Adnams Spindrift

Brewed by Adnams
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Southwold, England

On tap at Bridge House, London. Pale copper with lasting beige head. This is, well,....terrible. It is just all over the place. Big hop over an artificial malt base. Peach/yeast aroma. Frankly it just doesn’t make any sense. Hop is just too extreme and sherberty for the body of the beer. Adnams yeasty apple aroma, but the rest is terrible. Mind you according to Jonathan Adnams, it wasn’t made for me anyway. As he says in The Publican, “But this beer is for people who have made the decision not to drink cask beer. We are seeing an increasing area of the on-trade where retailers have decided that cask is a non-existent proposition." Oh dear, dear, dear me........ It’s a sad day.

A Mes rate: Tap at a cheesey wine bar on Marylebone High Street. Not impressed on two accounts. The fact that Adnams have even made this and also that it’s pretty poor. With their recent marketing push it seems clear Adnams are more bothered about making lots of money than they are about making decent beer. Golden with a decent head. Hoppy and artificial with crappy malt undertones akin to many a rank lager. Better than Stella.

Keg (filtered and chilled but not pasteurised) at The Bridge House, London Bridge, November 2006. I’m struggling to see the point of this beer. Its supposedly aimed at "drinkers that appreciate the Adnams branding but won’t drink cask". How many of those are there? People who won’t drink cask already have a beer of choice - its called keg lager. Adnams seem to be going really big on this branding thing and are presumably hoping they can build a market for this in trendy bars that don’t sell cask beer. Not much to say about the beer. Looks fine - golden amber colour. Served chilled so not much aroma but what there is is mildly hoppy and inoffensive. Dry on the palate. Clean enough but rather short of flavour. Better than most UK keg offerings I suppose.

Draft @ The Bridge House, Bermondsey SE1. Pours a clear golden color with a creamy white head. Has a fruity malty fruity caramel aroma. Sweetish malty fruity caramel flavor with some hoppy hints. Has a sweetish malty fruity caramel finish.

Keg Sole Bay Inn Southwold A golden beer with a big white head, served in an oversized glass to allow for a fast serve and a big head. The aroma has a bit of lemon but a ton of cardboard and vomit. The taste has some lemon bitterness and the mouthfeel is creamy. Deliberately cold.

On tap at the Bridge House. A Kilkenny sort of ale, with creamy head and fine golden apperance. Served way too cold. Still, there is a little body with the Adnams flavour and a finish that isn’t too bad.

[708-20070926] Tap @ The Three Bells (Heathrow Airport, GL). Fainy grainy fruit aroma with some floral cologne yeast. Clear, yellow brown body with a small medium-lasting creamy white head and lots of bubbles. Fruity apple hints and light wood notes in the flavour has a hint of bubblegum and a long sweet aftertaste. Medium body. Interesting aftertaste, worth trying.

Pours a golden colour ale. nose is promosing with apple and malty notes but the body is not held together well. Overly hopped for my liking and the maltiness and sugar seemed at odds. Improves only slightly on warming up but another disappointing release from Adnams.