Chimera India Pale Ale
Downton Brewery Company

 

 

 

Cask from pub in London, Eng.

A: Served a golden color with decent head and some lacing.

S: Aroma of citrus with a hint of spice.

T: Malty with a mild sweetness, a subtle bitterness and dry finish.

F: Medium body, smooth with the 6.8% ABV well hidden.

O: A real English IPA, not like the one from back in the states. Good for a few but beware of the alcohol that sort of sneaks up on you. Worth a try from Cask.

Note: label has changed since the first two reviews were entered, and ABV is now reported at 7%

This is a cracker. Pours a lovely bronze colour, no head to speak of. Floral aroma, very light and refreshing on the palate and low but still noticeable carbonation. As you'd expect with an IPA it's hoppy as hell, with a long bitter aftertaste (though not unpleasantly so) which makes it, for me, unsuitable for more than one or two. Plus at this ABV more than one or two would end in disaster.

Bought from The Offie in Leicester, one of the UK's finest purveyors of beer.

A - Pours a rich gold with a half inch of spritzy head. Moderate looking carbonation.

S - Grassy/floral hops, a little grapefruit and other citrus. Not much, really.

T - Initially citric and grassy. Sweetens up in the middle, before turning bitter. Long bitter finish with fruity ester notes.

M - Smooth with light to medium body and carbonation.

D - Worth a look, although nothing too exciting.

Purchased at the Sultan, the only Hopback's pub in London. Bottle-conditioned, 500ml bottle, BB 23/11/2006. Served cool in a straight imperial-pint glass. The label mentions that this beer has won a silver medal at the beauty of hop competition in June 2004, and was voted beer of the festival at the Bristol Camra beerfest. in March 2005. Sounds remarkable~~

A: bright golden hue, GREAT clarity (for a bottle-conditioned beer) and a nice spongey foam with good retention, on top of a gentle fizzy body. Gorgeous.
S: semi-sweet pale malts, sweetened orange-peel, sugar-cane juice's dense sweetness, piney note, along with a pronounced earthy aroma of Fuggles and some sulphur staying firmly behind. Potent aroma.
T: citrus-zesty bitterness and lightly-toasted pale malts' sweetness come in tandem, quickly taken over by a great depth of bitterness, rich and slightly spicy hoppyness lingering at the back of the palate, leaving a vertical, very dry and ever-lasting bitter aftertaste which "sparks" more and more thirst... Lots of crisp hops right in the face from the first second until the end, and the ending tannic-bitter taste, almost like crushed citrus seeds, results in a lively and 3D performance.
M&D: softly fizzy and lively against a bitter body--the mouthfeel is just ideal; medium-full bodied and at 6.8%abv., it leaves not a bit of sharp alc. behind, thus extremely dangerously quaffable... Being Hopback's sister brewery, this is the first Downton's ale I've tried that really is closely reminiscent of Hopback's hop monsters. As an IPA, the hops are not so fat, big, or oily as in many of its counterparts, but the hops work in a different way to cut deep on the palate, making this a surpringly light but bitter version of IPA. A really good beer it is, and its bottle-conditioning is utterly successful by British standards. Highly recommended!