Oakleaf I Cant Believe Its Not Bitter

Brewed by Oakleaf
Style: Premium Lager
Gosport, England

Cask at Volunteers Arms, GBBF 2007. A golden beer with a thick off-white head. The aroma is sweet with flowery and elderberry notes of hops. The flavor is sweet malty with flowery notes of hops, as well as notes of elderberryflowers, which lingers in the slightly bitter finish. The body is thin.

From cask at Stockbridge Tap. Pours almost clear and golden yellow to orange with a small white head. Mild breadish to wheaty aroma. Flavour is mild acidic and wheaty with a ligt breadish note beneath. Smooth and fruity finish with a light citric bitterness coming through.

Cask gravity at Ealing BF 2007. Clear gold, bubbly white lasting head. Yes it has got lager malt, but the hops are excelllent. Decent citrus hops all over it. The finish in particular is reminiscent of a bitter. Ditto the mouthfeel. More of a golden beer than a lager.

Bottled. "A bottle conditioned lager" with CAMRA’s logo "this is REAL ALE" ... hmm, interesting. Slightly hazy golden - orange color, cloudy white head. Buttery, woody, hoppy nose. Despite the name - it tastes bitter. Starts watery, then the burst of lime comes in. Citric hoppy aftertaste.

A Mes rate: Gravicask at Ealing Beer Festival.
Bright gold, a good white head and excellent condition. Tangy malt aroma well balanced by some spicy ginger hops. Equally tangy flavour bit this time from some glorious tangerine and peach hoppage. Good earthy malt base. Kick of sweetness just before it is booted out of the way by a surprisingly good bitter finish. Far and away the best cask lager I have had, very impressed. If only there were more beers like this, maybe there would be less InBev in the world...

Cask at Ealing beer fest. Aroma is pale quite sweet malts, with grassy hop. Taste is similar, i find it pritty bland and unexciting if quite drinkable.

Cask@Ealing Beer On Broadway. i couldn’t believe i had not had this before as this seems to be at most Brit festivals. Aromatic aroma. Some oramgey flavours, grapefruit, some lychee? This is a lager? Pretty impressive i must say.

I’ve generally been impressed with Oakleaf beers and this one is no exception. Calling it a pale lager doesn’t really do this beer justice. I can understand why brewers want to make lager comparisons to lure the summer drinkers but I’m not convinced that many of the UK "cask lagers" are really lagers in the traditional sense. And this one has too high a hop profile to compare with the insipid beers that tend to fall under the pale lager style. The aroma is grassy and herbaceous. More fruit on the palate - peaches and apples maybe. Quite dry and very fresh. Very refreshing. Cask gravity dispense), Ealing Beer Festival 2005.