Fiddler's Elbow - Wychwood Brewery Company Ltd

yuenglings

Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

A: First off it came in a cool lookin bottle. Has a big airy head at first that shrinks to about a quarter inch rather quick but stays at that and never disapers. Has a nice golden yellow color

S: Has a rosted floral smell with a caramel finish

T: Its just a slight bit fruity and not very hoppy with a good caramel aftertaste

M: Its a bit thin but very smooth with good carbonation

D: This seems to be a very drinkable beer due to the fact that it goes down so smooth and does not seem very filling and yet it has a good taste that i would not get sick of. If i could find this beer around where i live i would definitly buy it agian

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2009 20:34:45 | More by yuenglings

beveritt

Ohio

3.58/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Presentation: Poured from a 500 ml brown bottle into a Hobgoblin logoed glass. Label depicts a peasant playing his fiddle in a just harvested field. Bottle is very cool, with a unique shape and embossed flying witches. Best before 21 FEB 09. I wish there was more of a story about the label.

Appearance: Pours with a full five fingers of nearly white head, enough that the whole bottle doesn't go into the glass in one try. This settles slowly, even still maintaining 2 fingers of undulating foam. Nice lacing. The beer itself is the color of honey and slightly cloudy.

Smell: Vegetal hop aroma with some lemon-citrus and a slight wheat twang in the finish.

Taste: Biscuity malt backbone carries a slight hop bitterness well. Finishes with a gourd-like baseness.

Mouthfeel: Lower than average carbonation level, as appropriate for an English ale. Mouthfeel is good, viscous with a slightly slick finish.

Drinkability: An easy drinking, and unassuming pale ale. Hops could factor into this a little more, but all in all, not bad.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2009 00:38:07 | More by beveritt

magictrokini

California

2.63/5  rDev -27.1%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Yuck. Its like and ESB-Lite. Light amber pour. Forced a short-lived head out of it. Dank aroma of malt and sawdust. Metallic bitter taste with malt and bark-like flavor. It does have a pleasant caramel finish, but it does little to save this beer. Avoid

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2008 19:48:36 | More by magictrokini

Pencible

Virginia

2.38/5  rDev -34.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

This poured a hazy dark amber with almost no head. It smelled like earthy caramel and honey malts and orange hops, with a bit of creamy yeast. It tasted like earthy barley with dirty tea leaves, and a bit of lemon hops. It was watery with some carbonation, and had an earthy bitter aftertaste. Overall this was similar to the Scarecrow, but not quite as citrus, and was even dirtier tasting. It just wasn't a good flavor, and only an OK body. This was seriously only barely worth finishing.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2008 22:28:43 | More by Pencible

OtherShoe2

Massachusetts

3.8/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a bright orange with a decent frothy head that left some fair lacing.

Smells faintly of citrus/hops and light maltiness.

Some sweet caramel and lightly toasted breadiness combined with some tart elements and a bit of orange/citrus.

Medium body with some carbonation, with decent drinkability. A fair representation of the style and worth a shot. I liked this one, although it wouldn't be the first choice off the beer menu.

Serving type: bottle

11-23-2008 16:09:25 | More by OtherShoe2

kbnooshay

New York

3.53/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

Poured a cloudy apricot amber with quite a bit of carbonation sticking to the side of the glass. The off white head is super frothy and airy. Great lacing appears as the head pulls away. Aroma is typical of an a nice english ale. Sweet and buttery smell with a hint of caramel. Sweet and malty with a light hop presence. Slight citric flavor is nice also. There is a nice toasty aftertaste. The flavor barely reminds of the gross old speckeled hen. The feel is slightly thinner than i had expected. This is a lighter EPA which leads to extreme drinkability. A nice refreshing EPA that goes down easy.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2008 03:05:06 | More by kbnooshay

tgbljb

Pennsylvania

3.3/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured a cloudy apricot color with noderate off-white creamy head.

Smell is sloght with a touch of malt and touch of flowery hops.

Taste has a very light taste. Malt is detectable and here is a bit of hop dryness that slowly develops.

Finishes with a light dryness.

A nice easy drinking beer, but nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2008 19:23:58 | More by tgbljb

danny013

Florida

3.8/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

500 ml bottle poured into a 16 oz. tankard and topped up as needed. Cloudy orange body with an off-white head that falls back in the beer and leaves a thin covering for most of the pint, some light lace.

Aroma is of grassy hops, slightly earthy/citrusy, and some faint malts in the back.

Taste is of slightly sweet malts, bread/biscuit flavors dominate and mingle with a faint buttery flavor and some yeast, which slowly give way to a pleasing, earthy hop bitterness. Slight lime & earth, hops sit gently and remain as the beer is swallowed, leaving a limey, earthy, peppery hop flavor on the tongue. Mouthfeel is good, a light-medium bodied ale with good carbonation to liven things up without being overbearing.

