Adnams Broadside Strong Original - Adnams plc, Sole Bay Brewery

RDAdams

Maryland

4.5/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

The bottle was a gift from a shop owner for some advice I had given her. She thought it was an excellent beer and I had never heard of it before.

I chilled it to 62 F (16.7 C). The head was a off-white and retained almost to the final sip. The aroma was very pleasant. I would compare the taste, the mouthfeel, and the drinkability to Fullers' London Pride and note that this beer would easily be my choice over London Pride.

In the '90's I spent a few months every year in England and Scotland and made a point of drinking as many different beers as possible. So I am surprised that I never had Adnams before.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2005 11:49:07 | More by RDAdams

tgbljb

Pennsylvania

3.78/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

beer of the month club selection.
Poured a medium copper with abundant off-white head. Smell is very malts combined with dark fruits (plums, raisins). Taste is fruity mixed with a nice hoppy bitterness. Finishes smooth. Good drinking beer. Thanks to BA mtanji for the sample.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2005 17:35:16 | More by tgbljb

SwillBilly

Virginia

4.33/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 12 oz bottle.

Pours a deep, rich mahogony color with a 2 finger, light tan head. After head disspates a tightly bubbled, nice lacing aheres to the side of the glass.

Smell: Biscuity, with hints of sweet, caramel malt, slightly fruity, possibly apricots or currants.

Taste: Sweet caramel and fresh fruit flavors start then gives way to a slight hop bitterness at the finish. Leaves the mouth slightly dry and wanting more.

Mouthfeel is fairly chewy and creamy.

I like this one a lot. An easy drinker that is worth seeking out. 6% abv is well hidden but could catch up if sessioning this beer. Overall a very good strong ale that I would buy again.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2005 14:00:06 | More by SwillBilly

Sigmund

Norway

4.03/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

500 ml bottle, bought in Denmark. Deep copper coloured, very good off-white head. Nice aroma of dark fruits, leather, oak and caramel malts. Flavour is malty sweet with a certain alcoholic burn, but not unpleasant. Some raisin notes too. Decent hops and a peppery finish. Not bad at all.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2005 18:32:43 | More by Sigmund

amicar

Missouri

4.28/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beautiful looking beer. A red- tinged brown with a creamy dense head that is of mild- medium size. Smell is wondefully complex; musky, lighly hopped aroma, some nice roasty things in there. Slight fruitiness on the nose if you look for it. More intensity of smell than most beers I've had. Taste is a nice mix of base malt and an appropriate degree of roast malts underneath giving way to a sharp little hop bite when the slight seetness fades. Good slick fullness in the mouth and stays in the mouth for a long time. It has all the intensity and complexity I love in a world- class beer, but a light enough hand in it that I could find a lot of these empty in a night. If all the bottles are this good (especially for $1.79/ pint bottle), I'm stocking up.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2005 00:21:39 | More by amicar

kegerator

Maryland

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

pours a deep brown color with a decent 1 finger head that sits around for a good bit of time.
smell is sweet, sweet rasins and fruity esters come through.
taste reminded me of simple sugar soaked raisins. very port like in its sweetness. slight carmel notes. it is sweet but not overly sweet
its medium bodied, smooth with a slightly creamy texture to it.
nice beer overall

Serving type: bottle

07-18-2005 11:38:42 | More by kegerator

tweeder263

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours out a deep amber brew with a nice 1 finger head. Smells of beer, i thought i smelled a slight bit of skunk at first but if it was it left quickly. Taste of sweet malt ,nicely rounded out by hops very subtle.Goes down smooth nice sweet lingering aftertaste.Pretty good brew,wouldnt mind having a few of these bad boys around.

