Shepherd Neame 1698 Tercentenary Ale

Brewed by Shepherd Neame
Style: English Strong Ale
Faversham, England

Bottle, at London Shindig, August 2007. Smooth, sweet, drenched in hops and age. Sweet, juicy toffee and a lingering hop bitterness. Some cardboard. Perhaps too sweet and too straightforward for me. I’d like more character or charm or interest. However, an intense beer which drinks fairly easily

1998 bottle. Nice orange shade is clear and holds well on its surprisingly persistent off-white head. Strong vinous nose, really grapey with white port and honeyed sherry notions. Just a general dried fruits nose that contains its beginning oxidation with elegance. Well integrated malt-focused creation. Orange tea sweetness also feels well matured. Good medium body may not be very firm, but does make drinkability easy. Perhaps extra hops could help to increase the balance, but at almost 10 years old, this remains praiseworthy.

A bright copper beer with a sprightly fizz followed by a thin off-white head that disappeared after a minute leaving a constant stream of bubbles but little lace. A sweet buttery nose with some caramel / toffee highlights and flowery hops Thin astringent but lively mouthfeel with a slight alcoholic warming at the end. Buttery toffee again in the taste with a long metallic bitter finish. Not one ill hurry to try again but a pleasant enough beer.

Bottle. An amber beer with a beige head. The aroma is very sweet and very malty with a medium note of alcohol, and lighter notes of metal. The flavor is sweet malty with strong notes of alcohol, leaving a slight burn in the throat, combined with notes of toffee and sirup, as well as hints of oxidation, leaidng to a slightly bitter finish. Thanks SilkTork for sharing this.

Bottle. Not a huge fan of Shepherd Neame in general. so i tried to avoid judging it before i drank it. Was very surprised to fins this to be quite pleasant. Some light estery banana and alcohol in the aroma. Palate is sweet, and almost a little savoury. This shows some nice madeira flavours, with some dark fruit amd woody notes. Some light saltyness in here as well. Very enjoyable.

Bottle, at London Shindig, August 2007. Glad I got the chance to try this but can’t say I enjoyed it too much. Made in 1998 and not aging gracefully in my view. Reddish copper colour. Oxidation is apparent in the aroma. That and wood. I thought the hops had faded quite severely in the flavour leaving behind rather too much honeyed sweetness. And wood. If sweet and maderised is your thing, you might like this. Its not my thing at all. Others at the tasting seemed to enjoy it. Would have been much better 3 or 4 years ago I’d say. Thanks to SilkTork for bringing it. Nice packaging.

Bottle 1130ml @ Chris_o shindig 2007. Clear light amber color with a small, virtually none, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, caramel, dry berries, port, tawny, alcohol, vintage. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet sweet with a long duration. Body is medium to full, texture is syrupy, carbonation is flat. ;o))

Bottled, Amber colour, not much head. Madeira-nose with lots of wood in it. Also slight alcohol noteable. Flavour is very much madeira along with malts, raising and a nice sting of alcohol. Also some fruityness.