An easy drinking ale that has a good hop flavor without being in your face. Overall, a decent beer, something I'd enjoy but at the $3.99/bottle price it's not something I'll be getting regularly. Give it a shot, I'll likely pick up a bottle or two occasionally to mix things up.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2008 01:52:39 | More by danny013

Pleepleus

New York

3.05/5  rDev -15.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Poured from bottle to pint glass a cloudy amber orange with a half inch of foam head that reduced to a layer of sheen and spotty lacing. Had very little smell but for the trace of malts. Taste was almost as disapointing as the smell. Sweet malt and mild hop flavor not bad but I had expected alot more. It's just kind of boring like an English girl without the accent. Good feel has nice carbonation and is goes down easy enough, I was just hoping for more. Bought this because it shares it's name with a bar in Throggs Neck in the Bronx. The bar Fiddler's Elbow does not cater to BA members but is a great place to get hammered and bet the ponys.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2008 01:22:02 | More by Pleepleus

barleywinefiend

Washington

3.38/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured amber with a small head that disappears leaving a little foam on the glass. Nose was malty and not as hoppy as I wanted. Taste as a Pale is average. A good dose of English malts left an aftertaste in my mouth. Mouthfeel is smooth nevertheless. Drinkability is average.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2008 12:45:00 | More by barleywinefiend

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Poured a clear sunset orange color with a bready white head.

S: faint caramel dry lemons, and a nice citrusy hopping.

T: sour oranges and a good spiciness from hops that gives an strong bittering notes with some floral notes. The palate was biscuity.

M: clean with dry oranges and citrus.

D: Definitly an English pale with dry bitterness and a nicely different flavor. Good drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2008 23:49:25 | More by beerthulhu

Farrell

New Jersey

4.72/5  rDev +30.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I picked this brew up from my local liquor store, and boy was i glad. I poured this bad boy into a standard pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a very nice golden/copper brown, with a light yellow haziness at the bottom. A thin, but very long lasting head developed as I poured. Already, it looked delicious.

Smell: Flowery notes as well as some malt sweetness was present. As the beer warmed, the scent becomes a little more prevalent. Not exceptional, but pretty damn good.

Taste: This is one awesome tasting beer. The hop bitterness is nicely balanced with the malt sweetness. I experienced a nice crisp citrus tart infused with the flowery hop bitterness. A fruitiness was also there, but I just couldn't put my finger on it (I guess I need more experience!). As soon as the beer touched my mouth I got taste of the hops with the bitterness lingering until I swallowed. The after taste was the crispness of the malts and the citrus. As I got down to the last few sips, the beer took on a stronger hop flavor and finished with a nice balanced bitterness.

Mouth feel: nice and medium bodied on the palate. A very slight over carbonation keeps it from being perfect.

Drinkability: Excellent. This beer goes down easy and tastes great.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2008 05:14:12 | More by Farrell

RickS95

Indiana

4.13/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

First off, the name and the bottle alone score points with me. Not exactly what I think of when I think of beer from the UK, it seemed a bit of a hybrid between what I'm used to in the States and what I get from overseas.

What I liked about this beer was the taste and the finish. Mouthfeel was fresh and crisp. Sip after sip, I expected a bitter finish, but it never came. You know the bitter was there, but it was subtle, giving it a nice drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2008 17:26:11 | More by RickS95

canucklehead

British Columbia (Canada)

3.65/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This is a real nice beer for drinking on a sunny afternoon. Copper coloured with a fine head this beer has a subtle biscuit nose. The beer is balanced and quite tasty in that English malty profile. I could drink a lot of these which I suppose is a recommendation.

Serving type: bottle

08-01-2008 01:06:59 | More by canucklehead

charlatan

United Kingdom (Scotland)

3.15/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This is a copper coloured beer with a copious head. It smells of lemon and cream.

The taste reflects the nose but with a more earthy, cereal flavour present as well, and a hint of raisin in the aftertaste. Well carbonated, this goes down pretty easily, but isn't exciting enough for me to want to drink a large quantity.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2008 22:08:39 | More by charlatan

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3.53/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Pours a clear, dark copper body with a thin, wispy, white head.

Smell: Malty nose smelling of toffee and oven-toasted biscuits with a background of spicy hops and a minor note of fruit.

Taste: Sweet-tasting, biscuity maltiness with a touch of toasted wheat and a decent dose of flaked toffee candy. Light apple fruitiness. Spicy hops with a medium bitterness. A last taste of malts before the crispy, drying finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium-high carbonation.

Drinkability: Not bad! A pleasant, highly drinkable brew, if unremarkable.

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2008 21:41:35 | More by ChainGangGuy

daliandragon

North Carolina

3.9/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Definitely one of my favorite underrated breweries from my time in the UK, although I find them a bit overpriced here generally. Pours a pleasing golden copper color with about three minutes time between impressive head and thin cap. Nose is scented with lemon and basic (Styrian?) hops with floral and brassy notes against alight malt palate. Basic but on the mark for the style.