Serving type: bottle

06-03-2005 00:23:25 | More by tweeder263

beveragecaptain

New Jersey

4.4/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

500 ml bottle. 3 months after the Best Before date, but have no fear, this beer is in great shape. Dark amber with a nice off-white head. Sweet malt aroma with subtle fruit and toffee. Chewy malt flavor flavor with a hint of fruit, and a nice hop flavor in the finish. Great balance, complexity, and drinkability. It's hard to put this one down. I would love to try this beer on cask. It must be orgasmic. Until that day, keep the 500 ml bottles coming. Great beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2005 00:34:11 | More by beveragecaptain

marburg

Michigan

4.18/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Burnt reddish-brown with a bubbly cream-colored head that fades away to a small ring around the glass. Brute aromatic force asserts itself through the tiny opening of the bottle right from the get go. Sweet, rotting pine forest smothered in sap, flowers, and alcohol. The slightest roasted flavor provides a welcome accompaniment to the sweetness of the generally smooth, sweet, malty taste. Almost fruity, really. Some grassiness and a mild astringency leads to a potent but brief burst of hops. Very thick and beefy.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2005 01:40:06 | More by marburg

malty

Michigan

3.45/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 500 ml nicely curved bottle - BB Feb 05 (it's been in a cool dark fridge for the past 8 months.

Beautiful ruby-copper color with a very faint off-white head that disipates to a fine cloud with a tiny halo above the ale.

Notes of carmelized dark fruits, molasses and bread dough. Winey notes are apparent also.

A warming spicy caramel flavor hits the tongue at first. Followed by roasted malts and cracker-like flavors. The spicy character surfaces once again wrapped in the warmth of subdued alcohol.

Mouthfeel if a tad flat with a medium body, moderate fine carbonation and a nice even finish.

Drinkability is above average. I bet this would be fantastic on cask.

Overall an interesting ale of quiet intensity. Surprisingly warming with only 6% ABV. It seems to me this ale would be done utmost justice straight from the firkin. Will seek this out on tap in the future.

Serving type: bottle

05-01-2005 20:49:46 | More by malty

granger10

Wisconsin

4.3/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Really nice deep auburn color with a creamy tan head. Fruity aroma with some hops but a little vegetable note in there as well. Taste is very creamy on the mouth with a rich caramel sweetness and good English hop hit on the backside that provides a fruityness. Slight buttery note actually helps the smoothness of this really thick, chewy bready body. It all works here. Depth is an issue and the richness could be overwhelming after a few but overall this is simply a really well made English ale.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2005 14:54:01 | More by granger10

RoyalT

Ohio

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

Appearance – This one had a huge, explosive head, which is unusual for the style. The body is a dark, solid brown.

Smell – The light, toasted malts are subtle but well-defined. There’s a spritzy yeast character to the nose as well. I can pick up some wicked fruit like green apple and just a hint of alcohol.

Taste – The malts are huge at the taste. This is almost like drinking that liquid malt you can buy at a homebrew shop. The light yeast character from the nose made it’s way to the taste. The tart apple and some fruity sweetness round out the flavor profile.

Mouthfeel – This is full-bodied with some light woody notes that really smooth out the mouthfeel. There’s just the right amount of alcohol warmth on the tongue.

Drinkability – This one is a mouthfull, that’s for sure. It is thick and chewy and almost needs a knife and fork.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2005 02:19:40 | More by RoyalT

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

4.4/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A beautiful shade of dark red-orange-copper with a toffee colored head of firmsticky foam. Each looks great in isolation and they look even better in combination. As the cap deflates, thick strands and streamers of lace stick to the glass with authority.

The aroma is on the underpowered side. It's firmly toasted (sweet and caramel-like) as well as being moderately British hoppy. Good, but far from great.

Broadside Strong Original is very good beer. I'm not sure what distinguishes it from the lower-ABV Broadside ESB (except ABV of course), so I'll just ignore style and describe what I taste. This is a superbly well-balanced ale with plenty of ingredients. The solid-as-a-rock malt backbone delivers a lusciously sweet caramel flavor and a medium-full mouthfeel that makes the beer a pleasure to drink.

