Rampant Gryphon
Wentworth Brewery Limited

 

Got this beer from the Real Ale beershop in Richmond, London. It comes in a traditional pint-sized brown bottle, with "Best before-see neck", and there's nothing printed there. To be on the save side, I decided to open this bottle right here right now!--to prevent myself feeling angry and sorry for myself by any chance.

A: pours a clear, amber hue, with a thick off-white beer head frothy and tight and sustaining quite well, leaving layers of lace along the way, while the body contains millions of extre...mely tiny fizz slo...wly ascending. Fresh and decent!
S: deeply malty and semi-sweet nose upfront (pale-malts dominated), softly citrusy-fruity and flowery with lots of fruity esters at the back resulting in an elegant and soft perfumy aroma.
T: a refreshing flow of pale-malts pours in the mouth followed immediately by an intensifying, fruity+zesty+tea-like bitter-sweet texture; a deepening floral hop profile laced with fruity esters is assertive towards the finish, with moderate bitterness slowly waning on the swallow, revealing a lightly alcoholic-warmish touch and lingering bitter-sweetness deep down the tongue.
M: very refreshing mouthfeel, espcially when taking into account its strength it's deceptively light in body and quaffable. The balance and structure are very good, as the pale-malt flavour upfront is nicely balanced by attenuated hoppyness which turns louder towards the finish. And alcohol is not felt until the very end, just the way I like it!
D: a simple-tuned strong pale ale with lots of nuanced complexities to enjoy. Not a beer to quaff though, no matter how easy-drinking it is!!