Adnams Broadside Strong Original - Adnams plc, Sole Bay Brewery

AylwinForbes

Illinois

4.22/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Not to be confused with the regular Broadside, the Strong Original weighs in at a healthy 6.0 % ABV - high by English standards. A nice dark chestnut color it fills the glass with a reasonable sudsy head upon pouring which dissipates slowly. Full aroma of malty - fruity notes. Good body as you might expect, strong rich flavors - orchard fruits, malt, caramel, some citrus hop. Rewarding to drink. One of my favorites on this visit.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2008 01:21:08 | More by AylwinForbes

vinicole

United Kingdom (England)

3.75/5  rDev -4.3%

04-14-2013 20:03:21 | More by vinicole

jonathaniler

Florida

4.75/5  rDev +21.2%

04-14-2013 01:45:42 | More by jonathaniler

TwoForty

Florida

5/5  rDev +27.6%

04-14-2013 01:43:52 | More by TwoForty

trics90

United Kingdom (England)

3.8/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

500ml bottle poured into a pint glass mug.

Pours out a clear, very dark brown with a hint of ruby red. A light brown head which goes down quickly but retains a thin layer.

A strong smell of dark berries and currents. A little bit biscuity.

Initial taste is very sweet, of brown sugar with a strong fruity flavour. A vert pleasant fruitcake and hoppy aftertaste with a hint of caramel.

Has a fairly thick and creamy feel in the mouth with a slight carbonation.

Overall, not the usual beer I would go for but enjoyable none the less. I would not have guessed the strong alcohol content and it wasn't as thick or filling as I expected which is a good thing for me. A beer which is very different to most which I would recommend.

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2013 21:29:15 | More by trics90

mdillon86

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -10.7%

04-05-2013 02:18:09 | More by mdillon86

Telestic

Washington

3.5/5  rDev -10.7%

02-26-2013 01:43:33 | More by Telestic

hopandbarley28

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +8.4%

02-03-2013 01:18:53 | More by hopandbarley28

Dracook

United Kingdom (England)

3.5/5  rDev -10.7%

12-29-2012 18:48:27 | More by Dracook

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

4.08/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

500ml bottle poured into pint glass20/12/12 cheers Chris for the bottle and having such an awesome name

A a clear reddish copper with about as many bubbles as you could fit in a glass, a thumbs width of dense tan foam has great retention ending up as a pencil eraser top like island and leaves lots of random lace, sexy looking stuff

S a nutty malt monster with some nice fruity notes and lots of brown sugar both crystal and burnt, some earthy notes and the smell is quite strong, I can smell it from the table

T much like the nose with a fruit packed, nutty caramel bar thing going on that works well, some faint spice, lots of caramels and earthy hops, packed with flavor

M medium-full with mellow carbonation that give it a creamy feel, I almost expected it to be foamy and airy after seeing how carbonated it looks but everything's well done in this department

O solid stuff and a good example of an English Strong ale, malty and the booze is well hidden, I'd say this would make a good session beer but it would end up being a short session at 6.3% its pretty easy to drink

I really had no idea what to expect and it turned out to be pretty solid, I'm wondering what else this brewery's getting up to and I may just go out of my way to find out

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2012 19:48:35 | More by wordemupg

GreyGhost4

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -10.7%

11-18-2012 03:24:43 | More by GreyGhost4

leinie13

Ohio

4/5  rDev +2%

11-18-2012 03:12:08 | More by leinie13

WastingFreetime

Wisconsin

4.2/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Reviewed from notes.

Pours out a clear brownish-amber color with a single finger of tan foam that lasts for about three minutes and leaves behind fairly decent loops of lacing on the glass. Medium body and carbonation levels, smooth texture.

Smells of an even blend of caramel and toffee malts with a general toasted nuttiness and plenty of dark fruits. The bottle wasn't kidding when the label boasted of a fruit cake aroma. The flavor follows suit mostly, with a touch of balancing herbal / medicinal hopping. A faintly metallic ghostly flavor nuance does appear as the glass warms up, but rather than being a flaw, it surprisingly seems to provide a dab of extra counter-balance to the malt sweetness! It's really good... right up there amongst my other personal favorite English offerings.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2012 00:18:56 | More by WastingFreetime

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

500ml bottle. It says 'Strong Original' on the label, so I'm going with this listing.

This beer pours a clear, medium ruddy bronzed amber hue, with two actively skyborne fingers of bubbly, thinly foamy, yet chunky at the same rate, dirty white head, which leaves some random proliferate specks of lace around the glass as it lazily blows off.

It smells of a strong nutty caramel malt, a bit of toffee, dark, acidic fruit, crystallized brown sugar, and leafy, musty hops - quite hefty, all. The taste is somewhat bready, sturdy biscuity caramel malt, sour, astringent pit fruit, a trifling metallic flinty character, some wayward oily canned nuts, and bitter earthy, leafy hops. A quite subtle, and wee warming rises in concert with deeper reflection (read: drinking) of the beer.

The bubbles are a tad zingy, and lightly cutting, but settle to a support role for the most part, the body a decent medium weight, and maybe a bit too tight and manor-ish to be dubbed really all that smooth. It finishes off-dry, the caramel/toffee sweetness deeply tempered by a lingering musty, old fruitiness, and the stalwart noble hops.

An approachable, and conquer-worthy old-world strong ale, the subtly of it all clear in the restraint in the main players' getting lost in the timid, though distracting enough off-flavours - to note: mineral and must (which sounds like an old Judas Priest song...). Still rather good though, and duly representative of the style, one, like its kin, having lost its place to the more effusive American take on things, sadly, I suppose.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2012 20:29:47 | More by biboergosum

Oakenator

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +8.4%

09-16-2012 04:27:54 | More by Oakenator

harpus

Alabama

4/5  rDev +2%

08-03-2012 23:45:41 | More by harpus

thebouch01

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +8.4%

07-27-2012 01:42:27 | More by thebouch01

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.9/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Interesting looking beer, my first from this brewery which I guess one some Brewery of the Year award in 2011, not sure which award but something.

