Shepherd Neame Goldings

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

500 ml clear bottle, bought at Systembolaget. ABV is 4.5%. Deep golden to amber colour, big head, slightly off-white. Moderate aroma of floral hops, hints of grass. The flavour has pleasant Goldings hops throughout, on a relatively dry and biscuity background, with just a slight fruitiness. There are definitely worse summer ales than this one around. Highly drinkable.

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

Copperish amber colour with medium white head. Skunkyness along with hops , berries and fruits in aroma. Flavour is plesantly berryish and hoppy. Almost like it would be very bitter, but balanced up with sugar. Still I liked it very much. hoppy and slightly earthy finish.

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

Pours deep gold - a little white head, but gone quick. It smells typically hoppy. I find the taste missing something - its pretty much hops and little else. Maybe I can find some doughy-caramel, but I have to really look for it. Finishes dry and bitter. Its ok.

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

Bottle: Poured an orangey color ale with a big pure white foamy head with good retention. Aroma of bitter hops is quite dominating with some distant malt. Taste is hoppier then expected from an English bitter with the distinctive presence of Goldings hops and a good base of malt. Body is about average with medium carbonation. Better then a lot of English import in clear bottle that we get here.

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

Poured a good British ale - clean but slightly clouded colour, at least 2 fingers of foam, great clingy lacing. Aroma is rather vibrant, plenty of hops, lightly roasted. Slightly oaty, grassy, plenty of honey notes. Quite lovely. A great job with the aromatic hops. Unfrotunately that lovely aroma would be the high point. Taste is much less interesting, and mouthfeel offers little stimulation. More bitterness could be a good thing. Seems to be a light soapy feature. Flavour falls short of interesting, being largely one-dimensional and this beer's coarse water - which I don't mind (in fact, usually enjoy with British ales) - seems to overrun the hops and flavour. I can easily enough enjoy this, but I was none too impressed.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This ESB pours an amber-caramel colour with an off-white creamy head. Retention is pretty good and a good amount of lace is formed all-around. Over-average carbonation. The nose is powerful, with some mild caramel malt, a touch of roasted malts and the hop that this brew is named. Slightly creamy mouthfeel as the head is still there in the first few sips, and then becomes kind of watery. Nice roller-coaster of taste, starting off with some light bitterness going through the caramel to then land with some biscuit malt. A very pleasant ESB for a hot summer night, like the one tonight.

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

Clear 500ml (pasturized) bottle pours a light copper-amber ale in my pint glass. Sticky 1 finger cap lasts well and laces the glass. Aroma is pungent perfumey floral peach-like hops over a solid biscuit malt grainyness. Solid malt spine, medium-light body,.... sticky, mineral mouth feel, rounded mellow fruity character. Up front you get modest sweetness which turns to a definate buscuit maltiness, this becomes balanced midway with the hop mixture which creates a wonderful peach-grapefuit decernment that compliments the detectable fruity phenols of the ale yeast and rides just above the sweet biscuit maltiness....giving balance and a light fruity-hoppy bias. The Finsh is long and slowly bittering as the biscuit malt is slowly overtaken by light ( not unpleasant) metallic bittering. Light, peach-lile hopiness, biscuity, satisfying, mellow and drinkable. I'm not usually a fan of the English mild or light bitter ales but, as they go, this is one of the tastiest ones I've ever sampled with a rounded mellow quality....this tastes like it was conditioned long enough to remove the sharp edges short cycle ales are prone to....gives it great drinkability and makes it a good choice for a session ale.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

Dark golden with a small disapearing head. Notes of grass, sweat and over-riped raspberries in the aroma. Malty, lightly fruity flavour of nuts. Unclean, grassy finish.

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

Bottle. Amber coloured, with a creamy off-white head. Dry hoppy aroma. Interesting balancing act in the taste; hops, caramel, malt and some fruit, with a dry, bitterish finish. Medium bdied, mouthfeel is a bit watery at the end. Slight bready aftertaste. OK.