Brakspear Triple

Brewed by Wychwood (Refresh UK - Marstons plc)
Style: English Strong Ale
Witney, England

Bottle, Asda. Rich and warming complex ale. Ripe fruit, esp. blackcurrant and strawberry, cough syrup and a faint aroma of aniseed all combine to give plenty of flavour and aroma. It does pack a punch in the taste department, but its another of those ales that overall belies its strength. Bottle conditioned, but the yeast stuck resolutely to the base of the bottle, giving a fine, clear pour. A classic strong English ale and one I’ll look forward to sampling again.

Bottle, Scotland AP: dark amber, wee head AR: sweetness and cider (apple) F: sweet syrup, fruity, medium + bitterness

Bottle. Pours slightly hazy light reddish brown with a small off-white head that dissipates very quickly to patchy surface cover. Aroma is very light but has a noticeable hop presence with notes of malt, honey, caramel and citrus. Flavour is quite similar to aroma with an additional fruitiness including raisins, apple and pineapple. Palate is on the dry side and also has a lingering sweetness. Overall a pretty good English strong ale.

Copper color with a small beige ring of bubbles on the rim of the glass. Strong aromas. I catch blackberry brandy and toasted malt. Flavors of honey and caramel. Seems hot and I’m not getting much hops, just a mild burn. A strong ale that’s not going the same direction as me.

Bottle Conditioned, no. 050135, 500ml aged 4 yrs. Chestnut brown with thick white head. A really good, solid strong ale, plenty of body and palate with a strong fruity, malty note. In this aged version the sweetness has developed into a sherry like flavour, warming alcohol, nice and plummy. A big and beautiful beer.

Bottle. Pours a deep orange with a short-lived dense orange-tinted head. Very sweet candyish aroma of bananas, butterscotch, and bubblegum. Sweet palate with caramalized banana as the dominant flavour, laced with a boozy spiciness, finishing with mildly bitter hops and a bit of warming alcohol at the back. Sticky, heavy mouthfeel. Not bad, but I prefer my english strong ales to have more dark malt structure.

Half-decent aroma of something citrusy, I’d wager to say coriander but it smells more like a cleaning-product-slash-perfume, some breadiness in there too. Appearance is allright, a clear amber colour. The taste is a warm barley, some sweetness, a bit of caramel and a dry finish. Not a bad brew at all.

No: 738
Rated: 23.06.2009
Bottle brown, 500 ml
Appearance: Pours nice reddish amber, like strong good tea in body colour, body is gentle carbonated, texture is not perfectly clear, there are some small yeast elements floating in the body texture, head is creamy white, deep frothy, slightly reminding me of a whipped cream, initially medium in size, slowly decreasing ot small byt still lasting, leaving nice and firm lacing.
Aroma: Very well pronounced and pleasurable crystalized malt, barley malt, very hoppy especially in earthy - leavy noble profile of hops, notes of spices, very well reminding of some good quality Premium Bitter but much more enhenced and with a really pleasurable and strong aroma. Very natural and inviting to drink.
Flavour: Denotes very complex eastery notes on palate and in nose, very nice strong and firm crystalized malt at its base with pronounced toastyness and caramelly notes. Not sweet or dull, very comfortably hopped with balancing notes of leaves, sharp bitterness, perfumes, spices and earthyness with herbality so characteristic of a well hopped English Ale. Really decent and remarkable, sure worth trying again. Unforgetable. Finish duration is long with nice alcoholic wormth strenghtening eastery leavy - earthy hoppy and crystalized malt hoppy.
Palate: Body is medium to full, texture is dry, carbonation on palate is soft to medium, finish feel is moderately astringent with light alcoholic warmth and real explosion of complex eastery at the end.