Pours a creamy looking 1/2 finger head that fades semi quickly but leaves a big halo ring of nice looking thick lacing, over dark but very clear mahogany brown color with some ruby light streaming through.

Nose has that typical English strong beer aroma, typical yeast, malts, and hops. Lots of fruity esters at first, typical from English yeasts, fruit cake almost with some bright stone type fruits and light bready malts. Very light phenolic touches underneath with a hint of booze that reminisces of beers higher than 6.3% abv. Hops bring a light herbal character. Lots of sweeteners with light brown sugar and molasses, caramel, light biscuit made with brown sugar, and again hinting at the fruit cake.

Taste brings a mild caramelized molasses cake flavor, with the sweetness rushing out to the front. Plenty of molasses and some brown sugar, with hints of caramel and toffee. The bready malts beneath that with decent sweetness really give a taste of molasses cake or rum cake with candied dates or something. Then light fruity esters come through, much less than the nose, but again typical of the English yeast varieties. Fruits add a touch of a fruit cake to the molasses cake. There is also an interesting caramelized almost smoky like coffee syrup flavor, it's a really interesting flavor to run along side the molasses cake and fruit. Then some light herbal earthy hops. The hops are interesting in giving some light grassy herbal flavors, but not the overpowering typical herbal UK style hops I can't stand, so interesting. The finish gets a bit more bitter but never overly bitter, typical of English bitters, it also dries a bit but stays somewhat sweet, more molasses and cake lingering, and a bit of the nutty toffee lingering.

Mouth is med to a bit richer bodied, decent carb.

Overall interesting, pretty much a good example of an English strong beer, that has characteristics of a bitter and a brown ale, with tons of molasses cake, fruity esters, biscuit, etc. and the hops add a nice bitterness and herbal earthy flavor that doesn't go to the icky taste I don't like. Drinkable, and something I wouldn't mind drinking a bunch of at a pub.

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2012 01:31:52 | More by jlindros

Offa

California

4.93/5  rDev +25.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

This is a wonderful example of a characterful English ale that achieves great richness and complexity on relatively modest strength.

Deep reddish brown – but bright – it has a medium off-white head that slowly thins to foamy ring and some lace.

Aroma is wonderful, rich caramelized dark bread rum-soaked dried fruits – raisins and figs – hint of gingerbread, jammy fruit, hints of metal and earth. It is very English.

Taste is similar, extremely rich and complex, engaging and lively. It has rich spicy-sweet caramelized dark breads, rum-soaked dried cherries and caramelised jam, a hint of plum pudding, strong earthy-toasty finish and earthy-spicy bitterness. It has amazing richness of character whilst remaining light and engaging. It is somewhat similar to another favourite of mine, Fuller’s 1845.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2012 07:02:40 | More by Offa

UCLABrewN84

California

3.98/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a clear brown with a tan head that settles to an oily film on top of the beer. Small streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is very malty along with some caramel and slightly fruity aromas. Taste is of sweet malt and some burnt caramel flavors. There is a medium amount of bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer with a very malty presence that I am enjoying.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2012 01:00:52 | More by UCLABrewN84

Danny1217

Florida

3.75/5  rDev -4.3%

05-08-2012 16:10:57 | More by Danny1217

hosehead83

Ohio

3.88/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16.9oz. "half-liter" bottle into a standard pint glass.
Deep amber in color, with a concise, bone-white head of foam.
Aroma-Pilsner and bread malt
Taste-Subtle fruit, caramel, toasted malt,mineral essence. Subtle hop bite leads to a dryish finish. A very traditional English strong ale. Very pleasant, good character. An enjoyable pint.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2012 17:49:18 | More by hosehead83

flyingpig

United Kingdom (Scotland)

4/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Chestnut brown colour with a part bubbly, part foamy head that is off-white to very light brown in colour. There appears to be plenty of carbonation and nice retention.

Quite sweet and very fruity smelling with some strong earthy malts and sugar. There are a few hops in there too and lots of toffee and maybe even a little banana amongst other fruits fighting to be noticed. The sweetness is pleasant and the aroma seems quite well balanced.

Very sweet and sugary with a lot of different fruits in there, amongst them is some banana and figs along with a little hint of toffee as well as some vanilla. I also detected some earthy malts and hops with a lingering sweetness that works really well.

Medium-full mouthfeel with a great, creamy texture and lots of sugary sweetness from the fruit. The beer has a sticky smoothness to it and is a lot more refreshing than you would imagine.

Really nice and well balanced beer that has a great sweet, fruity taste to it with a wonderful body. This one goes down really well and is excellent to take your time with. I usually shy away from English style ales but this one is definitely one I can see myself going back to.

From the 1001 Beers Blog:
http://abarwithnoname.wordpress.com

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2012 17:25:38 | More by flyingpig

Cyberkedi

Georgia

3.95/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Aroma is not strong but has tempting notes of malt and fruit with hints of molasses and toffee. It pours a clear, dark cola brown with a decent light tan head. Flavor fills the mouth with malt, caramel, wood, molasses and toffee with a subtle undertone of fruit, mainly apple and cherry. Smooth texture has plenty of fizz and leaves behind a nice malty, woody tingle.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2012 02:22:24 | More by Cyberkedi

cdwil

Texas

4/5  rDev +2%

12-29-2011 20:30:49 | More by cdwil