Bronze Ale - The Celt Experience Brewery

chinchill

South Carolina

3.7/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

From a 500 ml brown bottle, stamped "best before" May 2013, with black plastic wrapped tightly around the neck and cap, and displaying the USDA Organic seal.
Pours copper in color, hazy with a thin and irregular white head that soon settles to an irregular ring.
The aroma is full of caramel/toffee, with a background of dry grains and biscuits and a hint of fruity esters. Surprisingly exotic. The flavor is a little more mundane, with the malts coming to the fore, and enough hops to mostly tame the sweetness as well as adding a nice spicy note in the finish. Some herbal, fruity, chocolate and nutty notes
Medium-light-body with a moderate amount of carbonation and a touch of dryness in the finish.

O: A distinctive and flavorful beer well worth checking out.

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2013 23:46:14 | More by chinchill

andrenaline

Ontario (Canada)

3.68/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours a nice copper colour, thin layer of head after an aggressive pour with little retention and some nice sheeting lacing.

S - Metallic caramel and leafy hops, traditional musty scents and wet cardboard on the finish.

T - Delivers a decent musty hop profile, along with a noticeable bitterness that lingers alongside some metallic caramel and hints of toffee and a nutty finish.

M - A tad thin and watery, could use a bit of a carbonation boost.

O - A decent english bitter that delivers a respectable flavour profile and is easy drinking. Worth a try, but unlikely something that I would seek out again.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2012 00:10:05 | More by andrenaline

decimator

Ontario (Canada)

3.88/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

500ml bottle poured into a pint glass. ABV 4.5%.

A - Poured a clear copper-bronze with a 2cm white head. Head slowly reduces to an everlasting thin cap and plenty of lacing.

S - Earthy, caramel, some fruity notes.

T - Mild caramel, hint of fruit, some spiciness, bitter finish.

M - Medium-low carbonation, medium body, creamy, crisp finish. A bit thin at times but not as flat as many other English Ales.

O - Pretty good. Easily sessionable.

Serving type: bottle

11-03-2012 01:27:09 | More by decimator

daliandragon

North Carolina

3.68/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

New Welsh brewer I haven't seen before. Picked up at the Beer Dispensary in Apex for under five bucks for a sweet half liter bottle. Pours an unfiltered copper color with a thin cap and a thick coating of lace. Nose is funky with yeast and noble hops predominating. Definitely an organic, earthy scent.

The first sip is a bit disappointing. Plenty of hop bitterness, but the malt is either off or nonexistent and the balance needs work. Surprisingly high level of carbonation throws me off a little as well. I suspect this would be better on tap or better on cask. Improves as it warms with more sweet malt balance and is a pretty decent example of the style. I will give these guys' other offerings a good, hard look.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2012 00:14:34 | More by daliandragon

oberon

North Carolina

3.48/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured into an imperial nonic a dull copper/bronze with a a 1/2 finger white that was gone pretty quickly.Mild fruity esters in the nose along with a hint of toffee wich was more pronounced on the palate.Toffee and caramel/biscuit notes with deep fruity tones on the palate,a pretty light feel took away from some of the flavors in my opinion.For an English bitter this is almost spot on,malty and somewhat fruity with light hopping,not bad for what it is.

Serving type: bottle

07-16-2012 20:29:15 | More by oberon

cyrenaica

Ontario (Canada)

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

500ml bottle
4.5% ABV

I tried this beer on September 14, 2011 after purchasing from one of my local LCBO outlets. The beer poured a golden-copper colour with a very thin head which quickly dissipated. The aroma is sweet malt, light fruits, and weak floral hops. The mouthfeel is medium-full bodied with medium carbonation. The flavour is buttery caramel, some nuts, and a good bitter finish. I liked it.

Serving type: bottle

06-03-2012 03:17:13 | More by cyrenaica

BDTyre

British Columbia (Canada)

3.68/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Well-named: a nice bronze colour. Moderate head that is quite sticky and clingy. Rich malts: toffee, fresh bread, light nutty, buttery hint. Very slight fruity hint from the hops.

