04/07/2007. NAVIGATION INN, 21-23 Wool Road, DOBCROSS, Greater Manchester, England

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Cask @ Pumproom, Halifax. Clear paler golden with a thin head. Has a sessionable, light grainy-sweet taste. It’s slightly soapy in its nose.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4.5

Cask. A hazy golden beer with a lazing off-white head. The aroma has notes of malt and urine. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt, hops, and smoke.

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

Cask (handpump) @ Marble Arch Inn, 73 Rochdale Rd, Manchester, Greater Manchester England M4 4HY.Clear medium yellow orange color with a average, frothy to creamy, good lacing, fully lasting, off-white to white head. Aroma is moderate malty, grain, toasted, fruity, light to moderate hoppy. Flavor is moderate sweet and light to moderate bitter with a average to long duration, dry finish. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft to flat. [20090124]

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

cask at the JDW edinburgh ... light amber ... very very light fruity nose... soft mellow hop ... quite bitter ... lots of grapefruit.

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

Cask @ Market Porter with Magic Dave6 and Mes. Clear golden color with a white head. Lots of floral aromas and hints of citric fruit. Crispy finish indeed but a bit lighter than I would like.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Draught half-pint at NERAX on 5/4/07
Well to further polarize the ratings thus far….I gotta say that I didn’t enjoy this one. It was in good shape, don’t get me wrong, and was flawless, but I didn’t find the snappy or interesting hoppiness that some mention. In fact, all I got was malt.
The nose seemed soggy, wet and like smelling a dozen different varieties of soaked grains that had been sparged (no sweetness). Maybe a touch of lemon citrus, but it didnt match the earthy, grainy, dry nature of the malts. Aroma strength was rather weak as well.
The flavor was unique, I’ll give it that, and you could definitely taste the fact that there was (a rather high proportion of) wheat in here. I couldnt really pick out anything with any real clarity, however, and it just tasted rather muddled, doughy/creamy and bland. Lots of paperiness and almost a light toasted malt character providing plenty of earthiness as well. Some heavy acidity on the finish with tons of chewy malt texture. No alcohol, no flaws, but it just didnt work for me. Not enough malt suppleness and I didnt like the weird toasty/earthy/bready character with tea-like hop astringency.

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

Cask gravity at Planet Thanet BF 2006, Ramsgate. Golden with creamy white head. Hops and some cereal on the aroma. Bit of wheat maybe (looking at the description I can see why) Some good citrus on the end and a hoppy finish to this good summer beer.