June 2010: 330ml Blue bottle. The rear label claims this is a bright blonde English beer brewed with East Anglian malted barley and wheat and hopped with English Hedgerow and other aromatic hops. The beer is dry and crisp with aromas of tropical fruit. OK, time to open it. I’ve chilled it a bit, hope it doesn’t mind! Poured into a ’Hoegaarden’ Grand Cru stemmed tulip glass. Deep golden (almost lagerish), clear and bright, white head, losing ground very quickly. No head left by the time I’d typed this in! Maybe it doesn’t like being too cold? There is a hint of citrusy lemony smells but not much, certainly no malt flavours in the aroma or taste. None of the promised tropical aromas either. The taste is citrus fruits, dry and refreshing, good job it’s a sunny, warm day, as this is a summer style beer, not a winter warmer type drink. The front label tells me it ’evokes images of sea spray blown off a cresting wave’, I’d better get my sou’wester before I get wet then. Not overly impressed, I wish Adnams would stick to their original, regular brews. They didn’t play the guest beer/seasonal beer game until a few years ago, now it would seem they brew stuff just for the sake of it sometimes.

Draught at Stockholm Beer Festival. Clear golden, coarse head. Aroma of honey and boiled vegetables. Mid sweet with medium body. Sticky with plenty of compost heap flavour. Like a random British industrial lager.

bottle at home ... golden amber ... big white head ... lager .. metallic nose ... eurg ... light zezty lemon ... grassy lager ... dull soft and not my thing at all