Lightly bitter (even lemony) taste, with a definite nutty, toffee taste. Nice crisp hops, good aftertaste.

Low carbonation, nice session beer. Not too complex or exciting, but definitely one to sit down with.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2012 03:51:16 | More by BDTyre

Brianhophead

Alberta (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A- Celt Bronze is a deep amber ale, the color of burnished copper. Carbonation is light, almost minimal. Head is fluffy, cream colored, and lasting.

S- Aroma is deeply, darkly malty. Maltiness starts off giving me something like caramels and dark chocolate. Beneath that are aromas of damp earth and autumn leaves. Hop aromas bring up the rear, giving me fresh cut hay and peppercorns. Pleasant as the aromas are, I thought hops would be more pronounced as this is meant to be an English bitter.

T- As with the aroma, flavor starts off malty. Comes out more chocolate with notes of roasted coffee. Again I get those hints of damp earth supporting the malt. Center is only slightly rounded, giving what seems like a faint hit of leather. Finish is crisp and only slightly bitter.

Overall, this beer gives me the impression more of a good English brown ale than a bitter. Not necessarily a bad thing, as it's still a remarkably good beer. It's just the bitter finish is perhaps more restrained than you might expect.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2012 03:09:55 | More by Brianhophead

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

3.93/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From a 500 ml brown bottle, tight black plastic around the neck and cap. Pours out a gorgeous rustic copper hue, with a tall loose fluffy white head.

Dry grains and biscuit malt on the nose, some mild fruity esters and a hint of caramel and chocolate wafer in the background.

Crisp bready and grainy malt up front in the flavour, some toasty and nutty notes, finishing with mild grassy and earthy herbal hops, although the hops build a bit more intensity into the aftertaste, picking up a spicy quality as well.

Light-bodied mouthfeel although still holds a backbone, texture is slick but fills out towards the finish, with an active yet contained amount of carbonation.

Impressive offering from this new Welsh brewery, this English Bitter hits most of the key notes (quite shy with the esters, but one doesn't really miss them in lieu of the rest), and stands well on its own even out of the context of the style. A solid beer worth checking out.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2012 06:15:05 | More by IronDjinn

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

4/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

500ml bottle poured into pint glass 11/2/12

A clear copper with some tiny particles being moved around by just a few bubbles that feed a two finger soapy head that leaves a couple partial rings of lace

S some green apple with some herbal and leafy hops, a little cracker and toffee

T more fruity notes with a little spicy hops on the finish, pretty solid bitter with good balance between sweet malt and hops

M full for the color with a little bite too it, much more bubbles then was visible

O pretty solid bitter that I could drink for a while without getting bombed or board, its a good beer worth trying

I can't think of having a Welsh beer before and this is a pretty good start, sexy looking bottle and a fair price 4.50$ here in Alberta

Serving type: bottle

02-11-2012 23:06:32 | More by wordemupg

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

4.18/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

500ml bottle, attractively capped and sealed, with a BB of Feb 2013. Welsh beer for Rabbie Burns' turn on the social calendar? Why the hell not - I seem to remember the disparate Celts all being good neighbors.

This beer pours a clear medium golden amber (ok, 'bronze') colour, with two fingers of puffy, pillowy off-white head, which leaves but a single arch of sudsy lace on the lee side of the glass as it all melts away. It smells quite enticing - sharp biscuity, slightly toasted malts, dark sweet raisin, mild toffee, and wet leafy, earthy hops. The taste carries through on the promise with more bready, biscuity, grainy, malt, a bit of tobacco, mild orchard fruit, some latent caramel sweetness, and pleasantly musty, earthen cellar-like hops.

The carbonation is rather more than sedate, with a wee, understated zippiness; the body a subtle medium weight, and agreeably smooth. It finishes with a notable crisp, fruity flourish, the malt, fruit, and zingy hops still charmingly intermingled.

