Woodfordes Norfolk Nog

Brewed by Woodfordes
Style: Old Ale
Broadland Brewery
Woodbastwick, England

Bottle conditioned, Gyle No. L39 This is a very nice Old Dark Ale that stays true to the Dark style and doesn't go Stout. Color is a nice deep brownish, with some reddish toned highlights. Head is tannish and creamy looking with a few divets and layed about a pencil width high leaving rings of lace that are very thin, stringy web-like. Smell is mild and welcoming with a favorable roasted sweet maltness and a bright but mild citrus floral hop note. Taste is subtle and full with mildly balanced roasty/toasty/earthy malt and sweet caramel malt with a super light but sharp hop of dark red apples. Its medium body is a nice earthy tang thats mild and very easy to handle with a silky smooth feel the whole way through with a very complex earthy, fruity dry finish that holds nicely in the back of the mouth and throat, quite nice. Drinkable indeed, smooth, mild, and complex, how could one not want to try this, it's one very nice dark ale and recommend picking some up.

Dec, 2002: Bottle. This is an Old Ale which is close to a Mild. Packed with flavours, yet still light enough to be very refreshing. It is almost criminal that Woodforde’s is still so little known outside Britain.

Cask Conditioned at Woodfordes Brewery, Woodbastwick. Dar black / red beer with malty head. A deep fruity beer with a sweet malty character. Smooth mellow flavours with loads of interest. My favourite Woodfordes, straight from the Brewery.

Sampled cask conditioned at Akkurat, Stockholm, Sweden.
Mahogany colour. Interesting aroma with restrained fruitiness and hints of flowers and caramel. Some roastiness and a delicious fragile saoft maltiness. Low to medium bitterness. Excellently balalnced and very quenchable.

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.

500ml bottle from Pitfield Beer Shop. Black beer, with no head. Reall y nice aroma with molasses, choc and intense hop as well. Good in mouth. Again lots of molasses, dark treacle, coffee and hop dryness on the finish. Really good dark beer

Interesting, good flavor, a little sweet in aroma, like a Heather Ale, but obviously is not. But I liked it a lot, good head too.

Pitch black beer with an ever lasting head. Hopped, roasted and celery scented aroma. Relatively dry flavour with roasted elements and a mild bitter finish. A great beer overall.