Double Diamond

Brewed by Leeds (Carlsberg UK)
Style: Bitter
Leeds, England

With this beers upstanding proud Burton history, nothing could possibly go wrong? Or could it!!! It seems globalisation and dreaded pasteurisation have killed another innocent bystander. Tasted in the Draughtflow can, The colour (light yellow gold) was the first giveaway to what used to be an Amber Pale Ale. Taste was Slight, watery and unbalanced with nothing standing out. Short aftertaste left you searching for the beer somewwhere hidden inside the pint. Gave it another shot on Draught, hoping I just got a bad batch, but the same ’Beer’? presented it’s ugly head. Shame on mass marketting for it’s blind perception of what the beer drinking public wants.

Double Diamond HAS CHANGED! A recent shift from bitters and stouts to lagers and pilsners in the comonwealth world {like my beloved Canada} has caused MASIVE declinens in the export market for some wonderfull oldworld crafted ales, and fearing bankrupsy many bitter brewers have changed their recipie dramaticaly, to try to keep up with a steady rise in carlsberg sales. Untill now the biggest example of this was Bass {now under bankrupsy protection} , reducing the bitter level by 70%, and then changing the malt to change our beloved coper pale ale into a golden ale, the color that wrongly comes to the mind of most north americans when you say an ale is "pale" . But I digress. The new Double Diamond comes in a new "Caskflow" can, a system very similar to the famous guinness "Draughtflow", except that this wiget is hard fassened to the bottom of the can. On pour the change is obvious. Cream ale style rise, foamy guinness like head. No carbonation left in beer after rise. Colour unchanged. Clasic coper pale ale. Bland aroma, sour on the nose like spoiled apple. taste. ALL WRONG!! not a Burton ale at all. cream flavour, sweet, smoth, mild malt hiding in the corner of my mouth, no hop to speak of. Oily mouthfeel. After taste remenesent of sour welsh ale, cloying on the molars. Sad tear comes to my eye. Previousley double dimond was one of my perferd ales. In pubs or in bottles from my local shop, it had the perfect not too bitter flavour for a cold summer night. {I cant get enough hop in the heat though} then it dissapered of the shelves. at my local they taped a new keg one day and suddenly it pulled like a cream ale. then today I see them stocking the shelves with not bottles but cans. Filled with joy I rushed home with 2 cans, and upon pouring I was alread disapointed. Bitter fans STAY away from the new Double Diamond, However, Killkey and Bodington fans aswell as fans of welsh ale should give this new cream ale a try {even though the can calls it a Burton ale}

Average bitter pale ale, has the typical bitter English finish and some sweet malts. I though this was a lot like Bass.

Clear orange amber color, medium, fugaceous, rocky white head. Very shy aroma of hops and malt. I feel no hops flavor at all except for a light bitterness, it’s mostly malty and fruity. Bitter finish of a low intensity. Light to medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation. It’s very oily for a bitter and I feel it’s pretty much bland and ordinary.

Big, sustaining, dense, creamy head that is pale in color. The beer itself is a pale copper color. Aroma of fruity esters, earthy hops and an underlying bitterness. Profile is dry, very fruity, with a strong bitterness up front then again in the finish. The malt flavor peaks about 3/4 of the way through and sustains itself for only a few seconds before diminishing. There is also a smokey note.

21 May 2004 - Slight fruit malt aroma. Clear amber, small head but retains film of white lacing. Light malt flavour, easy drinking, hoppy sweet finish. Low bittering, light mouthfeel and a bit of a flat finish.

Sampled at the Toronto Festival Of Beer 2004. Light amber colour with a small white head. Decent hop aroma. Thinnish body with a good carbonation level. Well balanced flavour with enough hops in the finish to be interesting. I’d heard lots of bad things about this beer and was frankly expecting it to be crap, but it wasn’t bad at all.

Amber orange body with a thin white head. Bit of English hops in the aroma. Pretty standard English ale, with some moderate hoppy bitterness. Fairly well balalnced and quaffable with lingering bitter aftertaste. Palate is nice.