Burton Bridge Empire Ale

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

Bottle shared with Blankboy and Hogtown Harry at Smokeless Joe’s. Dark yellow, lots of slow bubbles, pancake batter head, thick and creamy - looks great. Some bitterness and lots of alcohol in aroma. Strong bitter alcoholic taste - very bitter for English ale, even a strong one. Dry and malty - retains its English Ale characteristics while going hops crazy. Full thick sticky hops. Lovely stuff.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry & tupalev at Smokeless Joe. Pours a cloudy dark orange with a big lasting foamy white head. Very mild aroma of hops, yeast and sweet malt. Flavour starts malty and ends quite bitter with a strong alcohol presence. I thought it got better as it warmed. Pretty good.

Wonderfully bitter with buckets of hop resin. Lingering finish lasted over 15 minutes. Warming, with a hazy pale amber colour. Wish I had gallons around. If this truly is a traditional rendition I am already nostalgic for the days of old with mercantile ships full IPA.

Bottle (500ml). Shared with blankboy and tupalev. Poured murky bubbly amber-orange with a huge lasting foamy white head. Aroma of rich citrus/resin UK hops, solid malt backing - simple but appealing. Taste of mild malt at first, then a huge hit of bitterness, from the hops at first, then an alcohol burn - there’s dry woodiness in there too, but a little too much burn, until it opens up on warming. Mouthfeel is bitter, incredibly dry, and funky-hoppy with a long long bitter finish. Reminded me of a strong alcohol and hoppy traditional bitter.

(bottle) labeled an IPA. Medium gold with nice white head. Clear (I left the sediment in the bottle). Somewhat yeasty aroma, not much hops in the nose. Light hops flavor with some malt.

Amber/gold wth a slight haze and a big, off white rocky head that lasts until the bottom of the glass. Yeasty aroma with some English hops thrown in there - nice. Substantial malt backbone that leaves usut the right feel. A little sweet malt undertone balanced well by hop bitterness that is astringent and refreshing. ABV of 7.5, plenty of malt, and a substantial hop presence - sure seems like a tradtional English IPA to me, and a good one to boot.

Man couldn’t sleep so why not have a beer. IPA? A yeasty bread and grain aroma to this. Dark golden body with big white head. Flavor was full bodied. A complex mixture od sweet malts, citrus hop and syrup. Alcohol was pesent but only a mild warming effect on the face. Well time for a nap have a meeting in six hours.

Bottle at The Map Room. Poured a pale cloudy yellow with a substantially large foamy white head. Bread and yeast were upfront followed by a somewhat muted bitter hop backbone. Listed as an IPA on the bottle and on the board at The Map Room.