Burton Bridge Empire Ale

Brewed by Burton Bridge
Style: English Strong Ale
Burton-on-Trent, England

Bubblegum, yeast, slight cigarette and lemon bitter aroma. Cloudy bronze, fair label. Boozy, fruit pit-bitter, caramel, cidery IPA. Long, strong hoppy finish. Real craft ale character. Good. Shawan Liquors, Cockeysville/Hunt Valley, MD.

The pour reveals a gorgeous cloudy peachy orange color with a thick, frothy, white head, the head diminishes but a solid layer stays there forever. Good aroma of spices, hops and brett. Amazing flavor of hops, spices and brett, the flavor lasts a long while in the mouth. The body is medium with a creamy, oily texture and moderate carbonation. This beer is superb, complex and wild, amazing stuff.

Bottle. Heavy carbonation - the foam shoots up the bottle neck on opening and pours a hazy orange with a fluffy white head. Strong alcoholic aroma leading to fruit and some state sherry like hints. Hot alcohol to taste with some fruit sourness and a touch of marmite. The whole thing becomes quite overpowering and it feels heavy and sickly. Too much.

Bu à Mc Kay’s Public House à Bar Harbor, Maine, en bouteille de 500 ml. Ambrée orange brumeuse, pas de collet. Arome d’houblon agrumeuse, avec des notes de pêches. Goût d’houblon amère mais doux, pêche sec avec une arrière goût agréable.

Pours copper w/ a full, semi creamy froth. Good hangtime w/ a nice thick lasting lace. Aroma is rustic and sour w/ slight medicine. Full nectar w/ mellow, creamy residual effers. Very different indeed. Snappy hops, rustic citrus rind, old boot leather, and a bit of grapefruit meat. Theres a slight sweet medicinal property in the flavor that is rich yet enjoyable. I pour in the second half of the bottle to include all the sediment and the flavors turn chalky w/ a more pronounced hop profile. The finish is bittered nicely w/ citrus rind and leaves a fruity citrus flavor to linger. This is very English indeed. Highly recomnended.

Original rating 6/27/07 - **Correction it has been 1630 days** ... since 1/9/03! It has been 1462 days and 406 ratings since I last sampled and rated a perfect beer. That streak ends today with this entry - Rating # 665. I was so focused on rating the Dark Lord for # 666 that this one came out of the blue to slap me upside me noggin. Who would have thought? Superb nose of flowers, perfume & pine, dried fruit & resin, berries & wheat. Pours a super sparkling golden. The fully lasting titanic uber-stiff off-white rocky head leaves hunks o’ lace on my glass. The brew has superb depth and balance. Warmth, bitterness, low acidity and dried fruit tones in the finish. The medium body is soft and creamy, the finish feels astringent. Everything I love, and nothing I don’t. Perfect!

Poured to a bright amber with thick off-white head that lasted though most of the drink and left good lacing up and down the glass. Aroma was a perfect blend of floral hops, bread and malty sweetness, and at mid-glass the alcohol crept into the nose in juist the right proportion. Mouthfeel was tingly and bittersweet, while the flavor was a continuation of the spicy floral hops and malty sweetness, along with the hint of apples. This all blended to a long smooth and thirst quenching finish. One of the better English beers I’ve had.

Cloudy golden with lasting head. Grainy, citrus hop aroma. Whiskey, hops, alcohol, and mild fruit flavour. Sour to the palate.