Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4

pours a copper color, nose is quite hoppy with a skunk to it. Flavour tatses skunky, but hoppy at the same time. is this suppost to taste like this? i doubt it.

18/07/1998. WILLIAM CAXTON, West Cross, High Street, TENTERDEN, Kent, England (SHEPHERD NEAME)

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

Old notes from 2000. Vacation in Cambridge. Bottle. Clear amberish colour. Very hoppy aroma, but only very mildly bitter. Tasty though.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Nice deep golden color with a fine white head. Buttery, herbal and mild citric aroma with an ok intensity. Medium body and a fine carbonation. Tad sweet and a moderate ok bitterness. Malty, herbal and mild citric flavor. Decent thirst quencher. Quite typical Shepherd Neame ale.
[Bottle from an off Licence in Liverpool, England]

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

Bottle from Lidl. Despite the clear bottle I managed to keep this one well away from natural light in the cellar so no skunkyness here. golden with practically no head. Has a mild hop, some fruit and a crisp body. Active fizz in the palate.

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

Bouteille claire 500ml. De couleur ambrée-dorée et claire. Nez malté de caramel très doux, de grains de malt, de pain, moyen de houblon floral, herbeux et terreux avec des notes fruitées (marmelade) ainsi que des notes rappelant le beurre (butterscotch) et la cigarette. Mince-moyenne en bouche avec un pétillement moyen ainsi qu’une texture aux notes minérales. Goût légèrement amer de houblon floral et terreux (présent en arrière-goût durant la suite de la gorgée) avec des légères notes fruitées (agrumes, traces de marmelade) lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût malté de biscuit, de grains de malt et de pain avec des notes de caramel doux ainsi que quelques traces de miel puis en finale l’amertume de houblon s’intensifie légèrement en montrant un côté légèrement plus herbeux. Post-goût moyen et un peu sec, moyen-léger amer de houblon floral, herbeux et légèrement terreux avec des petites notes de grains. (2006)

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

22 July 2008: This is my first English beer since a beer trip to Belgium and all that entails (drinking heavy alcohol brews with complex tastes and flavours. Anyway, this clear 500ml bottle has been sat awaiting my attention for some time, even though it has a long life left (Apr 2009). The label claims it is a ’Summer Hop Ale’. Poured into my new La Chouffe glass (two and a half times). It was a lovely amber colour with a huge off-white head, pretty as a picture. It doesn’t say so, but I am assuming it is hopped with Goldings. The aroma is certainly hoppy, even when served chilled as requested on the bottle. Dry and tangy taste with the hops completely dominating the malted barley and whatever the other ingredients that may have been used. Typical watery English Bitter feel, but it still has a presence and you know it has 4.7% alcohol within. Plenty of hops for us Brits, no where near the amount some US hopheads would prefer, but that would unbalance the beer in my opinion. Not bad at all. Sheperd Neame produce a lot of ’Supermarket type beers’, this is one of their better ones.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7.5

Originally rated July 2006. This ESB pours an amber-caramel colour with an off-white creamy head. Retention is pretty good and a good amount of lace is formed all-around. Over-average carbonation. The nose is powerful, with some mild caramel malt, a touch of roasted malts and the hop that this brew is named. Slightly creamy mouthfeel as the head is still there in the first few sips, and then becomes kind of watery. Nice roller-coaster of taste, starting off with some light bitterness going through the caramel to then land with some biscuit malt. A very pleasant ESB for a hot summer night, like the one tonight.