Hambleton Taylor’s Tipple

Brewed by Hambleton
Style: Bitter
Ripon, England

Bottle somehow forgotten after the unlamented Sainsbury’s Festival. Amber with a large white head. Gassy aroma at first, then dank earthy malt. Slight sweetness in the taste, but the general impression is flaccid and rather boring. Some bitterness at the end. For some reason I don’t like the colour scheme of the label, nor the back view of a horse’s head. But that’s nothing to do with the beer.

A Mes rate. Bottle at home.
Clean amber gold body with a thin white head. Sweetish nutty malt on the nose with hints of caramel. Similar flavour with some slight card and metal. Nutty finish with some eventual bitterness thank god. Saved by the finish for sure. Ends up with a pleasant balanced aftertaste. So so.

Bottle from Sainsbury’s. Amber with an off white head.. Citrus aroma but predominantly malty flavour with dry hoppiness at the end. Very smooth carbonation and morish fresh flavour.

500ml bottle from Sainsbury during the festival. Apparently one of the winners. So if I was making a case for this being better than the other 14 what would it be? Well it has a beautiful clear amber to pale chestnut colour with a lasting beige head. So that is pleasant to look at. Aroma of some malt and some hop which is not perfect at all. A bit bready I suppose. The flavour is a very mild bitter. And I mean a very mild bitter. Really a bit watery on the malts. Some then frisky hops on the end, not particularly flavoursome but spritzy mouthfeel. For me a bit of a boring bitter if impossible to find any real brewing fault. It’s just not very exciting. Or particularly what I would want in a bitter. The Wolf Whistle which I had before this blows it away if you pardon the pun. Ok, but not exciting. Drank it easily and relatively quickly so has a bit of drinkability, I can’t fault it, but it doesn’t make me want to buy another unlike the Wolf or Brew Dog beers. SilkTork’s final sentence on his rate makes perfect sense for this beer.

Bottled, filtered, 500ml from Sainsburys at Banbury. Amber to copper with white head. Bright and quite tasty bitter with a pleasant toasty malted body, reasonable depth then pleasing hop notes, sweetish and a little fruity, some raisin and prune. Good bottled beer.

500ml bottle from Sainsbury’s - one of the 15 finalists. A fairly standard best bitter in a bottle. Some toffee, some English hops. Rubbed together. Dry finish. Nicely done. Burnt twigs, nettles, orange rind, Christmas cake and other flavours associated with a typical, old fashioned hop soaked British bitter with a good malt base. This is light and dry enough to be quaffable, and is the classic example of a best bitter. I was unsure at first, but the more I drink this, the more I think this is a fine beer. Old fashioned maybe, but very well done. I’m not excited by it, but I think it’s a decent chap.

50cl bottle from Sainsburys. Gold with a thin white head; fruity malt aroma with some apricot and a touch of citrus; lemony, orangey, fruity flavour; the finish is slightly nutty but also has some rather stale hops. Pleasant enough, but unexciting.

Bottle. Pours a bright copper colour with a medium size white head. Has a real grassy aroma, the taste is soft citrus flavours, with a dry bitter finish.