Butcombe Gold
Butcombe Brewery Ltd.

Dec. 2018: 500 ml bottle, from British Corner Shop. ABV is 4.7%. Golden colour, moderate white head. Fairly nice aroma of earthy and herbal hops. The medium dry flavour has some fruity and tingling hops, followed by more earthy notes. Decent beer.

Had on tap in a pint glass. Easy drinking and not too bad. Clear copper color with lots of white lacing. Taste is sweet malt, biscuit, pine and bitter hops.

500ml bottle from Waitrose, Bath (£1.80):
Reddish amber with a fairly clear body & a thin, soapy white lacing around the edges. The nose is clean, light & inoffensive, mainly biscuit & pale malts, a little bread & touches of hay with subtle English style hops. The taste is pale malts & biscuit, hay & grassy hops then a little caramel sweetness to go with the bread malts. The body is moderately carbonated, clean & has a subtle bitterness to it. It's light medium & quite easy going too.

 

 

 

Tap

An easy ride. Glorious familiarity of a hoppy classic. Setting a basic standard for a decent pale ale.

Fresh on tap in a Liverpool pub. On the '1001"

 

 

 

Brewed originally for the Bristol balloon festival. Now widely available.

Poured into a tall glass, from a bottle bbe not noted, but this was very young. Less that one week from bottling date.

Aroma is primarily sweet malt and fuggles hops. Not as complex as older versions. Very crisp and new. Clear golden appearance, more so than aged versions.

Mouth feel crisp, quite dry and refreshing. Not as smooth as aged versions, the bitter hop flavour leaving a furry feel.

Flavour dominated by fuggles hop, and golden malt. Not having had time to mellow these where separate. The hop flavour very pronounced, and deep, clearly English fuggles.

Personal preference would have me look for a version that had been in the bottle longer. This review posted as this is a somewhat unusual example.

 

 

Bottled
Rich copper colour, clear, with a minimal off-white head. Subtle hops and caramel on the nose. Sweet caramel flavour at the start then a drier, refreshing, clean finish.

 

Hand-pulled pint in the excellent 'Railway Buildings' on Codsall railway station: 17 Nov 2012.

Cracking looking beer: bright body of golden amber colour with a good head that stayed the distance as the beer level slid down my UK sleeve glass.

The aroma was thin and although there was a mini-blend of malt and hop notes there wasn't enough to pick out any clear smells to pontificate about.

The taste is a well balanced mix of semi-sweet maltiness and a woody, nutty feel with a mild hop bitterness under the surface at all times and rising towards the end of each sip.

Pleased I found a cask version: thought it might be better than the bottled one and I was right.

 

Poured at the Royal Oak pub, Bath, England, while watching the Olympic torch being brought in

A: Golden sunset with a half finger head that dissipates. Some lacing.

S: Hoppy, malty, pepper

T: Follows nose. A good balance of malts and hops; semi-sweet with a bitter finish. Fuggles, whatever fuggles are supposed to taste like.

M: Medium with light carbonation.

O: Not bad; one of the better cask ale offerings I've tried.

Couldn't give less than a 5 for appearance. Crystal clear honey body with a generous 1 finger medium density just-off-white head that retains beautifully and leaves loads of lace.

Subtle aroma is earth and cereal malt. Not
Much going on.

Flavour is fascinating. Advertised as being loaded with fuggles, it is neither bitter or even overly dry. A lot of grapefruit and pine hop notes (for a british ale) on a big sweet-ish malt body. Some metallic astringency in the finish. Almost dry and almost moreish but not quite either. I've needed to drink the while pint before deciding whether or not I like it. And I do.

Body is big for an English bitter. Great creamy smoothness all the way. Love it

The metallic finish a touch too much sweetness drop the drinkability a wee notch but 2 pints would be perfec.