Burton Bridge Empire Ale

500 ml bottle purchased at Beertopia in Omaha, Nebraska. Pour is a fully hazed orange copper golden with a very active four inch off white head that is somewhat loose, but still quite lasting. Extremely fine carbonation jets from the bottom of the glass to the surface. When the head eventually falls, there is some real nice lacing. Pretty beer. Aroma is orange and pineapple fruit hoppiness and leathery earthy Brett yeastiness. Straw and floral behind that. Nothing in the nose is real strong, but all are nicely soft and well integrated. Taste is a floral caramel maltiness out of the gate, followed by sweet honey floral and then the straw earthiness of the Brett. Aftertaste features spicy clove, garlic and pepper. As it warms, there are some nice mineral notes. Palate is lighter medium bodied with a really nice soft carbonation. Interesting, soft, complex and really easy to drink.

500 mL bottle from Sam’s Quik Shop in Durham, NC. Pours a hazy amber color with a large frothy head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma is tart cherries and stone fruits. Some spicy hoppiness. Taste is spicy, leafy hops with light bretty notes, lifesavers and dry fruity notes, including apple, pear and cherry. Medium bodied. I was expecting an English IPA here...definitely not something with brett, so this is a surprise, and a pleasant one at that.

I don’t know, I guess when I’m told I’m about to drink an original recipe IPA I expect something less refined and more provincial. I wanted a stronger hop flavor, and an unbalanced malt character. You know, something imperfect, but perfect at the same time because you know they were tinkering with a new stye of ale: just trying to make it not spoil on the way to their imperial holdings. Overall I’m not really impressed, and feel that I’ve outgrown most British ales (with a few exceptions of course). It might also be a problem that I’ve been living in the Pacific Northwest for the last five years and expect my IPA’s to burn the skin off the inside of my mouth. Therein lies my bias. Ten years ago this might have been my favorite beer. That being said, the beer is beautiful to look at. Giant frothy head, and a dark amber color reminiscent of fall and German Hefs. For some reason I’m also into how fizzy it is; again probably due to my overindulgence in thick, flat porters and heavy double IPA’s. Right now though, I’m enjoying it. There’s also a long spicy burn that coats your mouth, kinda like McDonald’s french fries. Lardy? Can I really describe the mouthfeel as lardy? Why not. Sour beer fans might also find an appreciation of this brew. Normally not into sour beers, I like the long sour apple drag this beer has. It’s weird, I like the beer’s aftertaste more than the initial forefront flavors. Weird.

What would you say is the newest fad for American brewers? I would say hoppy brett beers, I had a few at BCTC recently and GABF before that. Unfortunately, they all suck. The problem, they aren’t looking at the examples that are out there, like Orval or this beer. Now I am not saying this beer and Orval are the same or even too similar but they are both able to combine hops and brett in a wonderful marriage, yet take different routes. Unfortunately, the American brewers are taking the route off the end of the cliff. Now on with this beer...

The beer pours with a beautiful thick, large, and frothy white head. This sits atop a thick orange-golden-amber colored body. The body is very hazy but yet some of the carbonation is visible. Light radiates but I cannot see through it completely. A very pretty beer. Aroma is strong on a mix of brett and hops and it works because both are well balanced. It comes of as strong, herbal, tropical citrus fruit. That’s the combination of that barnyard pineapple and a citrus and herbal hoppiness. Its strong and aggressive on the nose yet acceptable on the senses. There is an underlying biscuit aspect, even if it is a tropical biscuit, its still that English biscuit malt. The flavor is an easy passing tropical fruitiness with a faintly lactic aftertaste. A really easy drinking brewing full of flavor and character. A lightly spritzy mouthfeel and effervesce make this beer flow away like the spirits. Yet an underlying fruity lactic character remains for a long while like a ghoul haunting a house. If I pour the beer a little less than properly the head expands like a fat chick at a bon-bon convention. Lots of slurry at the bottom of the bottle representing the bottle conditioning.
500mL bottle poured into La Fin Du Monde tulip glass, no date.

Orange color with some brown and yellow. Apple on the nose. Mild British style. Not over hopped or malted. Lots of carbonation. Very muted and kind of boring. Not my favorite.

Bottle, purchased at Meenan’s in Dunedin. Pours a beautiful deep orange-gold with the expected ginormous frothy head. Aroma of cooked apples and a hint of spice. Looking back on my noted for Tickle Brain by this brewer, I got the same aroma for that beer as well. Maybe it’s the yeast? Very apple-fruit driven flavour as well, yeasty, vaguely spicy, bitter. Some fusels. Mouthfeel is very carbonated, such that it is as though you’ve gulped foam. I’m waaaay against the grain on this one (92nd percentile for style? Really?).

Quite an interesting brew. It’s dirty and astringent. The is a note of eucalyptus also.

Bottle. Well i dont know what the hell it looked like cause i drank it out of the bottle when i was smashed. Dark fruity body, light woody character, lighter fruity earth tones and a sweet light warming finish. Nice brew, i think.