ABSO is also dark fruity and contains a hint of spiciness, possibly emanating from the well chosen, generous amount of hops. I'm especially enjoying the longish finish, during which sweet malt and earthy-spicy hops keep things balanced until long after the swallow. Its bold, yet refined, flavor makes English strong ale the perfect choice when assigning style.

I like this beer much more than I thought I would. While Adnams SSB was pretty good stuff, Broadside Strong Original is a cut above. I'd love to get my hands on the whole Adnams line, but I'm not sure they're available on this side of the pond. Recommended.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2005 16:43:31 | More by BuckeyeNation

CAMRAhardliner

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a dark amber color with a long lasting head and good lacing. The aroma is of fruity malts with raisin bread and overripe banana hints. The taste rich with a lot of malts up front and a few hops in the back. Hops show themselves the most in the finish, with some mild bittering. This Tastes like a Scotch Ale with a bit more hop flavor.

The mouthfeel is thick with active carbonation. The drinkability and mouthfeel of this beer are somewhat dinged by a pronounced sweetness that lasts till the finish.

Overall this beer is decent though nothing special. Its worth a try but its a little one dimensional with the malts.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2004 00:33:27 | More by CAMRAhardliner

ghurux86

Missouri

3.78/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

pours a dark brown with a pillowy light tan head. leaves some lacing but not a lot.
smells that i notice are hops, malt, grapes, and others.
taste is malty up front, with a hoppy bitterness shining through at the end. pretty good.
mouthfeel is good; smooth and not too thin, carbonation isn't too heavy
drinkability is good as well, even with the bitterness i could drink quite a few more and be happy.
a pretty good beer that's worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2004 06:01:14 | More by ghurux86

Higravity

Michigan

2.3/5  rDev -41.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

I couldn't finish this beer. I gave it to my friends dog. It was like drinking metal shavings. The water was so metallic like many other english beers. It had a decent pour with a decent white head that hung around for a little while. The first sip was like licking the body of a rusty Ford, once I got past the metal fragments stuck in my tongue I tasted a lot of what I smell which was an average amber ale. They should keep this one in England.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2004 11:50:21 | More by Higravity

GreenCard

Oregon

3.53/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: dark amber, great clarity, thick layer of tan suds, good head retention, some lace

Aroma: Trappist-like maltiness, caramel, herbal hops, cotton candy, alcohol, dark honey, sisal rope

Flavor: full malty sweetness with an edge of roast, burnt caramel, herbal hop flavor, roots, licorice, cannabis, a bit vegetal in the background, finishes semi-dry with a long-lingering aftertaste of roast bitterness and caramel

Mouthfeel: medium-full body, fine carbonation, alcohol warmth

Other comments: After living in Belgium, I was used to 6% abv as the norm. In the UK, this is considered "strong", but with that also comes more flavor than the typical British ale. Now that winter is here, it is nice to have some of these higher abv British ales around.

Serving type: bottle

12-01-2004 19:42:15 | More by GreenCard

Guinness4me

Florida

2.93/5  rDev -25.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Once I got past the appearance of "muddy lake water" in my glass, it wasn't that bad of a beer. The head was a bit soapy and faded quickly.

The smell was very perfumed and slightly citrus. I wish I could place the exactly perfume, maybe honeysuckle? Very light smell for such a muddy beer.

The taste was simple but pleasant with flowery hops, slight malt and tasty yeast. I noticed no offensive aftertaste and little bitterness.

The mouthfeel was a little bland to me without sufficient carbonation. Maybe I got an old bottle. I'd find it hard to stomach too many more of these.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2004 01:15:19 | More by Guinness4me

xgrigorix

Michigan

4.33/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Half liter borwn bottle. Best by date printed on back label.

Dull Bronze colour, reddish highlights. Dense off white head holds nicely.

Fruity aromas with a backbone of earthy hoppiness.

Caramel, dark fruit (plums & figs). Finish is quick & off dry w/ some restrained English type hop flavours. Very drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2004 17:18:52 | More by xgrigorix

stjarnflikka

Sweden

4.1/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Looks: A clear reddish look with light carbonation. It pours a thick beige foam.