This one features good complexity and balance with a medium bitterness throughout and a malty, biscuit themed finish. More assertive and much more flavorful than a lot of the bigger name EPAs. Body is not too thin but still plenty smooth. Slight metallic note keeps taste and drinkability scores from being higher. Enjoyed a small piece of cheddar with it and can highly recommend the combination. Not as good as Hobgoblin, but still a solid choice.

Serving type: bottle

07-20-2008 06:23:03 | More by daliandragon

dionisio

New Jersey

4.75/5  rDev +31.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

On first sip my reaction was oh man this is a good tasting beer. You can taste that this is made out of wheat, not in that it tastes like most wheat beers do, but in that its flavor is comparable to a strong wheat bread. I also love the head on this, it's very soft and fluffy and a great pleasure to drink through. This beer is very thirst-quenching with a long enjoyable aftertaste.

I bought this in England, and the label says 4.5% abv.

Serving type: bottle

07-01-2008 19:55:03 | More by dionisio

DIM

Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

a: Somewhat hazy golden copper color, pours with a minimal off-white head.

s: Floral, grassy hops and some sweet malts for a backbone.

t: Mirrors the smell. The hops are distinctly British, grassy, peppery, and perfumed. The malts strike a nice balance between sweet and a mildly sharp rye bite.

m: Medium body, nicely carbonated.

d: This is not a style I know well, but I enjoyed this one very much.

Serving type: bottle

06-24-2008 21:09:33 | More by DIM

Cresant

Kentucky

4.05/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured this 500 mL brown bottle into a Well's English pint glass. Best before date: 16-Jan-09. Golden, coppery clear body supported an off white built of asymmetrical bubbles. My sister brought this back in a gift pack from the UK.

Smell was fruity. Clean grains. Light brown-sugar aroma.

Taste was brief tartness. Stone fruits. Malts. Bittering finish. Better than I expected. Refreshing. Wheat cleanness.

Mouthfeel was as smooth as a fiddler's elbow. Silky. Medium bodied.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2008 22:25:44 | More by Cresant

Gehrig

Illinois

3.58/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Copper-orange body with caramel outlines, topped with a patch of off-white head. Moderate hop aromas--slightly grassy with citrus overtones. The citrus hops run through Fiddler's Elbow more than other characteristics, though it would be an exaggeration to say they were strongly represented. Mildly malted with a bready flavor, but again, nothing too potent unfortunately. Moderately bitter finish.

Mouthfeel is the defining characteristic, to me--creamy, not too effervescent but certainly not flat. Not bad, but not the equal of Hobgoblin, in my estimation.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2008 18:41:42 | More by Gehrig

cvstrickland

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Cool-looking witch-embossed 500 ml brown bottle poured into a pint glass yields a beautiful clear golden amber topped with two fingers of misshapen creamy white head that retains great and leaves fat foamy patches webby lacing.

Smells sweetly malty with a fat note of grassy, earthy hops.

Taste is rich and malty with tangy hops. Semi-sweet caramel with bitter citrus, a solid earthy mineral component and a touch of roasted coffee precede a juicy finish.

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2008 13:49:13 | More by cvstrickland

DesMoinesMike

Iowa

3.63/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured a nice clear amber with a generous amount of white foam that staed for a bit.

The aroma and taste have a somewhat odd wheat/hopp combo. The taste lingers on the sides of the tongue a bit heavy. It feel's a bit on the heavy side.

This one is ok bit I'm not overly thrilled with it. Good, but nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2008 02:38:05 | More by DesMoinesMike

Godot

Virginia

4.18/5  rDev +15.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured a beautiful orange/gold into an english pint. The off white pillowing head crowned the glass beautifully before it dropped back to a solid film leaving tons of lacing. The smell was of subtle lemons, a slight sweet maltiness, and maybe a little straw. The taste is a well balanced mixture of a slight hop bite up front, a rounded malty breadiness with some buttery notes of yeast, and finishing with a lingering bitterness, though by no means overpowering. This is why I love english pale ales, and this is a wonderful example of the style. American pale ales are great in their own right, but english pale ales have this reserved character that only opens up when you really pay attention. I could drink this one all day long and never tire of it.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2008 23:24:31 | More by Godot

trackstar1043

California

4.03/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A - Pours golden with a slight copper hue, perfectly unclouded with half an inch on off white head that left a fine sticky lace.

S - Mild aromas of carmels, nuts, wheat, brown sugars, toasty malts, but all very suttle in smell, good balance.

T - A pleasant balanced mix of wheats and sharp hops, has a nice sweet mix of the carmel, and malt flavors.

M - Light bodied, higher carbonation gave it a lively character, clean and crips with little to no aftertaste.

D - Easy to drink and a good exapmle of a English Pale.

Serving type: bottle

04-09-2008 15:22:41 | More by trackstar1043