Young's Special London Ale
Eagle Brewery

 

L: Light amber in colour, a lot of carbonation, good thick head
S: Nuts, chocolate, oranges, peaches, mango
T: Malts, bread, chocolate, biscuit, lime, syrup
F: Full-bodied, quite alcoholic even for the ABV, slightly overcarbonated

O: 4.25

Had on cask. Clear brown with an orange hint to it, beige finger of foam with light lacing abounding. Sweet toffee malts with grassy and leafy hops in the nose. Taste adds slight apple and biscuit, bitters on the finish are satisfying after sweeter malt flavors leading. Light and thinner but never watery, malts and hops are very complimentary, decently cool for cask ale.

 

An unexpected find. Despite decades of both enjoying Young's beer and living in London I'd never heard of this beer before. Stranger still was to discover it in an off-license during a weekend trip to Oxford!
L- Dark amber, clear. pours with a 3mm creamy cap.
S- Mild contemporary hops. A hint of citrus.
T- WOOO-K. Contemporary bright and zesty hops into a rich malty body > robust hoppy-dry finish.
F+O - Different. Like a hipstered trad Ale with balls. As if a statement to the real-ale/CAMRA crowd 'There's no need to fear contemporary hopping'. And then to the hipsters: 'Drinkability doesn't finish north of 5.2%'. Still, probably a bit hoppy-bright for me to make a regular.
500ml 6.4% BB: 31/3/2022 bought from the Grogshop in Jericho, Oxford.

 

500ml bottle with a best before 31/10/2020. Poured into a tulip.
Look: Pours a real copper amber, with about 2 cm of fluffy white head, which falls back to about 1cm, which then hands around for a while. Looks good.
Smell: little bit of toffee, a touch of grain, some herbal and floral hop. Pleasant, but just okay for mine.
Taste: caramel and toffee, a little bit of grain again, something slightly metallic, some citrus notes, a little bit of peel, some spicy and herbal hops to round it off. Tastes good.
Feel: mid bodied, really feels like it coats the mouth. A little tingle of carbonation ant the front of the tongue, the bitterness hits the back of the throat and a dry finish afterwards.
Overall: Nice, I wasn't too keen after having a whiff, but then was pleasantly surprised by the taste.

 

 

 

 

500 ml bottle, exp. 09/2019.

 

Bottle, 2m old.

Drive-by aroma is a tantalizing mixture of unique, strong, pleasant, malt aromas and yeast esters.

Nose builds on this with notes of bread, of a dark / toasted kind, yeast-derived fruity esters, and some very British herbal/spicy hops. Or that is not quite it.. it reminds one of summer. Must be the Target in dry hopping... more usually a bittering hop.

Taste has grain... and more grain... in an extremely nice way. The hop flavour continues the floral/spicy/herbal vein. The aftertaste/feel is almost soapy, but not in an unpleasant way. Fitting moderate bitterness. Drinking more, there is a faint note of roastedness that adds suitable complexity in proportion. The yeast esters are unique in an understated way.

Overall, a perfect example of what British ale can achieve.

L:
-pours a slightly hazy golden-amber with a small to medium,frothy,offwhite head
-medium to high carbonation visible
S:
-caramel,toffee,orange,spicy,bubble gum
T:
-toasty malt,nutty,spicy,caramel
-medium to high bitterniss for the style
F:
-medium,velvety carbonation
-light to medium body
O:
A really good and typically English Ale with it's toffied malt and spicy hops.
It almost reaches the levels of Fuller's ESB.

From 500 ml (or thereabouts) bottle. Different branding to that shown but appears to be the same product. L. Can't really tell. Appears appropriate. S, Some fruit, a little sweet and inviting. T. Solid fruit sweetness but with some spice and a dryer finish. Some grain/grass in the mix. You know you are drinking a beer. F. Smooth, not fizzy or too light. O. A really good beer that is appropriately rated here.

This is definitely an ale I recommend to all! I am a fan of Fullers above all but this Young's London ESB knows something that nobody else does. Why?
Because although it is roundly malted and pleasantly rich/sweet, it is remarkably hopped and it brings you that fruity, spicy hop feeling in the nose. It tastes exciting, ranging from zestiness to bitterness to an extent that it is indeed as close as it can get to a real Lezák from Prague! Now this is amazing indeed, both worlds coming together!
I am utterly pleased and satisfied with this ESB, perhaps the best of its kind that I have ever had, even better than Fullers' ESB - and it is something indeed!
It is something Special, it is heavily recommended!