Black Sheep Ale

Brewed by Black Sheep
Style: Bitter
Ripon, England

A light citrus hop nose. Golden pour topped by a medium off-white head. Light bisquit maltiness with some notes of honey. Mildly bittering citrus and earthy hops. Decent.

A fine bolled bitter, but a bit watery. Malty sweetness at the bottom of flowery and grassy hops. Not outstanding.

Rich, effervescent amber with a dimpled, off-white head. Sweet, malty, hoppy aroma. Lively bead. Robustly bitter grapefruit hop finish, with some mellow wheatiness after the swallow. ’Crisp, dry and bittersweet’? The accent is heavily on the bitterness, but that doesn’t detract from a tasty if unexceptional Yorkshire bitter.

Bottle. Hazy orange / golden color with small head. Malty aroma with notes of caramel. Smooth taste of malt and roast, with hoppy bitterness coming in the finish. Aftertaste is bitterish and a bit dry.

pint bottle shared with a mate: copper color with an aroma of carmel malt and a bit of hops. Not the most pleasant, but okay. rather dry, but I don’t think that it was the most fresh. slightly oxidized tasting. It was still okay though. But there are much better bitters out there.

500 mL bottle. Thick, dense, persistent beige head. Chestnut brown. Sharp scent has a bit of fresh hay, but something else, also. Flavour is initially sweeter than the smell, but it has an excellent bitter finish. A little thin.

500 mL bottle. light orange/copper colour with thin white head. My first impression is a sharp bite in the mouthfeel & the finish. A medium body but not smooth, just a little harsh & thin (maybe all the carbonation in this bottle or those Golding Hops). Defiinte cidery and spicey flavours which I hope mellow out the taste as this pint warms a bit. Not a premium bitter (try Hobgoblin or Fuller’s London Pride which both have more depth of smooth malthy fruit flavours). This only gets a half decent rating because I love this style and that malty after-taste a bitter tries to deliver.

Must be the black sheep of the Black Sheep Beer family, because it sure looked amber to me! Nose is caramelly malt with surprising banana and citrus notes I haven’t seen in British bitters before. Flavor shows 1) hop bitterness 2) maltiness and finishes with more hop bitterness.