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Youngs Special London Ale 3.52 678

Youngs Special London Ale

Percentile
89
overall
Brewed by Wells & Youngs
Style: English Strong Ale

Bedford, England

bottled
common

on tap
unknown

Broad Distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreABVStyle PctlServe in
6783.53/5.03.52/5.06.4%92.9English pint, Trappist glass
Commercial Description:
Bottle Conditioned. Occasionally available in the cask.
Production moved from Youngs to Wells & Youngs in 2007.
Ingredients: Maris Otter and Crystal malt; Fuggle and Goldings hops. Dry hopped with Golding and Target hops. Re-pitched with fresh yeast and wort in the bottle.
Young’s Special London Ale is the UK’s No.1 bottle conditioned ale. It is an unpasteurised, living beer, matured in the bottle for a fuller, more complex, multi-dimensional, fresher taste. Without artificial carbonation, the only fizz is the natural effervescence created by fermentation.
“A wonderfully balanced, deep-golden strong bottled ale, brewed from pure malt and a phenomenal amount of hops. A lively, fruity character with suggestions of banana and orange zest.”
CAMRA Champion Bottled Beer of Britain - 1999.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 Grovlam (3825), Copenhagen, Denmark
3.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/57/103/514/20
Apr 26, 2009  
bottle. Small fizzy white head that mostly diminished. Spare display of lacework. Light cloudy golden color. Sweet fruit, light ash, grass, mild toasted malt, nutty, floral. Medium bodied, average carbonation, light dry texture. Moderated sweet and bitter flavor. Light bitter dry ash, flower grass finish.


 ogivlado (3095), Zagreb, Croatia
3.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/56/103/513/20
Apr 1, 2009  
Bottled(500ml). -Dark orange coloured, small to medium white head, aromatic flowery hoppy nose with hint of fruit. Moderate malty, citrusy hoppy and fruity taste with mild spicy notes. Pleasant ale, but like Marko said, far from greatness.


 Doggythedog (1601), Split, Croatia
3.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/56/103/514/20
Mar 29, 2009  
Bottle courtesy of and shared with ogivlado who found it in Wien (thanks!). Poured an orange body with a small thick white head that went away fast. Citrusy, fruity aromatic hoppy nose, some malty notes too. Earthy maltiness and citrusy aromatic hopiness = the taste. Light notes of beets. Refreshing but just ok, doesn’t impress me as much as it perhaps should. Light bitter aftertaste. It’s a good beer but far from greatness.


 EFC1878 (292), Manchester, Greater Manchester, England
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/104/58/104/515/20
Mar 14, 2009  
Bottle from Sainsbury’s. Clear gold/orange colour with frothy white head. Slight flowery aroma. Fruity malt taste. Full bodied and a pleasantly long, bitter finish. Very good.


 ChristianScheffel (4679), Odense, Denmark
3.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/56/103/512/20
Feb 10, 2009  
Cloudy golden with a small off-white head. Aroma of grassy hops with fruity notes. Dry and hoppy flavour with a touch of alcohol


 turbothy (725), Bonn, Germany
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/105/517/20
Jan 23, 2009  
Pours a very handsome golden colour with a clean white head. Crisp hop aroma. Excellent British pint flavour. This is damn good! :-)


 Dervock (183), Emu plains, Australia
2.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/56/103/59/20
Jan 20, 2009  
I was really looking forward to trying this beer. It has won numerous awards for it bottle conditioning. I have to say it wasn’t quite to my taste. I found the aroma quite fresh but a bit to fruity. The same with the taste. I like the fruit flavours brought through the hop, but this was just too much for me. On the up side it is quite a smooth creamy beer to drink and the aftertaste is quite good. Wanted to like it, but can’t say I did.


 wyzzywyz22 (799), Wirral, Merseyside, England
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/514/20
Jan 18, 2009  
Bottle, Sainsburys, Upton. This was a favourite about 6 years ago whilst I was living in London, but the quality seems to have dropped over the passage of time. Maybe leaving Wandsworth for Bedford has torn the body and soul out of it?? Orangey amber colour, thin white head. Aroma was hoppy, slightly perfumey and soapy, qualities which progressed into the flavour. Also present was a fair amount of fruit and malt mixed with a damp woody tang. Some nice aspects to this, but lacking real bite , and whilst pleasant enough I was left somewhat underwhelmed



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