Siiiiggggh. What a lovely bitter - big (but not too much so - if that's even a thing) flavour, well rounded, and genuinely capable of coaxing you into that next swig before you may have otherwise considered.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2012 02:48:02 | More by biboergosum

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

2.63/5  rDev -29.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Bottle: Poured a clear light amber color ale with a medium foamy head with good retention and light lacing. Aroma of dry caramel malt with light unrefined grain notes. Taste consists of dry caramel malt with unrefined grainy notes which are not really pleasant. Body is about average with good carbonation. No interesting ester or light dry hops presence or even some interesting malt profile to distinguish this beer; no brewing flaws either but not something I would wish to revisit again.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2011 17:25:02 | More by Phyl21ca

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

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

Bottle from the LCBO, 500ml into a pint glass. Best before December 2012 (12/12?).

POurs a clear golden orange with a nice cap of offwhite head. Some semi-dense, creamy head and some nice lacing. Nose has some nice English hopping, gentle breadiness, some cracker and general sweetness. Taste has more prominent hop flavour, slightly earthy and a touch spicy, leaving some moderate bitterness behind on the palate. Gentle breads and English malt sweetness as well, with some fruity notes too. Mouthfeel is medium light, moderate carbonation and and fairly long bitter finish. Drinkability is certainly high, and this is something I could certainly revisit for the style. Quite a simple beer, nice for what it is.

Serving type: bottle

10-03-2011 22:17:54 | More by liamt07

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.83/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Although dedicated to the Bronze Age Celts, it's highly unlikely any of them would ever have seen a beer anything near this clear (or even this light in colour, for that matter). The body, whose colour damn well delivers on the beer's name, has a luminescence bright enough to burn. Its glossy clarity only adds to its chic luster.

While I'll happily buy every other quality about this beer, I'm selling the aroma. It is a peculiar scent. It has enough hearty grain and raisin to suggest full maltiness, which is good, but it also has a dank earthiness that smells something like wet leaves. It resembles a particularly musty and buttery bière de garde. It raises an eyebrow.

The malts are lush with a caramel sweetness. A rustic, honey and oat loaf breadiness ensues from the sip but is blunted by candied, almost grapefruit-y hops. I prolong swallowing in hopes that the flavour will last longer. But then a delicious note of melon rind sets in and I almost want to take my next sip solely for the aftertaste.

The beer has the same wholesome qualities as a country-baked multi-grain loaf. Bubbles are restrained, allowing gooey malt sweetness and honeydew-like melon flavour to linger. Both, however, turn to grain sooner or later. The beer is so refreshing that it starts to strike me as even lower in alcohol than the posted 4.5%.

My second Celt Experience was again a good one. This tiny Welsh brewery seems to make very hearty, gratifying ales out of very ordinary recipes. We can only imagine what beer was like in the Bronze Age, but if it was anything like this offering it's no wonder it became such a staple in the Celtic diet and such a popular tipple worldwide.

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2011 00:09:37 | More by biegaman

kwjd

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This came to Ontario as part of a seasonal release from the LCBO. Pours a golden colour with thick white head. Small amounts of lacing, but beautiful head retention. Smells of earthy hops with some buscuity malt. Very nice balance of bitterness and sweetness. We seem to get a few beers of similar styles in Ontario each year and this is one of the better ones.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2011 23:36:35 | More by kwjd

MeisterBurger

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a brownish gold with a bit of chill haze. Lively carbonation and a modest cap of foam.

The aroma is mild earthiness and caramel/toffee with a bit of toastiness.

Taste is chalky, toasty with a lingering bitter finish with a light musk melon fruitiness underneath.

Medium body, nice level of carbonation.

It's not a half bad beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2011 02:59:20 | More by MeisterBurger

jrenihan

Ontario (Canada)

3.6/5  rDev -4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Best Before 12.12

As perhaps expected, beer is bronze/copper in colour. Quite clear. Finger-width of white head. No lacing. Head recedes to leave a small film that sticks around.

