Pedigree V.S.O.P
Marston's Plc.

June 2014: Shared 500 ml bottle, from CITTI-Markt Flensburg (BraufactuM collection). BB date 21.10.2012. Bottle No. 303827. ABV is 6.7%. Hops are Golding, Fuggle, Sovereign, Target and Celia. Deep golden to orange colour, moderate white (or slightly off-white) head. Nice and "typically English" aroma of toffee and English hops, earthy notes. Well balanced flavour, seems to have aged well. Same elements as in the aroma, fairly dry. A beer I’d buy again.

review from discovered notes unearthed due to emptying kitchen for a refit
Bottled and sadly not bottle conditioned, even worse a clear bottle
aroma is coins and bread
flavour is tinny and very slight citrus

 

 

 

 

 

 

A - Pours a nice dark golden copper colour, finger of head with some retention ans sporadic sheeting lacing.

S - A tad mild, but detectable with bitter citrus notes, leafy green hops, paper mache and slightly musty and metallic notes.

T - Again, rather mild, but a nice lemon citrus bitterness is present, some subtle caramel and marshmallow malt undertones come through as well. Subtle oak and peat notes are also detectable.

M - Lighter bodied ale that could come across a tad thin, but finishes with a nice dryness.

O - A tasty ale, but like other reviewers said its not overly 'pale'. The scent and flavours are mild, but still rather enjoyable.

 

500 mL bottle; no freshness date.

Pours a pale orange-amber, with two fingers of foamy white head on top. Retention is ok, and it leaves plenty of sticky lacing on the sides of the glass as it dissipates. The aroma is ok and inviting enough I guess, but nothing terribly fancy... light biscuity malts, a bit of honey and butterscotch, with some leafy hops in the background.

Nice malty taste, bready/biscuity with more honey and butterscotch on the tongue. Balanced nicely with earthy, herbal English hops that provide good drying bitterness toward the finish. Some woodiness and the ethanol give it a vaguely whisky-like feel. Bittersweet aftertaste that lingers only briefly. Medium-bodied, with mild carbonation. Fairly drinkable, although this is hurt by the fact that the booze is not especially well-masked.

A bolder affair than your average mild English pale. I am not a big fan of (regular) Pedigree, and although I like this spinoff slightly more, I would not exactly say I'm a big fan of this either. Enjoyable enough, but I'm much more likely to go for an Innis & Gunn the next time I'm in the mood for a sturdier British beer.

Truth be told, Pedigree V.S.O.P (very special old pale) isn't that pale - and the verdict is still out on just how special it is. Its golden body has a bright shine and near perfect clarity, forgiving a little chill haze, but its coppery hue is somewhat deep. As for its head, the loosely packed bubbles don't coalesce for very long.

The beer certainly smells like a V.S.O.P - a very standard, ordinary pint. It has hearty and wholesome, albeit very familiar, Marris Otter maltiness as well as the typical water sulfates you'd expect to smell. No brandy though. The dry-hopping, however, is noticeable - not like when the Americans do it, mind you. It is merely a bit grassier and herbal.

And that goes for on the palate too: there is a stern bitterness that can be intensely herbaceous (as much any English ale is capable of being intense) and leaves a drying, grassy, somewhat pithy taste in the mouth. I find Sovereign hops especially plant-like tasting and Fuggles and Goldings are characteristically leafy. This ale combines all three.

A hard water profile compounds those hop flavours but this beer has a lot of malt too. It is hardly sweet though, despite a bit of butterscotch flavour. The malt is quite grainy and blends well into the very subtle hints of oak. The beer is a great drinker but is, if anything, less superior to standard Pedigree and certainly not worth the price difference.

Pedigree V.S.O.P is a beer worth drinking, yes, but not worth going out to buy. Somebody in the brewery's marketing department aught to have known better than to market this as being 'very special' anything. The simple fact of the matter is, despite its unique brewing process, this is just average beer. Very good beer by all accounts, but average beer.

Pours a light orange color with an off-white, shortlived head. Pretty much no lace sticks to the glass. The aroma is fruity with dough and a noticeable alcohol presence. The taste is malty with plenty of butter diacetyl, phenolic and banana flavors. There are yeast esters everywhere. There's a somewhat limp bready maltiness that mingles with restrained earthy hops, but the yeast stands out front. Alcohol heat is very present throughout and the mouthfeel and finish take a hit from it.

Im not going to seek this out again. A little too sweat for my tastes, more hops would definitely be a plus. The alcohol is also a problem, very immodest for the ABV. Pass.

