Firecrest - Wychwood Brewery Company Ltd

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

2.65/5  rDev +33.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

A contract brew by Wychwood for the Sainsbury's. Coming in a 500ml clear bottle, this beer is pasteurised and filtered. BB 26 SEP 06.
A: in a straight pint glass it pours a dark golden hue with orangey hint; the head comes thick and foamy, but dissipates rather fast vis-a-vis its abundant fizzy body, leaving quite nice tight lacing along the way though.
S: sweetish malty note combined with grassy and sharp floral aroma of hops, with a little lemony hint at the back; quite implicitly a stream of musty, or wet-cardboard paper kind of smell sneaks out, not too strong but not pleasant either.
T: slightly sharp-textured maltiness coming with a profoundly floral flavour of hops, settling fast to a slightly clashing mouthfeel esp. b/w the teeth and a "flat", mild bitterness. Short, clean finish with minimal presence of both malts and hops. The faintly biscuity maltiness is not as sweet and pronounced as suggested by the nose, but I'd say it might be better off having a stronger malty presence as the beer as it is lacks a certain focus in flavour. Yet the texture reveals that the maltiness is absolutely there to provide a quiet, semi-thick alcoholic touch in the background, which is not a bad thing.
M&D: reasonably lively with the help of those tiny fizz, but the body is a bit too thin for a beer at 6%abv. I remember having this beer before with a heavier malty entry, more body as well as more flavours, whereas this bottle proves either my memory is hazy or the recipe might have been changed. Wychwood should have done better than this.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2005 06:42:22 | More by wl0307

Nermal

United Kingdom (England)

1.68/5  rDev -15.6%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5

I bought this beer as well as a bottle of Hobgoblin by the same brewery. Unfortunately, I drank the Hobgoblin first.

Appearance: Probably the best part of this ale. Golden colour, maybe a tinge of red, poured with a reasonable white head which quickly diminished to a thin film. Some lacing throughout the drink.

Smell: I'm not sure if I have a bad bottle, it's well in date, but it smells a little musty, with some malty bready undertones. Quite a flat odour, not much to it.

Taste: Oh dear. I actually shuddered after taking the first mouthful of this. Quite sickly and flat, with sourness reaching the middle of the pallet and sharp bitterness on the rear. Left a very sour aftertaste. Not pleasant.

Mouthfeel: Quite a lively carbonation in this one, the bubbles lasting throughout the mouthful. A reasonably gassy beer.

Drinkability: A light pint for this alcohol content, but the taste and smell really make it an unpleasant drink. I won't be buying one of these again.

The whole drink left me feeling a little ill. Not good :|

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2005 19:36:13 | More by Nermal

rastaman

United Kingdom (England)

1.63/5  rDev -18.1%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

Sweet perfumy malt in the nose. Very stciky mouthfeel, definitely sweet. Some breadyness. Alcohol rears its ugly head in the finish, rancid, bitter-ish finish. Not pleasnt or easy to drink, just way too thin with too much alcohol showing, typical Wychwood stuff.

Serving type: bottle

10-02-2003 00:34:48 | More by rastaman