Paper King
Forest & Main - The Brewery

beautiful in every way. Sticky throughout the sip, easy on the palate.

this ale pours a fine lace, very copper in color, can taste an excellent stout influence on this one. highly recommend. poured from a 16oz can.

Served in a nearly clear Imperial pint mug, drawn by a hand pump. It's caramel-brown in color, with a modest, yet lasting biege head. Relatively bright, it's not at all cloudy, yet it's rather opaque. There's a balanced aroma of English malts and hops. It tastes of both, in a pleasant transitional way. Overall, this is more hoppy bitter than malty sweet, as a good IPA should be. By the finish, it's almost all hops. The bitter finish is clean and relatively dry. Some stratified glass lacing shows inside the vessel and that's a pretty good indicator of the quality of its mouthfeel. When the ale is good, few beer drinking experiences compare to a pint of a British beer, drawn by a hand pump. This ale is very good and enjoyed inside The Dandelion, likely Philadelphia's most comfortable and authentic British style public houses, the experience is incredible.

16oz can purchased directly from the brewery as part of a mix-a-four pack for $20. According to Instagram, this was released on September 4, 2024. So this beer is 7 1/2 months old.

Look: Beautiful medium to dark amber color with nice clarity and two and a half fingers of beige-colored head. Definitely darker than your average IPA. This is an English IPA though and the darker color is by design.

Smell: Nice aromas of caramel, orange peel, molasses, baking spice, and cherries. Overall, it smells malty but I also get some spicy, peppery hop notes. Before I taste it, I smells like a bit of a hodgepodge. Kind of like a fruit cake, but in a good way. All this being said, the nose is very clean and the notes are distinct.

Taste: It's really tasty. The flavors on the palate very much echo the nose. I get more dried fruit notes on the palate including craisins, dates, figs, and toffee. A bit of chocolate/cocoa also. Even though there are a lot of sweet notes, the beer is not sweet. It's relatively dry and refreshing. The finish is a bit creamy with spicy, peppery notes. After giving ample time in between sips, I have a lingering tannic note of black tea on my palate. The finish is also very earthy. Nice!

Feel: Medium plus body with a slightly chewy, soft mouthfeel. Just slightly undercarbonated.

Overall: This is my first English IPA review. Definitely not my first one though, but probably my first one in a long time. I used to frequent a British pub in Rochester when I was in college and I must have drank lots of beers like this on tap or on cask. This one tastes especially good right now even though it's not in a pub and not on cask. It's just really solid. Simple, not simplistic, and delicious. I love that Forest & Main makes Saisons, English-style ales, and lagers so well even though they are not styles that are as popular as hazy IPAs. Keep doing what you are doing, F&M!

 

 

Had on cask. Reddish brown clear body with beige cap and dotted lacing here and there. Smell and taste are the same: lush caramel malts, toast, earthy hops, slight walnut, whisper of apple, earth and day old country loaf. Fantastic on the cask, just singing from its creamy and malty body with a proper amount of hops to temper. Best by F&M I have had!

I had this on cask. Deep copper color, slightly earthy in the nose with a good malt presence up front imparting a sight sweetness, fading to a faint toasty aftertaste and a smooth bitterness in the finish. Very well balanced and pairs well with food.