Dedollewaitor (22132) reviewed Gold Reserve from Lovibonds Brewery 16 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle @ WSF. Pours a clear golden with a off white head. Nose is sweet. Wheat, smoke and rubber. Some sweet orange and alcohol. Smooth palate. Good.
Beertalk (16424) reviewed Gold Reserve from Lovibonds Brewery 16 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
WSF 2009, thanks to Phil. Golden with a small white head. Aroma of wheat, bread crust, phenols, and banana and bubblegum esters. Sweet banana, malt and honey flavour. A touch of alcohol. It’s wheat, it’s strong and it’s English! How unique!
diabel (1874) reviewed Gold Reserve from Lovibonds Brewery 16 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle, at WSF09 - thanks to Phil for sharing
Clear, blond body. Nice aroma of hops, vanilla and honey. Moderately sweet, lightly bitter flavour with some vanilla. Well balanced good flavour.
fonefan (84534) reviewed Dark Reserve No.1 from Lovibonds Brewery 16 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Bottle 750ml. @ [ Chris O’s pre NYE Tasting ].[ Courtesy of PhilL ]. Clear medium red brown color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, beige head. Aroma is roasted, caramel, chocolate, berry sour notes - cherry, wood, oak notes, whisky - bourbon notes. Flavor is moderate to light heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20081230]
bb (18428) reviewed Dark Reserve No.1 from Lovibonds Brewery 16 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle. Dark mahogony beer with a light tan head. Malt and light whiskey aroma. Malty flavor with light astringency and light diacetyl. Some light barrel notes. Medium bodied. Malt and light diacetyl lingers.
Harrisoni (26233) reviewed Dark Reserve No.1 from Lovibonds Brewery 17 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
75cl Bottle at Chris o New Year tasting 08/09. Thanks to Phil l for getting us this. Deep ruby colour. Lovely dark choc and whisky aroma. Very good aroma. Less good in mouth, some moreello cherry fruit, black forest gateau. Good aroma, just a little thin in the mouth, finish has more milk choc and cherry. Wood does come through. Cherry fruit lifts the beer.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
[Lovibonds Brewery Shop, Henley] Pours brown-black with a thick white head - a nice looking beer. Despite apparently being made from the Lovibonds Henley Dark, it bears little resemblance to it. The smell and taste are a somewhat surprising mix of treacle and straw, with the treacle rather dominant. After a while a sour whisky taste emerges - whatever whisky barrels they are using to age this, I think they need to find better ones! Finish is quite smooth with hints of vanilla and toffee but a very sticky mouthfeel. Its OK, but I was hoping for better.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
33cl bottle from Waitrose. Hazy amber with a thin ring of white head; a weizen-style aroma with honey, cloves and banana; very prickly in the mouth, and not as sweet as expected, an austere grainy body with spicy lingering finish; overall rather flat with no carbonation - perhaps a dud bottle.
berkshirejohn (10223) reviewed Henley Dark from Lovibonds Brewery 17 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
330ml bottle from Waitrose, Wokingham. Chestnut with a ruby glow and a billowing caramel coloured head; intense aroma of treacle, caramel, burnt sugar and spice, rich and appealing. Syrupy in the mouth, but not as sweet as expected, lots of smoke and peat from the roasted malt giving balance and a slight sourness; the finish is long and lingering, starting with a espresso coffee and then developing a velvet chocolate fullness, and leaving a touch of sweet cherries on the lips, and a warming feeling suggesting a much higher ABV. An excellent porter, the best beer of the Lovibond range I’ve tasted so far.
wheresthepath (3674) reviewed Henley Dark from Lovibonds Brewery 17 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
[330ml bottle from Waitrose, Marlow] Over-priced at £2.09 for a small bottle of average ABV (and comparing with other beers in Waitrose and the brewery’s own website, this is definitely profiteering by the brewer rather than the retailer). Pours a deep reddish brown with a tiny yet surprisingly tenacious head. Some carbonation. Smells deeply vinous and a little smokey, and sniffing it made me feel oddly hungry. Initial taste is quite smokey, very dry, with some sourness behind. A little chocolate and caramel comes through, but is rather hidden by the other flavours. Not much change into the afterness - a dry, smokey sourness is the dominant flavour. Has the feel of a poor quality mild rather than a porter. It’s all a bit disappointing after the rather good Lovibonds Gold & Amber - the dark is definitely the worst of the bunch.