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.
Neame yeast rocks! Nice daub of Kentish magic.
ReplyDeleteI just spotted that this won bronze in the CAMRA bottled beer awards in '94...
ReplyDeleteApparently it was a different beer back then, Bottle Conditioned and nicer....
ReplyDelete