Young's Special London Ale
Eagle Brewery

Young's Special London AleYoung's Special London Ale
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From:
Eagle Brewery
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)
Ranked #8
ABV:
6.4%
Score:
88
Ranked #13,004
Avg:
3.95 | pDev: 11.14%
Reviews:
338
Ratings:
460
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 26, 2023
Added:
Jan 14, 2001
Wants:
  46
Gots:
  33
No description / notes.
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Ratings by axisjones:
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Reviewed by axisjones from California

4.25/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Had on tap at Toronado in San Francisco and in the bottle.
Young's SLA pours to a rich deep honey rust color with a stunning tinted head. The smell is unique, malty and rich. Although this is an ESB, the bitterness was present but subdued, really giving way to a rich bready malt flavor with a bitter hop back. The after taste is reason enough to drink more. This would be an ideal session beer, it goes down smooth and gives plenty of warmth. Definitely one of my new favorites.
Aug 12, 2004
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.93 by shelby415 from Oregon

Jun 26, 2023
Photo of James94
Reviewed by James94 from England

4.27/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
L: Light amber in colour, a lot of carbonation, good thick head
S: Nuts, chocolate, oranges, peaches, mango
T: Malts, bread, chocolate, biscuit, lime, syrup
F: Full-bodied, quite alcoholic even for the ABV, slightly overcarbonated

O: 4.25
Dec 10, 2022
Photo of REVZEB
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois

4.09/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Had on cask. Clear brown with an orange hint to it, beige finger of foam with light lacing abounding. Sweet toffee malts with grassy and leafy hops in the nose. Taste adds slight apple and biscuit, bitters on the finish are satisfying after sweeter malt flavors leading. Light and thinner but never watery, malts and hops are very complimentary, decently cool for cask ale.
Oct 06, 2022
 
Rated: 4.16 by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota

Nov 10, 2021
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

3.52/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
An unexpected find. Despite decades of both enjoying Young's beer and living in London I'd never heard of this beer before. Stranger still was to discover it in an off-license during a weekend trip to Oxford!
L- Dark amber, clear. pours with a 3mm creamy cap.
S- Mild contemporary hops. A hint of citrus.
T- WOOO-K. Contemporary bright and zesty hops into a rich malty body > robust hoppy-dry finish.
F+O - Different. Like a hipstered trad Ale with balls. As if a statement to the real-ale/CAMRA crowd 'There's no need to fear contemporary hopping'. And then to the hipsters: 'Drinkability doesn't finish north of 5.2%'. Still, probably a bit hoppy-bright for me to make a regular.
500ml 6.4% BB: 31/3/2022 bought from the Grogshop in Jericho, Oxford.
Oct 01, 2021
 
Rated: 4.48 by crazyspicychef from Pennsylvania

Nov 12, 2020
Photo of shambeano
Reviewed by shambeano from Australia

3.88/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
500ml bottle with a best before 31/10/2020. Poured into a tulip.
Look: Pours a real copper amber, with about 2 cm of fluffy white head, which falls back to about 1cm, which then hands around for a while. Looks good.
Smell: little bit of toffee, a touch of grain, some herbal and floral hop. Pleasant, but just okay for mine.
Taste: caramel and toffee, a little bit of grain again, something slightly metallic, some citrus notes, a little bit of peel, some spicy and herbal hops to round it off. Tastes good.
Feel: mid bodied, really feels like it coats the mouth. A little tingle of carbonation ant the front of the tongue, the bitterness hits the back of the throat and a dry finish afterwards.
Overall: Nice, I wasn't too keen after having a whiff, but then was pleasantly surprised by the taste.
Apr 01, 2020
 
Rated: 3.94 by Beerasaurus from Virginia

Feb 26, 2020
 
Rated: 3.75 by Stengelfoot from California

Feb 07, 2020
 
Rated: 3.62 by NodakEric from Minnesota

Sep 18, 2019
 
Rated: 4.04 by misteil from Ireland

Jul 27, 2019
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Rated by matuto from Brazil

3.76/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
500 ml bottle, exp. 09/2019.
Jul 14, 2019
 
Rated: 4.09 by DarrellK from Florida

Jun 20, 2019
Photo of KooVee
Reviewed by KooVee from Finland

4.77/5  rDev +20.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Bottle, 2m old.

Drive-by aroma is a tantalizing mixture of unique, strong, pleasant, malt aromas and yeast esters.

Nose builds on this with notes of bread, of a dark / toasted kind, yeast-derived fruity esters, and some very British herbal/spicy hops. Or that is not quite it.. it reminds one of summer. Must be the Target in dry hopping... more usually a bittering hop.

Taste has grain... and more grain... in an extremely nice way. The hop flavour continues the floral/spicy/herbal vein. The aftertaste/feel is almost soapy, but not in an unpleasant way. Fitting moderate bitterness. Drinking more, there is a faint note of roastedness that adds suitable complexity in proportion. The yeast esters are unique in an understated way.

Overall, a perfect example of what British ale can achieve.
Jan 12, 2019
Photo of drmeto
Reviewed by drmeto from Germany

3.87/5  rDev -2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
L:
-pours a slightly hazy golden-amber with a small to medium,frothy,offwhite head
-medium to high carbonation visible
S:
-caramel,toffee,orange,spicy,bubble gum
T:
-toasty malt,nutty,spicy,caramel
-medium to high bitterniss for the style
F:
-medium,velvety carbonation
-light to medium body
O:
A really good and typically English Ale with it's toffied malt and spicy hops.
It almost reaches the levels of Fuller's ESB.
Dec 05, 2018
Photo of RichardLeahy
Reviewed by RichardLeahy from Australia

4.04/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
From 500 ml (or thereabouts) bottle. Different branding to that shown but appears to be the same product. L. Can't really tell. Appears appropriate. S, Some fruit, a little sweet and inviting. T. Solid fruit sweetness but with some spice and a dryer finish. Some grain/grass in the mix. You know you are drinking a beer. F. Smooth, not fizzy or too light. O. A really good beer that is appropriately rated here.
Sep 26, 2018
Photo of monkist
Reviewed by monkist from Hungary

4.49/5  rDev +13.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This is definitely an ale I recommend to all! I am a fan of Fullers above all but this Young's London ESB knows something that nobody else does. Why?
Because although it is roundly malted and pleasantly rich/sweet, it is remarkably hopped and it brings you that fruity, spicy hop feeling in the nose. It tastes exciting, ranging from zestiness to bitterness to an extent that it is indeed as close as it can get to a real Lezák from Prague! Now this is amazing indeed, both worlds coming together!
I am utterly pleased and satisfied with this ESB, perhaps the best of its kind that I have ever had, even better than Fullers' ESB - and it is something indeed!
It is something Special, it is heavily recommended!
Apr 20, 2018
 
Rated: 3.59 by TheCrowsEye from California

Dec 15, 2017
 
Rated: 3.76 by dandy14 from Brazil

Oct 19, 2017
Young's Special London Ale from Eagle Brewery
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 460 ratings