Burton Bridge Empire Ale

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

Pours a hazy orange amber with a creamy tan head. Strangely there are small granules that look like nutmeg stuck in the head and floating throughout the beer, not sure if it’s a spice or just funky yeast. Aroma reminds me of the banana pudding with alcohol in it. Toffee and hop taste with a creamy feel. Overall an interesting and well-balanced beer.

Drinking regularly - Feb/March 2009. Stunning ale that has it all. Big creamy head, atop a hazy gold volcano, with complex perfumery of floral and fruit esters and spicy/grassy hops. Huge hop flavour, carried well by the soft malt sweetness and creamy mouthfeel. Bitter but balanced. A unique island of yeast-malt-hop complexity amongst a plethora of "clean" American style hoppy ales here in NZ. Golden magic! Tasted 18/06/2006. 500ml bottle from Rumble’s, Wellington. Orange-gold, nearly bright and lightly effervescent, with a just off-white head that thins and laces exquisitively. Pungent perfumey nose: nectarine, old-style oranges, pollen and a touch of caramel. Sweet juicy malt up front; strong pollen-like yeast notes, quite minerally and fruity; then a stonefruit and orange tanginess that suggests a huge amount of dry hops; a little warming alcohol; strong bitterness with an iron-like intensity that lingers in the finish. Medium-heavy weight with a soft carbonation. Great label, bottle-conditioned, a real IPA that I’m sure would suit cellaring. 3.8.

Thnaks to someone from my fantasy football league! Cloudy copper with huge head. Enjoyable mix of mellow biscuit malts, strong yeast and strong hops. Reminds me of the spiciness of the hop/yeast combo in Orval (not saying it tastes like Orval). Really pretty damn good.

500mL bottle, pours a glorious amber/brown with a strong off-white head. The nose is full of fruit such as apple, apricot, peach and ripe oranges. Zesty, floral hops make themselves well known, mingling with a sweet, biscuity malt aroma. The flavours are very malty (which is great) with a honey sweetness. Balancing this sweetness are the hops, which manifest as bitter orange peel. There is some peppery spice mixed with a caramel flavour, and hints of alcohol (but hardly detectable). Finishes dry and citrus like. Delicious!

Bottle from beer-ritz. Alcohol warming, malty sweet, pronounced bitterness. The ingredients are there, but they do not blend too well.

Brewed in England........ Pours a orange/ brown color with a very thin off white head. Aroma of oranges, spices, and caramel. Taste is of citrus, malts, pepper, and some leafy notes. The mouthfeel is kind of musty with a slight bitter finish. This is different but not quite what i expected.

Deep gold pour with a frothy white head. This beer smelled sour and tasted sour. This bottle has to be bad. I will re rate if I get the chance but this beer just was not very good.

500ml bottle
7.5% ABV
I tried this beer on December 22, 2008 at "Smokeless Joes" in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The beer poured a muddy brown with almost no head (although the bartender persisted that one he poured the previous night had a huge frothy head). The aroma was malt and a strong piney, citrusy scent. The mouthfeel was medoim bodied with medium carbonation. The flavour had a malt backbone with a very hoppy finish. An excellent beer.