Smell: The smell filled the entire roam just after i uncapped the bottle. Extremely strong with clear fruity and sweet aromas.

Taste: A malty, quite bitter taste with strong traces of fruit. There is a small sweetness and that grows as the other tastes dissappear. Leaves with a alcoholic and fruity taste.

A very easydrunk beer, balanced and well tasting.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2004 20:02:14 | More by stjarnflikka

dauss

Colorado

4.18/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a very murky reddish brown. Big fluffly yellowish-white head with fairly good staying power, lots of lacing on the glass. Roasted malts and dark fruits are in the nose with wood. Maybe it was aged in barrels or something. A very strong up front malt sweetness, roasty malts give it a very faint coffee flavor. Light hoppiness isn't
strong enough to balance out the malt. Finishes fairly sweet, with hints of the 6.3% ABV that lurks within, sort of like a barley wine, with a very slight sourness(possibly from wood aging, if they do it). Full bodied and great mouthfeel, with a moderate carbonation. This is definitely very drinkable and a very tasty brew from England.

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2004 01:23:43 | More by dauss

cerevisiaephilus

Michigan

4.55/5  rDev +16.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Beautiful looking beer that fit perfectly into my Sam Smith imperial pint glass. Beautiful deep deep orange red color. Very persistant head. Very creamy. Very intense carbonation which I'm afraid is going to ruin the mouthfeel, but it makes for a nice persistant head. Very clear for a bottle conditioned beer.

Nice aromas for sure. Get a rich smooth maltyness that is mixed subtley with light citrus aromas. Don't think that's hops. I think that is the Southwold yeast!

Very nice flavor. Rich, smooth nutty malt backbone. Very strong and proud. Just underneath it all is a bit less than firm hop bitterness that does its part, but stays in the background. Just a bit harsh in the finish. Just a bit tart really. Not bad at this level, but its close to being a fault. I think this is from the Southwold yeast. I brewed a very similar beer with Southwold yeast and it had this flavor 10 fold. This one is much more subdued and mellow. An interesting citrus sort of finish. Very nice flavor.

Mouthfeel is great!! Just right for the style. Not too thick, not too thin, just right. The carbonation doesn't affect the mouthfeel in the least. In fact it might make it just the right amount of lively.

In England they may call this a Strong Ale, but here in the states I call this a session ale. I could have many many many of these.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2004 02:57:03 | More by cerevisiaephilus

donnebaby

North Carolina

4.03/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dark and turbid creamy brown orange color body holds its tight light brown head up well. Nose is malty sweet and contains lots of sweet caramel and spicy gingerbread.

Big, even carbonation and medium body and thickness. Full mouth of caramel malts, mildly sweet and even, with notes of nutty caramel and carrot cake. Hops are felt way after-the-fact. Some alcohol notes are present, too, laced with something like pine.

Rich enough to be served for dessert. Overall well balanced, of big carbonation, thickness, and malt taste.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2004 19:49:44 | More by donnebaby

cypressbob

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

4/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

500ml bottle

Pours with a ruby body, fluffy tan head with fairly good retention and lacing

Smell, malty aroma, sweetness also coming through

Taste, hefty malty body with a tart sweetness, nice hop bitterness on the finish, bready, body almost like a belgian

A nice strong ale, not on par with fullers 1845 but its different, good stuff

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2004 19:23:29 | More by cypressbob

oracle

Indiana

4.6/5  rDev +17.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This was a gravity poured cask. No CO2 or Nitro was harmed in the pouring of this beer. Delivered in a traditional engish pint glass.

Beer was medium-to-dark mahogany with no head what-so-ever.

Nose was all vanilla, fruit and oak. Strong alcohol presense.

Taste was superb. Very complex. Strong malt with many other flavors mixed in, mostly fruit (plum) and some oaky flavors as well. Long drawn out finish.

Absolutely outstanding.

Serving type: cask

08-16-2004 01:44:24 | More by oracle