Shepherd Neame Early Bird (Bottle)

Brewed by Shepherd Neame
Style: Bitter
Faversham, England

Orange with a quite rich white head. Weak hoppy aroma. Flavor brings some fruity notes before the hops and grass take voer. Quite an interesting dry hoppiness in the finish.

Amber color. Light hop aroma, grassy. Quite poor malt, some caramel, dry mouthfeel, with a hint of aromatic hops. Rough!

Bottle. light amber colour with foamy, quickley disappearing, off-white head. Hoppy, flowery aroma. Refreshing, hoppy taste, but with a bit of a stale-ish yeasty aftertaste. Thin bodied. Not bad.

Bottle. The colour is clear amber; the airy foam forms a one finger thick head.

The smell is very fresh, reminding me more of a fine lager than an ale. I noticed flavours of mint, mild malts and some honey.

The carbonation is balanced and fresh.

The taste is first malty and balanced with fruity notes, a mild bitterness and a full-bodied flavour that was all over my whole mouth. The next wave of flavours got notes of a fresh bitterness, flowers, and cucumber (yes!). There is a soft metallic dry touch to the bitterness. All those tastes are perfectly balanced. The great aftertaste got some honey, a clear and distinct taste of a kind of hops that I just couldn’t describe properly – I have probably never experienced it before; the aftertaste is very long, and it finishes with some pleasant flavours of diacetyl and fresh fruit drops.

Absolutely one of the best ales that I have encountered so far!

Clear bottle from Sainsbury’s. Lovely fresh toast aroma akin to SNPA. Hops and fruit (orange and strawberry?)along with the toasty malt. Mouthfeel a little thin, and the taste is not as startlingly good as the aroma. Good start, fair finish.

It was that bad that I switched over to drinking coke! Slight maltyness - but overall really average. Not very imspiring.

Tsk tsk, clear bottle...... Pours a medium head on a clear amber orange body. Fresh flowery and somewhat hoppy aroma. Also some nutty tones. Bittersour flavor, notes of malt, citrus and other fruits. Tasty, but little on the bland side. Fresh and easy.

Bottle from Metro Wines, Syston, Leics. Rather pale yellow, with a smallish head and sweet, sharp aroma. Reasonable beer, generally lacking in a bit of ooomph. Tartish lemon flavour, in the mouth giving way to a very slight hoppiness. Bittersweet to finish. Pleasant enough but the flavours aren’t pronounced enough and it didn’t hit my hoppy spot.