Bottle: Poured a bright clear copper color ale with an average size foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of semi-dry caramel malt is dominant. Taste is also dominated by some semi-dry caramel malt with some notes of oak that provided a well-rounded finish. Body is about average with good carbonation. Good and well brewed but lacking a bit of character to makes this truly interesting.

500ml Bottle

Appearance – Clear copper/amber colour with an average size fizzy white coloured head. There is an average amount of carbonation visible and there is a good amount of lacing. The head lasted for around 5 minutes before it was gone.

Smell - Malts, hops, caramel, toffee

Taste & Mouth - The beer has an average amount of carbonation and I can taste malts, caramel, toffee and some very light dry hops. There is also an earthiness and a hint of raisins. It finishes with a malty slightly bitter aftertaste.

Overall – The alcohol seemed well hidden and the beer was quite drinkable. It just didn't really stand out in any way so I have no reason to buy it again. There are better choices in this category, and for a lower price too.

Pours a nice golden colour with a frothy white head that dissipates without lacing, but one that sticks around as a collar.

Smells of a milder ale. Brewed tea, honey, fresh grains, ripened crab apple all come through.

Tastes great. Earthy, roasted malts and yeast are balanced by a bright honey and flower sweetness that gives the beer the feeling of a batch of muffins beginning to be baked.

This ale feels great too, better than most. No hint of the ABV, this one goes down like a mild. Strong yeasty/creamy feeling with a low carbonation, but still gives off a nice pop. Subtle oak aftertaste.

I really like this ale, likely because I like regular Pedigree. However, this version is far more bitter and less fruity than the regular. Would drink with meals and for an afternoon starter.

Nice off-white head, though not persistent...
Consumed it quite warm - though after some disappointing English ales, I am thinking, that you mustn't drink them too cold... this rates fairly well...

Appearance: Nice orange gold

Nose: honeyed hops, traces of osmanthus flower; pleasant.

Taste: malty, hops, slightly sour, aromatic, very interesting.

Aftertaste: medium hops aftertaste with a maltiness breaking through after the end.

Overall: like above - this doesn't score bad at all! I guess, that the perfect drinking temperature of these ales has to be much warmer, than fridge temperature.

Is this beer VSOP? Well- Pale it is - though Very Special Old it might not be. I don't get a lot of oak aromas as well... but this is for me more a good thing...

I would drink this again anytime - next time I try it colder and will report, if my judgement is still so positive...

To make it clear, it is not the super impressive brew - though it is decent and better, than the brews I had recently before...

A: Pours a bright, clear amber orange with loads of visible carbonation and a dense, white foamy head of modest size. Decent retention, dissipating to foam-and-bubble patches and leaving spotty lacing.

S: Caramel and slightly biscuity malts, oak, herbal hops, butteriness, and minerality very faintly suggestive of sulphur. Not promising.

T: Caramel and faint biscuit malts combined with assertively bitter leafy, slightly citric hops, all with a strong oak character. Hints of vanilla, butter, honey, and grain, but all towards the finish. Altogether lacking complexity.

M: Light-to-medium bodied at best with light, crisp carbonation. The bitter hop finish balances the malt, but since there isn't much malt there it comes off a bit strong and a tannic astringency lingers.

D: There is nothing special about this: it's an oaked bitter with high ABV, and a pretty simple bitter at that. It's plenty drinkable, but not terribly worthwhile.

Single bottle from the LCBO.

Poured into a nonic. Pale amber-golden, about a half-inch head, decent retention, visible carbonation.

Nose is oak, leafy hops, a bit of malt, mineral.

Nothing really "Special", "Old" or "Very" about this. Tastes like a standard pale ale that's been slightly oaked. The finish is leafy and slightly astringent with that tiresome tea/mineral character. Malt profile is pretty hollow. For something marketed as an old ale, there wasn't really anything of interest here. In fact, I think I prefer their normal Pedigree to this one.

My palate may have changed over the years to expect more robust malts and hops in my brews. My preferences have now completely shifted to Belgian pales, American I/PAs, Stouts, Sours and Porters, but after all this I can still appreciate a good English pub ale now and again. This is not it.

Light copper colour, one finger of beige head, light lacing left behind. Smell is of caramel and malt, biscuit, oak, mild sweet vanilla with some hop notes. Taste is sweet and caramel like initially, lots of oak, vanilla, malt with fruity-floral hops, moderate bitterness, more oak in aftertaste, a little off balance. Full body, medium weight, light carbonation. Not a bad beer really, a little over oaked for me to find this enjoyable, still OK and worth a shot.