Hepworth Christmas Ale

Brewed by Hepworth
Style: English Strong Ale
Horsham, England

Bottled. Pale amber. Appley and grassy. A very drinkable beer, despite it’s sweetness. It is somewhat roasty and has notes of honey. Pretty decent.

Bottle conditioned
Golden to amber color, thin creamy head. Aroma of metallic green hops, some white sugar. Malty body, toffee, strong bitterness (good quality of English hop, partially aromatic), almost extreme at the end, with toffee again. Balanced, warming stuff, not too much complex nor exciting, but the more I drink it the more I like it ;-)
Don’t drink it too cold!

500 bottle from Cask & Glass, Tonbridge. I saw the previous year’s offering in the clear glass 660 bottle that Chris_o had in an off licence in Brighton and wished I bought it, so when I saw this I had to buy it. Reddish copper colour with lasting off white head. It does smell of christmas cake, malty with dried fruits. alcohol and hops (ok hops aren’t in christmas cake), Full in mouth, alcohol kick comes through in the end. Lots of tea and tobacco, more dried/burnt fruit too. I love it. More dry malt and dry peppery hop on finish. The hops, the malt, the alcohol all go to make this one of the best UK beers I’ve had. It is extraordinary. It really does assault the senses.

<!-- i -->courtesy of fiulijn<!-- /i --> - hazy amber colour with a giant creamy white head; strong fruity hoppy nose with notes of lychees, pear and apricot; solid notes of yeast too; strong malt body and aromatic bitterness; moderately dry finish where the yeast dominates the fruity character - deeply original and a with a strong character

Bottle. Aroma is sour. Palate is sour, not in a pleasnt way. Some subtle spice and some dark fruit characters, some orange. Not really pleasant to drink and the alcohol is noticeable.

Bottled, 500ml many thanks to Sandra. Copper with white head. Very malty beer, lacking character and body. Seemingly spiced, but dry and powdery. not keen at all.

660 ml bottle. 2005 vintage. In England we usually expect Christmas ales to be dark and rich, so the relatively pale orange/ginger colour (and the clear glass bottle) didn’t look particularly promising. The contents, however, were a pleasant surprise. Poured with no head to speak of and a slight haze (bottle conditioned). Big estery, fruity aroma - bags of orange and tropical fruit - with some yeasty notes. Smooth and spicy on the palate. Lots of sharp, juicy Seville oranges and marmalade. Some late bitterness although the overall mouthfeel is mellow. The alcohol is not too intrusive. A tasty, light but full-flavoured Christmas beer.

Muddy brown in colour, this has earthy flavours with fruit and caramel. This beer is quite sweet and has a good alcohol kick. The clear bottle doesn’t bode well for those that like to lay beers down for maturing. Not a bad effort for this new brewery. Happy Xmas.