Sunday 8 February 2015

Beer Tasting: Brew By Numbers 02 | 08 Golden Ale - Polaris & Cascade

I sourced this  beer the from the brewery. This 'golden ale' is really more of a golden ale/ American pale ale hybrid, in my own opinion. All the beers in this series from BBNo tend to be a bit stronger than what one might consider a typical British golden ale; but at the same time, they are often breadier and not quite as lean as a by-the-book American pale ale. Whatever you want to call it, this is a very nice beer that strikes a good balance, which makes it phenomenally drinkable.

The beer pours a rich, hazy gold with a large, frothy white head. There's a lovely aroma with lots of juicy orange and tangerine, underscored by bready pale malts. The flavor is light to medium sweet with a nicely rounded, bready pale malt backbone, pleasingly dynamic citrusy hop character, just hints of tangy tangerine, mild bitter orange rind, pine and touches of sun-kissed hay. 

It's light bodied with fine, massaging carbonation. This beer finishes juicy, full and rounded, with continuing pale, lightly doughy bread and ripening citrus fruits, along with a slight mineral edge that cleans things up well. This is a very smooth beer and the elements all come together impressively well. 

Beer Tasting: Gipsy Hill Beatnik


I picked this beer up at the London Beer Lab. It pours perfectly clear, lightly effervescent, with a sturdy white froth that lingers. The aroma is bright with grassy and floral hops mixed up with rindy citrus notes, notably tangerine and orange. The flavour is well balanced, with good up-front grassy bitterness that is balanced by a lean biscuity sweetness. There are also additional notes of citrus fruits, some orange rind and grapefruit pith. Light in body with spritely carbonation. 

The finish is pretty clean with only moderate grassy, resinous hop character, further citrus rind, and pleasant balancing pale malt sugars. There’s a slight cleansing minerality in the aftertaste, which I don’t mind at all. The more I drink of this beer, the more I like it. There’s a lot of character packed into its 3.8% ABV frame. 

Low alcohol pale ale is certainly not a flashy style, but when done right it’s a thing of beauty; this one is done right.