Asda Golden Ale Premium

Brewed by Shepherd Neame
Style: Bitter
Faversham, England

Bottle. Bronze and bright. Small head with hops and citrus combining to produce a slightly bitter well balanced beer.

Bottled (thanks to the best harrisoni in the world!). Nice honeyish golden colour, mediumsized beige head. Aroma is toffee, some grass, fruits and some flowery and wooden notes. Flavour is caramel, some fruity and wooden notes. Very pleasant notes of caramel and wooden notes in the aftertaste.

I bought this little number from Asda - an Asda’s own, in fact, I would usually be suspicious of homebrand brews, but was aware (from Asda’s Gentleman Jack and Porter that Shepherd Neame produced Asda-own ales). So, this was good. A nice refresshy fruity, hoppy distincitive Shep flavour very bitter and just a tad smokey. Not to everyone’s taste, but it is to mine. Not dissimilar to Shep’s Early Bird.

ASDA (to my knowledge this is Walmart in Britain) seems to have commissioned this brew at Shepherd Neame (brewer of such legends as ’Spitfire’ or ’Bishop’s Finger’ ...) ... Shepherd Neame do not hide the commissioning which is a good sign ... the smell is distinctive, with malty, nutty notes dominating ... the taste is nutty too, with hints of green vegetables (leek, spinach) ... a pleasant bitterness makes this a recommended drink ....

Bottled (at Chriso’s). Amber color, steady off-white head. Floral, dry citrus aroma, some toffee - "house aroma" of Shepherd Neame. Toffeish and nutty flavor. A bit fizzy carbonated. Aftertaste is quite quick.

Bottled, pasteurised, 500ml. From Asda, Leamington Spa, Warks. Amber to gold with white head, carbonated. A homogenised mix of flavours, more a caramel malt than normal for a golden ale which dominated the hops. Pasteurisation hasn’t been kind as the hops taste slightly boiled and the citrus notes have all but disappeared, but its ok as a general beer.

Not bad. Spitfirish, but somewhat less so. No sign of citrus, but decently malty with plenty of body, the characteristic Shepherd Neame hop bite and smooth palate. A golden ale it isn’t but its a decent enough bitter.

Bottle picked up at Asda, Peterborough, Camb’s 22-01-09 Pours amber (not really golden?) Aroma is sweet but there is also a little ashtray as weel. Taste is sweet, bit malty its ok and slightly better than anticipated but that’s not really a ringing endorsement, just totted up my score and surprised to see I’ve given it 3.1 must be feeling generous. A 6 A4 F6 P3 OV12