Windermere Pale
Hawkshead Brewery /

Poured from a 500ml bottle.
Pours light yellow and highly visible carbonated with a thinish white head . The smell is sweet and lightly fruity hops. The taste is full, a bitterness leads the charge before mellowing a little into a slightly fruity, honeyed grass taste with a distant sweetness. The mouth feel is decent. Overall, a good beer. Full flavoured and a low enough abv abv indulge in a couple with some ease .

500ml bottle from Morrisons (£2.05):
Light, clear golden with a half cm, bubbly white head & tonnes of bubbles on the glass. Citrus & herbal notes, dry & grassy hops then biscuit malts on the nose - relatively light though. Quite hitter tasting, mainly citrus & dry hops with a sharp finish & fairly strong carbonation without the balance being particularly good.

 

 

 

Cask served vis traditional Angram handpump at the St. Petersgate Tap in Stockport
Poured a crystal clear golden body with perfect tight white head
Citrus aroma
Some apple soap

 

 

 

A local favourite

On cask at Belfast Beer Festival ‘15.
White gold with loose white film. 3.75
Grain sack, lemon barley, and a bit of sulfur. 3.75
Tablewater crackers, lemon sorbet, and an herbal hit at the end. 4
Floral finish and rindy linger.
Crisp, light, slight oil. 4

At 3.5%, a knockout. Citrus, (just) enough body, and refreshing. How to do a Citra golden ale. 4.25

 

From a 500ml brown glass bottle.

Golden colour, completely clear. A few streams of bubbles rising to a thin, short-lived, white head.

Long-lasting aroma of soft floral & honey.

Taste offers an abundance of fruity citra hops balanced by a traditional English malt base. The result is reminiscent of freshly cut hay, honey, and summer sunshine.

Incredibly soft and smooth mouthfeel. Fantastic quality water. Medium body with some stickiness. A short but spicy finish.

This is a lovely golden ale designed for the Summer months. Definitely not a traditional English bitter, rather a beautiful meeting of new world and old world pale ales.

 

 

Half pint at 'spoons in Morecambe. Very pale as advertised and leaves lots of lacing. It has a lovely fresh lemon to herbal nose. A doughy and fairly sweet start gives way to minty hops. There is nothing particularly special here, but it is very pleasant and relatively full flavoured for such a low abv beer.

A 500ml bottle with a BB of Aug 2014. ABV is stated as 4.0%. Picked up a little while back from Sainsbury's as part of their 2013 Beer Hunt. A pale ale brewed with three English hop varieties and American Citra.

Poured into a straight pint glass. A bright golden hue with faint haze and medium carbonation. Yields a large head of creamy white foam that lasts for a few minutes before reducing to a surface layer. Some lacing. Aroma of sharp, fruity hops with hints of grapefruit, lime, mild peel, citrus and grass. Underpinned by subtle caramel malt and earthy yeast. Delicious.

Tastes of intense aromatic hops with a crisp bitter finish. Notes of grapefruit, orange peel, citrus, faint white grape, grass/hay, mild caramel, grain, earthy yeast and stewed hops. Well-attenuated, followed by a sharp, spicy bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and dry, with spritzy carbonation and well-judged body. Slightly astringent, accompanied by an aftertaste of bitter aromatic hops, citrus notes and earthy yeast.

Fantastic - a brilliant pale ale with character that jumps out of your glass. It looks lovely, while the aroma and flavour are dominated by hops; intensely fruity and bitter. Good body. Cracking brew - I'd be happy to drink this all day. Don't pass it up if you come across it.

Part of the Great British Beer Hunt from Sainsbury.
Bottle. 4% ABV. Clear yellow copper appearance. No head.
Floral hops to the nose with some light citrus.
Leaf and floral hop taste. Astringent finish.
Light and refreshing but a little too bitter for my taste.
A nice change from my normal balanced beer selection.

Update 2025. Now brewed at 3.4% ABV with obvious degradation of flavour and body.