Essex Border - Nethergate Brewery Co. Ltd.

EmperorBevis

United Kingdom (England)

3.73/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a hazy amber body with half covering mixed bubbled slight off white head.

Big hoppy aromas with wheat crackers also on the nose and ground pepper.

Chewy malts start the taste quickly grabbed by citrus hops, a mixture of lime and grapefruit, really juicy mainstay before becoming increasingly warmed to a bitter aftertaste that stays on the tongue.

Nice flowing mouthfeel not too heavy but evident and good if ever, ever so slightly over carbonation.

I must say Spitting Image didn't quite get it right when saying Essex is just crap, this is would redeem anything.

Serving type: bottle

07-12-2012 18:40:03 | More by EmperorBevis

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

3.63/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

500ml bottle: poured at home into an Abbot Ale glass tankard three weeks after its best before date.

Looks are clean and clear: light amber with a full head of white bubbles on top.

Mild malty nose: with a fruity hint here and there.

The taste is a pleasant enough mixed bag of flavours with both the hops and the malts vieing with each other for supremacy: the malts winning the initial battle (slight caramel and biscuity) with the hops giving a good account of themselves in the finish where a bitterness comes into play.

Not bad at all, better than I expected.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2012 18:50:09 | More by BlackHaddock

jazzyjeff13

United Kingdom (England)

2.78/5  rDev -17.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A 500ml bottle with a BB of Sept 2012. Picked up from a B&M store a little while back.

Poured into a Sam Smith's pint glass. Possibly bottle conditioned (?); there's a residue at the bottom of the bottle. A hazy golden hue with good carbonation. Forms a decent head of creamy white foam that lasts for a few minutes before subsiding. Aroma of light, grainy malt with very faint citrus hop overtones. Stewed hops and overdone veggies follow, in addition to a hint of stale cardboard. A distinct tart/sour note in the background; reminiscent of cider or weak vinegar. Funky (not in a good way).

Tastes of light malt with a dry finish. Notes of faint grain, dry yeast, stewed hops and a harsh cardboard staleness. A restrained bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth, dry and tingly, with decent body. Quite astringent, with an aftertaste of acrid stewed hops.

None too good. It looks great upon pouring, but it's all downhill from there. The aroma is pretty unpleasant and the flavour doesn't have much going for it either. Some aromatic hops would have rounded this out nicely. The blurb on the label describes this as a 'premium ale', but there isn't much premium to be found. Rather crap and best avoided.

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2012 22:37:32 | More by jazzyjeff13