Black Sheep Golden Sheep Ale

Brewed by Black Sheep
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Ripon, England

Bottle, 500ml. An amber-coloured pour with a large diminishing head. Aromas of malt and sweet toffee. A hoppy taste with malt, sweet caramel and spices. Alcohol is quite noticable but not overpowering. A moderately bitter finish. Light carbonation. Very nice.

From bottle. I am first hit by a strong malty smell. However the appearance is excellent, it has a lovely copper bronze colour to it with a great head which clings to the glass until finished. The carbonation is perfect in this clear ale. The flavour is just as good as the appearance, perfect bitterness with a woody feel. Leaves no un savoury characteristics at all. Excellent well balanced beer. This is the Golden Sheep of the flock.

Bottle picked up from Teso 23-04-06. I couldn’t agree more with the previous poster, whilst I cannot find much to fault with Black Sheep beers, I also find very little praiseworthy in them, ok, it’s copper coloured, bitter, malty etc but they are the beer equivalent of a warbler, i.e. difficult to distinguish from a multitude of other similar specimens.

Bottled. I’ll never appreciate this brewer’s beers. I find them all a bit bereft of character but they’ve got to be drunk to ascertain that fact. This is a copper coloured beer with a sweet malty aroma. The taste is a reasonable melange of malts and English bitter hops, but there’s just nothing that makes it anything other than just another beer. Obvious pasteurization. Dull...next please...

A dark reddish brown beer with a weak white head. A malty nose with a hint of fruit. There is also a hint of malt in the taste with a hoppiness that remains through to the aftertaste, there is also a touch of sweetness, like liquorice. (Bottle).

Bottle 26/11/2003 Golden coloured and pale with some fruit aroma. Lasting hop finish.

Bottle. Sharp but well matled nose. Ruby gold with a persistent head and good lace. Mouthfeel is at once soft but a bit overcarbed. Flavour is initially a little sharp and yeasty but mellows out on the back of the throat as it goes. Sweetish malt finish.

500ml bottle from Tesco. Quite clearly this is copper coloured, so not sure why it is called Golden. Thin off white head. Nice white flesh fruit aroma. Apple and peach are distinguishable. Bit of fartyness as well. Bit thin and tinny in mouth with too much carbonation. Shame this is pasteurised and too carbonated, because it could have been a good bitter. Finish has some tingly hop and more orchard fruit, but frankly I can’t get over that mouthfeel and the metallic deadness