Cropton Rudolphs Revenge Bitter

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

Pours with an almost two-finger thick, tan colored head that sits atop a dark, concentrated plum colored beer that shows a lightly hazy, bright cranberry color when held up to the light. As I pour this the aroma smells like concentrated fruit. Once I go in for a deeper draught of the aroma, I get that concentrated fruit note (raisins, orange peel & berry aromatics), but there is an almost more noticeable note that somehow reminds me of musky Brettanomyces. For the most part this funky aromatic note seems to fade after a short bit, but some slight mustiness remains. After opening up a bit the nose takes on notes of astringent burnt grain in the finish, notes of toasted malt, some light herbal hop character and even a touch of pine. After some extended sniffing, the bright, almost berry like fruitiness is the most noticed part of the aroma, but if you leave the aroma and come back to it the funkiness makes a full return.

Very dry tasting, and in fact even tart, this beer is definitely a bit more funky than it should be. Definitely some Brett has taken hold here, and maybe some souring bug as well. This is actually not half bad tasting, but is clearly not how it should taste. I find it unfortunate how unstable a small, but significant portion of British beers sent to the states (need to beef up on fermentation & packaging practices). Tastes like a cross between a tart plum, some moldy cotton balls, sour lemons, and an astringent musky hop bud.

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

This rudolph's revenge was not too bad. The color was nice and dark, the taste was ok. I beleive the beer foam could of stayed longer. This had lots of different taste to it. I think i would recommend this one.

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

A copper color with a large head. An orange, spice, and caramel. The flavor is somewhat sour with some cherries, oranges, and toffee. A very smooth aftertaste. This one has good drinkability and would make for a good session ale.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

This bitter pours a medium amber color from a 500ml bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is earthy and malty. A medium bodied bitter. Malts are slightly caramel and earthy. Hops are slightly earthy and floral. A little watery and bland. There is a touch of acidic sour flavor as well as a touch of metal and diacetyl. Kind of unpleasant and weird tasting, and NOT in a good way. Hate to figure out what Rudolph did to get his revenge,,, but I think I can taste it. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean. Aftertaste is slightly sweet and a touch funky.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 5

Dark coppery color with ample, rocky head and good lace. Malty aroma, but difficulty in flavor. Although fruity in character (cherries?), sampled bottle had a very metallic taste....

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

Just got this brew for Christmas in a holiday gift box. The aroma is sweet and citrusy with some aromas of slight allspice with a decent English hop nose. The appearance is a hazy dark, amber to bronze when held to the light with excellent head retention that is light-tan in color and well carbonated and only diminishes ever so slightly while it sits in my glass. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied and very balanced and complex with a palate that is crisp and wet-like but a tad dry. The flavor is a bit robust with some smoked wood overtones coming through as well as some sweet malt with an aftertaste that is crisp and sharp with some English bitter and citrus hops and offers a finish that is dry but frothy as well as a bit piney and damn tasty. Overall, a great English bitter here for sure and is great to drink around the Holidays; I look forward to the other three brews that came in this set...

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Love the label, but the brew leaves a lot to be desired. There is little to zero head with the bottle pour. The color is clear and coppery which is typical of an English bitter. Scents of evergreen and fir trees along with noticeable maltiness waft to the nostrils. On the buds, tastes of a dry hoppiness, light smokiness and some citrus notes are present. The finish was very bland and dry. For me, this one was not a Christmas ale, but it was fun to try none the less.

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

A never-seen-before English 500mL bottle at The Bier Garden (Portsmouth VA)…., I was kinda hoping that this would as interesting as last season’s Bad Elf – an English IPA with a fairly substantial amount hops in the mix. And while this rather quirky “Rudolph’s Revenge” doesn’t have nearly enough hops to call this an IPA, it’s still interesting enough to check out, me’thinks.

Quite typical in most forms to what I normally think of, when it comes to English Pale Ales. This one in particular is a bit subdued in the normally fruity aroma, but still, overall, there is little here that I don’t disagree with, to be honest.

It is only later in the game, when this beer has had a chance to warm up some, that it tends to strike out on it’s own, and make a name for itself. And while I have a hard time thinking of this beer as something of a “Winter Warmer”-type of beer, it’s still got enough girth in the mouthfeel and overall drinkability to put this a bit above-and-beyond the normal, me’thinks.

Could be a bit more distinctive, I should think. But, at the same time, there is nothing here that I can complain about, either. Recommended.
//TB

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

Dark red/mahogany color with a thin bubbly head yet leaving good lace. Slightly sweet and lemony hop aroma with a malty background. sweet hoppy flavor with lemony notes and a fruity hop finish. Medium to full bodied and slightly warming.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

The beer has a very hoppy aroma and taste. The body of the beer is a bit watery.