. The head is very fine, rocky and really sticks around at about an inch thick.

Nose is a combination of citric and earthy hops, rich malt and a whallop of crystal malt. Almost cloying.

Thankfully, much more subtle on the palate where it is definitely rich, but has a cutting tartness that keeps it in balance. Some hop flavor, but its mostly an aroma feature. With time the over-bearing crystal component asserts itself and pushes this over the edge for me. Bottle-conditioning gives a great, finely carbonated mouthfeel. An interesting mix of true English ale-making with a whack of American aroma hops. If you like crystal, well worth a try.

Pours with medium head, low carbonation and only some lace. Cloudy orange since it is bottle conditioned and the yeast is there. Their web site labels this as 4.4% ABV but the bottle label is 6.0%. Nice malt and hops balance, with citrusy flavor. A good bitter.

Fat 16.9 oz brown bottle with no freshness date though there is a blurb about the beer and it says that the brewery was not able to use the name “Uncle Sam’s Bitter” due to legal (Federal) reasons.

Frothed milk like head that clings in the same way, a healthy carbonation gives the bubbles the way to the top … hence a good head retention.

Smells woody and earthy with an appleish fruitiness. Touch of musty buttery diacetyl with hints of caramel and malt sweetness as well as faint floral hop.

Bottle conditioned smoothness, tartness is a big draw on the palate. Moderate body with a slickness on the tongue. Raw earthy and yeast flavours are mild yet everywhere. Tartness is apple-like with a hint of lemon this is quite an exciting fruity by-product. Faint musty and faintly buttery diacetyl flows with a floral hoppiness. Finishes lightly tart with a touch of residual sweetness.


A little “big” fresh ale with lots of complexities that seem more in the raw and unrefined as a bottle conditioned unfiltered brew should be. More of a surprise for the novice but a treat to true “Real Ale” fan.