Duchy Originals Organic Winter Ale - Wychwood Brewery Company Ltd

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

3.9/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Filtered and bottled in a 500ml brown bottle, this beer is obtained from the Waitrose supermarket. BB 13 SEP 2006.

A: copperish hue, coming with a creamy and thick, off-white coloured beer head sustaing pretty well; constant streams of tiny bubbles detected--moderate carbonation.
S: mildly dark fruity (very mild raisin and sweet plum), a little citrusy, caramel, creamy, against a bedrock of lightly candy-sugary and perfumy maltiness with a touch of honey... Pretty complex, yet overall understated.
T&M: upfront on the palate are lightly caramel/toffeeish maltiness with a creamy-textured grainy flavour, a mildly sour nuttiness, and citrus, followed by a lightly spicy, licorice-like hoppyness and a light-bodied tea-leafy, tannic bitterness which lingers very well and attaches to the deep end of the tongue. The licorice-like lingering flavour is especially pronounced in the aftertaste, making this beer taste a bit like Chinese herbal tea in the long finish. Besides, the lingering, tannic bitterness combined with the good depth of lightly tangy nuttiness are the key to the overall nice performance, making the body richer than it actually tastes, though in the end the body does thin out slowly...
D: overall this is an interesting beer with an unusual mouthfeel (maybe) thanks to the oats and rye added to the grist (the two grains are specified on the beer label). Don't know which style this should be, and I'd put it under English strong ale due to its hop-to-malt profile; but if there's anything as "multi-grain ESB", this is the one.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2005 23:20:28 | More by wl0307