Black Sheep Ale

Brewed by Black Sheep
Style: Bitter
Ripon, England

500 ml bottle. Pours a dark amber with a nice off-white head. Aroma is a bit yeasty like fresh bread along with some fruit. Nice hop bitterness balanced against some caramel sweetenss, with the bitterness increasing in the aftertatse.

A decent beer. There was something in the finish that turned me off though. I can’t quite put my finger on it....

Pour is a dark brown with a nice size white head. Aroma is a bready dark fruit with a nice hop backbone. Flavor has a nice toffee and fruit taste with a touch of those hops. Very bitter aftertaste as it goes down making this a very tasty brew to sample and could be a nice session brew.

500 ml Bottle, Poured a dark amber, with a large, mostly diminishing, frothy off-white head. Excellent lacing. The aroma reminded me of lighter bread with that english yeast that lends a slightly fruity/floral hop smell. The flavor reminds me of all english brews I have sampled which I first attributed to the hops but have come to understand really comes from the strain of yeast that is used. It is slightly fruity and offset by sweet malt flavor. Overall I thought this beer lacked the body and complexity I expected from its very impressive appearence. Aftertaste was average with a light acidic bitter finish.

(500 ml bottle: $3.29 at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, CA) A most impressive looking beer out of the bottle. The bright amber colored and very hazy beer is topped by a very tall, bubbly and ivory head. After rising to over two inches in height, it slowly subsides to a quarter-inch layer and holds there. Significant lacing has already coated the top of the glass. Bring the glass to my nose, the deliciously fruity and lightly nutty nose in very enticing. The flavor shows a reversal of the nose though, as it’s modest fruity and sweet initially, but becomes quite nutty and lightly bitter toward the finish. This is light-medium bodied, but the gently carbonated mouthfeel is smooth and silky, making this a super easy beer to drink. And it’s super easy to enjoy the hell out of.

Ale rousse, limpide, mousse claire et durable, arôme de malt , légers tons de caramel, amertume, goût aromatique et fruité (malt et houblon ).

Bottle. Dark gold with a light head. Mild aroma. Light fruit flavour with lingering hops. Bitterness builds and holds on to the tongue and becomes a little distracting. Perhaps a bit thin. Needs more sampling to clarify. I won’t let me son drink half of the next one(s).

Pint bottle purchased from Jonathan’s in LaJolla. Pours slightly hazy copper color with a moderate white head. Aroma is mild and unremarkable - with only a faint toasty malt detectable and the slightest bit of floral hoppiness. Comparatively flavorful, with a somewhat fruity malt sweetness and a pretty significant hop presence with floral, herbal varieties well represented and a bit of lemon citrus and a bit of pepper in the finish. Medium body and assertive carbonation. Not bad and at 4.4% abv I could drink this one all night.