Monday 5 July 2010

Spitfire (Shepherd Neame)


Well, they maybe "Britain's Oldest Brewery" but they are certainly one of a very few brewers who use clear glass bottles. For me this spoils the excitement of a the pour a bit, its like finding your Christmas presents under the tree wrapped in cling film.

It pours a lovely light toffee colour, there is initial sweetness combined with a dry bitterness, followed by some unexpected delicate toffee notes, not what i was expecting.

It certainly has that Shepherd Neame distinctive yeast flavour, I'm sure some people must love it, but for me it cuts through the flavours and swamps them like a bag of dry roasted peanuts.

Where to drink : Parties where you don't know anyone, take a carrier bag of these with you, you won't mind dishing them out if required, you won't be labeled as a boring ale-man or as uncool, and if all else fails you can just enjoy them on your own.

5/10 thanks to those toffee high notes.

3 comments:

  1. Neame yeast rocks! Nice daub of Kentish magic.

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  2. I just spotted that this won bronze in the CAMRA bottled beer awards in '94...

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  3. Apparently it was a different beer back then, Bottle Conditioned and nicer....

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