Prize Fighter
Arundel Brewery Limited

Appearance: copper brown, slight chill haze, thick layer of off-white spongey foam, good head retention

Aroma: malt dust, iron, orange marmalade

Flavor: dryish malt backbone; hints of herbal hops and leather; finishes dry with a mellow bitterness

Mouthfeel: medium body, terse carbonation, slight acidity

Other comments: Pretty solid and fairly flavorful, if a bit understated.

Purchased at the Sainsbury's supermarket, this filtered ale comes in a 500ml brown glass bottle; BB June 09, serve cool in a straight imperial pint glass. The ingredients include torrified wheat, malted barley, East Kent Goldings and Fuggles hops.

A: pours bright light copper hue, coming with a well-lasting beige soufflé-froth and constant streams of mini-carbonation.
S: resinous notes from the foam come hand in hand with a clean and dryish tart lemon-zesty fruitiness (also a tad mineral and astringent, remotely reminiscent of some old lambic even!); light caramely and biscuity maltiness sits in the background along with some toasted plums, sour black prunes and raspberries. The characters on the nose are true to a premium bitter - fruity, with a good dark malt backbone.
T: the foretaste is quite distinctive, featuring a weird mixture of shell-fishy yeastiness, rustic malts, prune-ish fruits and lightly-moulded cheesy salty-sourness... then settling down with stinky&earthy nuttiness, a touch of dirty kitchen-cloths (that in my mind is closely linked to the traditional pale bitter), and a restrained but lingering bitterness.
M&D: the mouthfeel is slightly more fizzy than ideal, but the body upholds the flavour quite well and never goes thin. The "distinctive" flavour profile proves a bit too weird for my palate, alas. I wonder if this is the work of infection or any other divine intervention. Maybe the cask version can provide some clues.