Otter Head
Otter Brewery Ltd

 

 

Bit on the strong side. Full of rich flavours, needs a bit of time to consume.

 

 

Direct from the cask at the Hook Norton Beer Fest' 2016.
Deep auburn/chestnut colour. Thin head but with good lacing.
A toffee apple aroma amongst other complex smells.
The fruit continues with that slightly earthy and stale flavour you get from an old ale.
Good chewy body.
This was great after a number of hop forward brews I had previously tasted at the Fest'.

 

Slightly hazy copper color with practically no head.
Aroma of caramels, licorice, mild pine, roasted malts, earthy hops just on the background and dark fruits. It reminded me of a malty Scottish Ale.
Though its flavor is rather different, inversing weights between malt and hops, it is actually refreshing with nice notes of English earthy hops, spices, tangy citrusy, mild herbal, tobacco, caramel, dark chocolate and figs. Dry and bitter aftertaste.
Tricking body, it feels light but it is actually bordering medium. It has an appropriate carbonation with tiny bubbles.
Surprisingly good beer and deceiving beer. Interesting that based on the aroma I was expecting a more malty beer with bare hops, but it resulted in a very well balanced brew, tasty with good drinkability and increasing complexity. Highly recommended if you like English Ales.

 

 

 

 

 

A- A muddy copper color with really no clarity. I was a bit surprised by both the darkness and the murkiness of this beer. Not much at all in the way of a true head. Just loose, soapy bubbles that dont ride.

S- Quite malty. Its approaching Scotch ale territory with all the raisin sweetness.

T- Again, lots of maltiness. Sweet dark fruits like raisins and figs. Brown sugar as well.

M- Super low carbonation makes for a really smooth, cask conditioned replication. Very dry on the finish.

D- Quite drinkable, but I would like a touch more balance rather than a flash of bitterness at the finish.

It's Christmas day and I purchased several English Ale's as a sort of self gifting.
Poured from a 16.09 ounce. Pours a hazy amber orange. Very thin with an unappetizing loose, thin head that has poor retention and poor lacing. Appearance is at best mediocre.
Smell is not particularly malty, citrus is evident along with some earthy tones. Mildly floral hops are more evident.
Low carbination, watery, thin but some aceytel, citrus flavors do peak thru. On the sweet side, has a slight bitter dry after taste.

This was $3.99 for a pint, or basically about $18.00 for a six pack. At that price level this beer should have me saying WOW. At that price, however, it only had me saying GEE!

Pours a moderately translucent deep amber with orange-brown hues. Almost no visible carbonation and nearly zero head. Scent is very malty, with faintly alcoholic character -- and earthy and peppery notes from the aroma hops.

Flavor is malty, with a long sweet caramel taste and a moderate but slightly astringent bitterness in the finish. There's a bit more sweetness in this ale than I expected. Initially, the hoppy aftertaste is a nice counterpoint to the deep malty character, but nearly halfway through the pint, as the hop taste grows more intense, something seems out of balance between the two flavors. It's hard to describe; while I do enjoy the hop flavor itself, it doesn't seem to meld well with the sweet side of this beer.

While I found this one interesting, it's not one of my favorite English ales. I'd love to try it again on tap and see if the taste is different in draught form, but maybe I'll try other Otter beers and see if those are more my speed.

From the 1 pt. 0.9 fl. oz. bottle and sampled on July 11, 2009. It pours amber-brown with a thin beige head. The carbonation bubbles clung to the side of the pint glass and gave off an appearance not unlike tiny ice crystals although it was served at about 40 degrees. They say that it is brewed with spring water and perhaps that was the reason for this unique look. The aroma was sweet and malty with a tinge of fruit in the background. The mouthfeel was in the medium range with the smooth texture of honey. A good English bitter taste with a slightly dry finish. Overall tasty and true to my favorite style.

Brewed with spring water, marris otter malt, and challenger/fuggel hops.

A: Pours a very hazy ice tea color with no visible head.

S: A nice smooth and sweet malt is detected on the nose with some sugary ice tea hints.

T: Very spicy hopping from the challenger and fuggel hops combine nicely with the dry british malting. The palate is very smooth, slick, and pleasing on the tongue sliding effortlessly down the throat. Very well balanced with a distinct dry bitterness in the finish. The malting truly highlights this beer very well with some sweet caramel backing.

M: smooth, crisp and good per style.

D: Very good per style and very good drinkability.

Pours a hazy, orangy brown. The bottle cap didn't seemed sealed very well, so I didn't get a head on this even after a vigorous pour.
First aroma impression is of a fruit cake. Lots of sweet breadiness, dried fruits mascerated in sherry, dark caramel, brown sugar and molasses.
Flavors very similar to the aroma. Very reminiscent of fruit cake. Bready/bicuity, fruity, lots of brown sugar and molasses. Not as boozy as in the aroma, but the sherry flavor is still present. Earthy hops give a nice balance to the sweetness.
Medium mouthfeel. Carbonation was still present, but on the very low side because of the bottle cap issue.
Pretty good drinkability. Very good flavors make this a good drinker. Maybe not a session beer, but a couple of pints would make for a nice evening.
This may make it's way into the rotation more often. I like this a lot.

A very vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass barely summons forth a bit more than a finger-thick head. The beer is a dark red color that shows a brilliantly clear, pale cranberry hue with just a touch of copper when held up to the light. The aroma is at first quit malt focused with an almost molasses like note. A touch of earthiness is here as well contributed by both the hops and a somewhat overly caramelized malt character (is it starting to show signs of oxidation?). Some slight fruity hop notes are here in the aroma too contributing a mix of light, but sweet citrus and a soft berry note.

Sweet tasting and only slightly carbonated, the beer finishes with an oxidized sherry like note that definitely shouldn't beer here this soon. A touch of herbal hops, some light bitterness and a touch of berry character struggles to be noticeable through the oxidation and the malt character, that should be so vibrant, is just muted and dead.

Definitely disappointing, this is a fresh to AZ beer as far as I know and should be in much better condition than this. It seems that something likely happened at bottling time with this as it doesn't even reach an English level of carbonation. Perhaps this is a single off bottle, but at $6 it is hard to justify buying another one to test that theory out.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