Darwin's Downfall
City Of Cambridge Brewery Company Limited

 

Grabbed this bottle-conditioned beer at the Real Ale beershop in Richmond, London. The beer comes in a pint-sized brown glass, with a BB date of MAR 06.

A: chestnut-brownish colour with a ruby hint; a thick, foamy, beige-coloured head very slowly fades away, leaving very very tight lacing around the glass; with constant and gentle carbonation. Looking very decent.
S: from a distance I already could smell a deeply nutty and slightly sugary note; a close sniff reveals a profound malty aroma laced with pleasant nuttiness (a bit like peanuts) and a refreshingly sour berries' aroma plus some floating notes of wild plant, freshly-cut wood, a little citrusy hops and some fruit esters I believe. The aroma is quite straight forward, not changing much I mean, but very solid.
T: following an initially bubbly texture on the palate, the flavour is quite softly nutty and crystal-malty, without too much sweetness as the initial aroma suggests; turning more smooth and creamy bit by bit, with more chewy raw-nuttiness felt on the sides of the tongue and some slightly tea-leafy/earthy bitterness at the back; up to medium bitterness in the aftertaste, and remaining oily smooth down the throat--a bit like the aftertaste of lightly-infused black tea, smooth, settled, unexciting.
M&D: the mouthfeel is outstanding--constantly creamy and soft, but delicately refreshing on the palate when closely examined. However, the flavour is a bit overly restrained compared with the aroma, and rendered a bit boring on top of a very settled texture. Not a bad beer and worth trying, though.