Bramling Traditional
City Of Cambridge Brewery Company Limited

Got this bottle at the Cambridge Wine Merchants in Cambridge City. Bottle-conditioned in a 500ml brown bottle, BBE Nov 2006, served cool in a straight imperial-pint glass.

A: pours a dark reddish, chestnut brown colour, slightly hazy due to the yeast-sediments; a creamy and thick layer of cappucino-like beige beer head sustains, leaving tight lacing behind; little carbonation detected.
S: a resinous hoppyness mixes well with a stream of fruity note, like tangerine+cherry-fruits, plus a sour, piney, star-fruity and damp yeasty edge constantly at the back; the malty entry is restrained, leaving but a touch of caramel-ness somewhere in the air... Overall, the nose lacks a thicker profile and heavier formula of malts and hops to call itself an IPA.
T: semi-sharply dry-yeasty and sour-fruity on the palate at the same time, as the yeast sediments leave a considerable mark on the overall palate, while the maltiness assume the role of the second, even the third, fiddle; dried-leafy bitterness gradually develops, but by no means able to moderate the slightly OTT damp yeasty impact as a whole. Yet I quite like the dryish aftertaste from profound yeastiness--slightly tannic, zesty, dried-leafy, as well as woody, providing a sort-of distinctiveness to normal IPA and makes a rather tangy palate to keep the taste-buds busy.
M&D: the overall tangy palate sustains throughout the drink, and the mouthfeel is not delicate, as a result of unsuccessful bottle-conditioning, IMO. If the name "Bramling Traditional" does suggest that the sole hop variety used in this beer is Bramling Cross, I'd say the experiment falls prey to the much more lively creatures in the bottle, i.e. yeasts... a rather different end-result comes out, and, surely, it makes a different kind of pleasure in the glass~~ Still, I like to try the cask-version to see what this beer really means to achieve. (I guess it's brewed to be a premium bitter rather than IPA, anway.)