Duchy Originals Organic Diamond Jubilee IPA - Wychwood Brewery Company Ltd

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

3.18/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Coming in a 500ml brown bottle, purchased at the Waitrose supermarket, BB 06/11/2013, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: dark rose-gold in colour, brilliant clarity, coming with a thin off-white froth to last and steady flows of tiny carbonation.
S: malt sweetness with a touch of barley candy and burned sugar is balanced by a subtle feed of citrus sour-sweet notes and apple peels, not very complex. Given a swirl, the notes of floral scent and deeper, more pleasant aroma of pale malts would emerge. Pleasant enough.
T: an effervescent swallow of sweet malts – very good quality malts with biscuit sweetness – is followed by a lightly hay-ish or earthy aftertaste of hoppiness, a faint touch of citrus fruitiness, and citrus-zest like tannic feel. A dry-ish palate ensues afterwards, but the lingering bitterness is nowhere as significant as one might expect from a serious IPA.
M&D: pleasantly carbonated, i.e. refreshing and not overly fizzy, the body is medium+ and the palate is generally clean added with extra hop tannins. All in all, this is a somewhat balanced ale, not a bad one, brewed by the Wychwood Brewery for the Duchy Originals line of products of Waitrose, although admittedly the hop level could be streamlined to help the flavour profile stand up to the modern expectation of such an old beer style.

Serving type: bottle

12-09-2012 18:52:21 | More by wl0307

jazzyjeff13

United Kingdom (England)

2.9/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A 500ml bottle with a BB of April 2013. Picked up from Waitrose some time back. The label describes it as a celebration ale brewed for the Diamond Jubilee, using organic ingredients and Sovereign hops.

Poured into a tulip pint glass. Bottle conditioned. A hazy orange-amber hue with good carbonation. Yields a large head of creamy white foam that hangs around for a few minutes before reducing to a thin surface layer. Aroma of caramel malt with hints of biscuits, grain, grass, stewed leaves and an acrid cardboard note in the background.

Tastes of caramel malt with a mild, dry bitterness. Notes of grain, biscuits, subtle grassy hops, earthy yeast, stewed leaves and a significant stale cardboard flavour. Harsh and dry, with a restrained bitter finish. Mouthfeel is smooth and tingly, with decent carbonation and good body. Somewhat astringent, with a rough stewed leaf/cardboard aftertaste.

Blech. Disappointing - certainly not fit for the Diamond Jubilee celebration. It looks nice, and the body is OK but these are the only good points. Not much in the way of hoppy character, and the aroma/flavour are stale and unpleasant. Can't help thinking that choosing the hop variety for it's name was a weak move; the desired character should have been considered first. Not recommended, though as it's a one-off you probably won't stumble across it.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2012 23:48:05 | More by jazzyjeff13