Smell contains some caramel/butterscotch malt, some earthy hops, and a pronounced toasted malt scent.

Taste is similar to smell. The toasted malt flavour is most prominent, fairly bready. Some mild hop bitterness is present as well, and lingers at the end. Caramel flavours are there, but less so than in the nose.

Fairly carbonated, light bodied ale. Goes down easily, but with flavour.

Overall, a pleasant but not exciting beer. Would be a good session beer, and nice on a hot day. Flavourful but not strong.

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2011 20:19:37 | More by jrenihan

peensteen

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Clear light copper colour, one finger white head that held up until the glass was empty, good lace left behind. Smell is malty and biscuity, mildly hoppy aroma, toffee and caramel. Taste is of biscuit and sticky caramel, good long lasting hoppy bitterness through out, lightly sweet fruity notes in finish and aftertaste. Lightly creamy, medium carbonation, medium weight, medium body. Fairly solid stuff, drinks very quickly, tasty but not super complex or anything, I may pick up another one or two of these while they are still available.

Serving type: bottle

09-17-2011 10:48:44 | More by peensteen

Stocean1

Ontario (Canada)

3.88/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - poured a two finger head - decent lacing and retention - bronze colour - off white head

S - malt, dark fruit, hops

T - followed the nose with caramel and floral hops notes

M - light to medium bodied with some carbonation - not overly bitter - buttery smooth

O - a decent bitter with some interesting complexity

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2011 15:44:46 | More by Stocean1

bryehn

Ontario (Canada)

4.22/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a clear amber colour with copper tinges and a small, but frothy white head that gets retained well and leaves moderate lacing. A fair amount of visible carbonation.

Fairly mild, but pleasant aroma. Caramel maltiness with a subtle chocolate tone. Fresh grains, raisins, flowers and a soapy quality can also be found.

Nice taste. Caramel and chocolate malts are joined by an assertive hoppy bitterness that lingers throughout the finish and a subtle buttery note with a tinge of grapefruit and pepper.

Light to medium-bodied with a high carbonation level. Definite yeasty, bread-like quality on the tongue. Dry aftertaste with an earthy quality to it.

Very drinkable and well-balanced session-style ale with a surprisingly robust taste and North American-style hop profile. Miles ahead of their golden ale in my opinion and a beer I will certainly seek out again.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2011 18:25:31 | More by bryehn

spinrsx

Ontario (Canada)

3.65/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

500ml Bottle

Appearance – Clear light copper/amber colour with an average size fizzy off white coloured head. There is an average amount of carbonation visible and there is a good amount of lacing. The head lasted for around 5 minutes before it was gone.

Smell - Malts, hops, caramel, bread, hint of dark fruit

Taste & Mouth - The beer has an average amount of carbonation and I can taste malts, caramel, and some dry hops. There is also a bit of a dark fruit flavour and some fruit esters. The beer finishes with a malty dry hop bitter aftertaste.

Overall – Not bad at all.. There is actually a surprising amount of taste and hop bitterness going on with this beer. Not something that I'd rush out to buy a stock pile of, but if you're a fan of EIPA's or ESB's you'll enjoy this one.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2011 16:25:56 | More by spinrsx

Sunnanek

Sweden

4.03/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: Pours clear copper with a small off-white head that sinks into some lacings. Lots of small bubbles in the liquid.

S: Slightly roasted malt, some caramell. Nice fruit and bitter from the hops. Red apples and faint lemon. A creamy, buttery smell to it as well.

T: Roasted malt, with some sweetness to it. Really creamy/buttery. Lots of bitter hops, but also floral that gives it a red apple vibe. Faint citric notes.

M: Long lovely bitter aftertaste with a little twist of cream and butter. Body is medium to full and carbonation is well balanced, rather rich but smooth. A very smooth liquid.

O: This is a well crafted English Bitter with a nice balance between the bitterness and the malt.

Serving type: bottle

06-01-2011 18:29:45 | More by Sunnanek