Burton Bridge Empire Ale

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

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.

Location: 1/2 liter bottle from Gilly’s, 7/16/09

Aroma: On first pour, the aroma was a bit unusual, but as it breathes, it really opens nicely. A nice, fruity hop aroma.
Appearance: Hazy orange color, creamy tan/off-white head
Flavor: Nice flavor, strongly hopped with a big bitter quality
Palate: Full body, lovely mouthfeel, long finish
Overall Impression: This was a tasty brew, with a nice hop character and flavor that I really enjoyed.

Excellent grippy deep and glorios brew which is long. Hard to fault in the pommie ale category. About the best I have had.

Pours hazy orange with a one finger off white head. Fruity hoppy nose. Flavor is sweet malty, nice dry hoppy finish.