7.3

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Tap, 90ml taster. Deep amber with an off white head that lasts really well. Big surprise: no overt alcohol in the aroma. Bread, crusts, pine, plums , kumquats. Very sweet indeed - bread, coffee, greengages, nagging citrus, some pepper. The bitterness is enough to tame the sweetness. It’s not hot, it’s not harsh, it’s not sludgy _or_ thinned by booze. Hard to rate - on the one hand it’s clearly overcome the challenges of making an 18% pale ale quite brilliantly; on the other, why make one at all? Presumably so idiots must try it. It’s good but it’s still a novelty beer for me. --- Beer merged from original tick of Cluster 18 on 03 May 2017 at 08:25 - Score: Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5. Original review text: Tap, 90ml taster. Deep amber with an off white head that lasts really well. Big surprise: no overt alcohol in the aroma. Bread, crusts, pine, plums , kumquats. Very sweet indeed - bread, coffee, greengages, nagging citrus, some pepper. The bitterness is enough to tame the sweetness. It’s not hot, it’s not harsh, it’s not sludgy _or_ thinned by booze. Hard to rate - on the one hand it’s clearly overcome the challenges of making an 18% pale ale quite brilliantly; on the other, why make one at all? Presumably so idiots must try it. It’s good but it’s still a novelty beer for me.