Swale Indian Summer

Formerly brewed at Whitstable
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Maidstone, England

I thought it to be pretty usually. Citrus aroma. Somewhat bitter, I swear the first sip I took had a lime taste. There is some sweet to accompany the bitterness. I hope to have another one of these before they are gone!

Big white head, hazy light orange body, citrusy nose. Considerably thinner than I was expecting, with a good balance of hops, malt and slight yeastiness.

First of all - take a look at the bottle - it looks like there's about 3/4" yeast at the bottom! Poured with a rapidly expanding frothy head - it went up, then went slowly down. The first pour was clear gold, the second was cloudy orange. Very floral/fruity IPA - a much milder version than some of you may be expecting. Sweet, semi-thick malt body; sticky hoppy sweet finish. No where near as intense than the Burton ipa, but almost as well made. (Oh, this is classified as an APA- well, in that case they did an excellent job. For some reason the label had me expecting an IPA)

A bit of a fizzer. Thick billowing head, the repour (second half) has a lot of yeast. Fabulours hoppy aroma -- styrian goldings? I get pineapple and peach too. Malt character is nice, good touch of caramel sweetness. This is awesome.

Bottle Conditioned. The 4.2% is the cask version of this ale - the bottled version is 5.0% and is on this site as simply Indian Summer. Even though I am a big fan of Swale's Whitstable Oyster Stout I didn't like this when I tried it about a year ago on draught. At that time my taste-buds were not up to an especially hoppy brew. I will revisit this again to re-rate in the future, both in the cask and in the bottle! [2.3]
Re-rate. Gravity Cask, Kent Beer Festival, with Duff & Nuffield. The Swale Brewery has been bought by the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company. During the transitional stage the beers are still being brewed by Swale while the new owners learn how to make beer! Light, golden orange amber colour. Smooth pale malt aroma. Wow! flavour - oranges and lemons bursting everywhere, yet held in place with a sweet marmalde tinged malt. A spanking good ale. [3.7]

Orangy-amber in color, great lacy soft creamy head (tapped on a hand-pump), very smooth, very hoppy for an English pale ale, fruity & floral nose & aroma, spicy aftertaste, great pale ale

I must agree with Volgon on this one; a terrific, if very English, pint. Beautiful color, very compact head that immediately becomes frothy and clingy. Then...a tale of two beers. The initial nose is hoppy, fruity, not your typical malt depth. The initial flavor & palate are a bit weak; well-flavored, hoppy, but watery. Then, mid-pint, the malt and yeast kick in. The bottle warns you to pour carefully so as not to disturb the yeast...oh, but please do! The tangy Maris Otter and sweet/sour yeast kick in like crazy. The bottom of my glass was covered in yeast and other suspended wonderfullness. I could drink this every day. In this regard, for my tastes, this brew is the English counterpart of Poppy Jasper. Challenging, but yummy, for everyday use. Oh, one other thing...my bottle says 5% alcohol, not 4.2%.

Although this a decent beer, I was disappointed. It tasted fairly watered down for an IPA. I know that British IPA’s are not as hoppy as their American counterparts, but I can’t believe this beer falls into that category. For you hopheads out there, this is not the beer for you!