Woodfordes Norfolk Nog

Brewed by Woodfordes
Style: Old Ale
Norwich, England

A red-brown beer with a huge brown head. The aroma is sweet roasted with some acidic notes as well as yeast and hinst of chocolate. The flavor is sweet with lots of yeast notes as well as some notes of roasted bread and acidity. The end is dry and slightly acidic.

Bottle. Red-brown with small head. Over-ripe fruit, chocolate, lightly sour, smooth, dry. Medium body.

Cask, gravity flow @ the Fur & Feather Inn, Woodbastwick, Norfolk.
Bright, deep, ruby brown hinting at black in body. Head did a Houdini and disappeared quickly (bastard half pint glasses!), but left just a few legs as proof it was there. Hints of bitter chocolate, ripe syrupy boiled fruits and molasses on the nose with some underlying gritty earth and anise adding depth. Smooth yet light on the tongue with a nice rounded, richness of flavour that makes it delight to drink. Smoky, coffee and chocolate, burnt dark fruits and liquorice flavours dominate with a nice level of woodiness and gentle sweetness of malt. Back end is predominantly woody, slightly vinous and earthy with just a touch of fruit bitterness before a smooth, smoky swallow. Very nice, lightly sweet, well pronounced in flavour and aroma and robust for such a modest ale. Straight from the cask it is a delight. Lovely!!!

50cL bottle-conditioned.
Pours a clear deep ruby brown with a short soapy tan head that left a little lace. The first thing to strike you, as you lift the pint, is the aroma. Roasted grain, slightly over shadowed by fruity tones of dried cherries and prunes. Sweet malt up front in the mouth leads to a herbal, fruity and malty mid-palate with hint of roasted grain and a taste reminiscent of grand ’Kentish’ hops in the back. Finish is a little short and malty, but overall the beer was a good mix of malt and hops and an excellent example of an English ale. An outstandingly quaffable beer.

Cask at White Hart, Margetting Tye. Dark bown with red highlihts. I have wanted to try this beer for some time. Quite surprised by the dry bitteress as I expected would fairly sweet but mostly roast malt and bitterness, not bad.

Gyle 39. Well this seems to be an interesting gyle, that’s for sure. Pours a chestnust brown, mostly clear, but bottle conditioned, with a small off-white head. Aroma seems to be the best part of this beer, with prune, dark grape, deep barley and plenty of oily vinousness notes. Flavor is roasted barley, chocolate and light brown malts but I stress light, as this beer barely makes it as an Old Ale. Given the strong yeast presence, the musty/dustiness and light hints of alcohol (alcohol presence at 4.6?? wow) I can see why it’s an old ale, but it barely seems a porter let alone a strong, brown and porter mix. Anyways, it’s tastey enough, albeit quite thin. The yeast tastes exactly like J.W. Lees. Good and drinkable. Coincidence that the U.S.A ratings are markedly lower than the UK ratings? Definitely not.

Cask Conditioned, at the Wenlock Arms (Beer Festival), London.
This festival was to commemorate the 10year anniversary of the pubs re-opening under Steve and Will. Dark brown with slight reddish tinge. Sweet and completely misleading aroma. Malty structure but with plenty of bitterness too. Not really a well defined stout but nonetheless pleasant. Many thanks to the Governor Steve for buying me this pint.

Cask (Huddersfield BF 2004): Dark brown appearance. Winey, roasted aroma. Malty, licorice, mildly roasted flavor, sweet light fruitiness.

Bottle conditioned, 500 ml. Bought at Memorable Cheeses, Ipswich. Very dark brown colour, cloudy (I poured the yeast in). Very low head. Lovely "old" aroma of leather, oak, coffee and dark fruits. Flavour is fruity and vinegary, roast notes. Acidic finish. Not bad.