Adnams Broadside

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

I picked this beer up from the Barrel Chest in Roanoke, VA. This beer was REALLY good - a great representation of the extra special bitter. SMooth and hoppy, amberish in hue. I liked this beer a lot - it even improved as it warmed a bit.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Dark ruby red with light brown foam head. Aroma is caramel, not too sweet, some toffee. Taste is nice bittersweet. Short lasting aftertaste, some honey. (Velp 201310)

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

pours a beautiful burgundy color with dark brown streaks with a light tan large head and beautiful lacing and pretty decent retention. The aroma is caramel malts with some more raw grain type aromas. The taste is some caramel and rich malt and just a hint of that graininess. The hops are definitely bitter and on the finish. The mouthfeel is really rich and creamy with low carbonation.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Quite an interesting experience. Smooth taste with a bitter finish. Nice aftertaste. Very fruity and quite nutty. Not quite as good as the stronger version, but would try again.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

well its been a while since i've been on this site... well its nice to be back.. this beer im drink today has a tar-ish-ness to it a lot of malt, a little flat. i getting notes of honey carmel, and some bar-b-q. hummmm!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

THis beer pours a clear reddish-brown colour with a very thin head. The aroma is slightly nutty, with some hops in the background. The flavour is a weak balance between the malt and the hops with the hops coming out the winner. Not a great ESB

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Cask@Holly Bush, Hampstead. Dark amber colour, not much head. Aroma is yeasty, wooden and quite grassyish hops. Flavour is very much the same, a slight disappointment.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

A classic ESB, sadly not now as strong as it used to be on draught - the bottled version at 6% is better. Glorious copper colour with white head. Malt taste with fruity esters and alcohol/phenol notes. Best tried as close to the brewery as you can get it

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

A very nice beer. Had with fish and chips in London on vacation and enjoyed. A very nice appearance and head was just the introduction to a nice full bodied beer. A must when you visit London.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

~ Reviewed, 03/30-2003 (Bottle):
Well, this is interesting. The back label of this 500mL bottle says "Best Before 10/96". Now, is the sample that I currently have in my favorite Imperial Pint glass 6 or 7 years old...? If so, this is one excellent find, and indicative of a quality ale from the Adnam's brewery.

A touch of oxidation in the front feel, but otherwise this well-aged beer stands up quite nicely. Minimal carbonation, which actually matches up nicely with it's Real Ale roots. Complex malt/yeast/hop nose, as is standard for most quality ales from the U.K., with enough hops and malt in the mouthfeel to back it all up. This has the feeling of being very "Old School", and so might be not much more than Fuggles n' Goldings, which is just fine for these taste buds....

I'm curious if my ratings would go up or down if I was given a fresher sample -- say, one from this century...!

~ Re-Reviewed, 04-29-04 (Cask-Conditioned):
How rare is it to find authentic U.K. cask-conditioned beer in SoCal? Let's just say that this was a first for even Mr Diehard Festival Organizer (and O'Brien's publican) Tom Nickels. So me and the Foam On The Brain crew all made it a point to be on hand >5pm for this offering.

Needless to say, comparing the beer (bottle vs. cask) is a night-and-day argument. Many of the faults I had with this beer when I sampled it from a very unfresh bottle were nonexistent when pulled from the cask. Still nothing that really knocks my socks off, but surely nothing that I would turn down, that's for sure. Marks adjusted accordingly.
//TB