Golden Summer
Wold Top Brewery

Bottled, not bottle conditioned and a disappointing inclusion in a beer lovers case
Pours a crystal clear golden body with decent enough white head
Aroma is golden syrup and cracked grain
There is the aroma in the flavour but half hearted
Thin

 

A slightly fruity scent. So I was a bit unprepared for the bitterness up front when I took my first sip. Maybe that was my own fault, given English Pale Ales can be hoppy. It was better thereafter, however. Aftertaste is kind of floral. Pretty mediocre beer so I won't rush to try this again.

500ml bottle. An appropriate tipple for June in Edmonton, right, the only truly summer month of the year? Yeah, it's pissing rain outside, so here goes anyways.

This beer pours a crystal clear, pale golden yellow hue, with one skinny finger of reservedly foamy and loosely bubbly dirty white head, which leaves a low horizon coastal view of lace around the glass as it beats it out of town.

It smells of fruity malt, the apple, pear, and kiwi essences facing an immediate challenge from some stark, surprisingly bitter floral and earthy hops - hmmmm, process of elimination says...? Anyway, the taste is nice pastry-forward bready malt, with a supportive biscuity nature, some further, somewhat neutered orchard fruitiness, and a hovering, uncharacteristic stopping bitterness.

The bubbles are rather restrained, and quiet in their workaday servitude, the body on the cusp of a certain medium weight, with a simmering, watch yer step mate, smoothness. It finishes quite dry - surprised was I - due to a kind of cowering malt, as proficient as it was previously, in the face of that persistent and nondescript bitterness.

A bit unexpected, this one - a soft summer English ale, all sullied by the machinations of the Cascade hop - or is it? That will come down to preference, of course, and one's perception of the place of things, and me, I'm straight ahead kosher with this, in a reverse Imperialistic sort of manner. Behold the American (hop) Invasion!

Brown 500ml bottle, best before Sep 2012 and poured into an 'Abbot Ale' glass tankard in Oct 2011.

Looked fine, a good light/golden amber body with a thinish white crown of foaming bubbles on top.

The small was of floral hops and mixed fruits (apples and pears?).

The taste was mostly hops with a dryness from the first sip which lasted until the mouth was completely empty. Claims to be a summer drink, which I suppose it is, being light in colour and refreshing. Not a lot of flavours within it, a bit one dimensional with the hops dominating everything else that might have been in the brew.

OK, but not something I'd buy a crate of.

A 500ml bottle with a BB of Aug 2012. Purchased at Sainsburys as part of their British beer hunt. Cool stylised label, which mentions that this contains barley and wheat malt in addition to three types of hops.

Poured into a pint glass. A clear golden-amber colour with decent carbonation. Yields a large head of creamy white foam that lasts for a few minutes before subsiding to a surface layer. Distinct aroma of stewed veg/leaves with subtler notes of tropical fruit and citrus in the background. One of the stranger ale aromas I've come across.

Tastes of light malt with a mild bitter finish. Notes of stewed leaves, a hint of grain and some faint fruity hops in the background. Mouthfeel is thin, with prickly carbonation and unusual astringency. Aftertaste of stewed leaves and a whisper of tropical fruit.

Pretty average, with some unusual characteristics. The most interesting feature of this brew is the subtle tropical fruit aroma. The dry mouthfeel is also different. However, these can't rescue an otherwise run-of-the-mill ale, particularly the stewed leaf bitterness. I'd say pass this over for something better....