Shepherd Neame Goldings (Bottle)

Brewed by Shepherd Neame
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Faversham, England

Bottle (from Sainsburys), Boiled sugar and slightly citric floral hops. Tingly effervescence distracts from the lifeless hop and malt stodge. I could imagine this not being too bad on cask and is better than a fair few pasteurised bitters.

Bottle. Amber colour with a white head. Aroma of hops & caramel. Flavour is grassy and bready with a medium bitterness.

[239-20070326] 500mL. Smells lightly of grass and alcohol. Clear, amber orange body with quick-rising medium-size bubbles throughout and pours a very big foamy off-white head with lovely lacing. Flavour is a little grassy, with notes of grime and cigarette smoke, and has a bitter aftertaste. Light-medium body is bland. Something’s odd here: could be an old bottle, could be the clear bottling.

Bottle. Dry aroma with some caramel evident. Crystal clear amber body with excellent, frothy, white lace. Hop character takes a few sips to materialize. Dry, peppery, crisp hops. Not hoppy in the U.S. sense, but also different entirely from the English bitter. Excellent hop bite. Underrated and recommended.

Bouteille claire de 500 ml achetée à la LCBO (Toronto, ONT). Arôme: Odeur de moufette et d’houblon. Apparence: La couleur est dorée avec une moyenne densité de bulle. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de miel et d’houblon. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est mince avec une texture légèrement minérale. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Légère présence de miel et d’amertume en arrière goût. (Rating #732)

Shepheard Neame has an ale for all seasons and this is its Summer offering - Golding by name, Gold by nature! It has a golden colour and a golden taste to match. The taste is very hoppy, slightly sweet and very bitter - tastes stronger than it is. This has now been replaced as Neame’s Summer Ale by the inferior organic Whitstable Bay. "Bring back Goldings for Summer 2007 those boys from Faversham" pleads I! (Update: Check out the review above from a Canadian, but in French! What’s the point of submitting a review in a language no-one else on here understands, when you can probably converse in a language they all do?!?! Bloody frogs!!!)

When poured the first impression is of a lively, caramel coloured beer, with a large cream head; there is a grassy, summery aroma, and the taste has a citrus bite, leading to a biscuity aftertaste. Brilliant.

Aroma: Candy - sweet tarts- malty and an unfortunate soapy hop aroma Flavour: Malty with a thin hop flavour mostly dominated by same soapiness as in the aroma. Good bitter hang Appearance: copper gold with an appealingly thick fluffy head Overall: Disappointing, lacks complexity. Soapy character overwhelms the beer. One dimensional. I expected more.