Greene King IPA (Pasteurised)

Brewed by Greene King
Style: Bitter
Bury St. Edmunds, England

Big 660ml bottle at Blå Rock Cafe while watching TIL-Brann on TV and eating a well made tuna salad called Waterboys. Clear mahogany topped with a fast diminishing foam. Weak hoppy aroma. Flavour with a good touch of caramel. Malty texture. Watery palate. Light, but nice bitter finish. Alright as a partner to the salad and the match.

Bottled: Golden coloured. Clear. Fluffy off white head. Light herbal and light spiced brew. Is rather thin bodied and watery. Has a light flowery touch. ends on a light bitter note. Quite industriallike.

On tap at the Kingfisher. This amber-colored ale poured with a modest off-white head. The flavor is rather flat and thin with a hint of floral hops. It quenched my thirst, but not much else.

Out of the can. Amber colored beer with a thick, creamy beige head. Light grainy nose with some flowery notes. This is a relativly easy drinking beer, and I see that Ratebeer calls it a bitter and not an IPA, which seems more in line with what I’m drinking. Some fruity notes, caramel sweetness, faint orange rind bitterness in the finish. It is an uninteresting session beer, but nothing really wrong with it.

Bottled. Still, golden beer with a dminishing, off-white head. The aroma is mostly malty, with caramel and flowery hops. The flavor is malt-dominated too, with hops, caramel and dark bread. Long bitter finish and a body that is medium to thin. Not excactly my idea of an IPA, but not bad.(060405)

First up comment must be made of the very impressive packaging – long dreadnought style 660ml bottle. Looks IPA in the glass, thin head, nice dark armber. Soft nose, sweet malts, almost candied. Not particularly hoppy. Palate is light, malts fade away and some hops drive the finish. Beer is bland though, but needs to be put in context of a 3.6% beer. There aren’t too many beers this good at this ABV.

Neat enough session beer; doesn’t pack too much of a punch. Slightly bitter hoppiness, doesn’t offend.

Bottle (BBE Sep 06). On the nose some straw like hops and boiled caramel. Fairly dry witha very pasteurised feel but less of the GK house character than on cask (which for me is a good thing). Drinkable just about. In a perverse way works better as a mass produced fizzed up beer than as the award winning ’tradtional’ beer many people consider it.