Beer of the Weekend #409: Abbot Ale
Though I have at least one meaningful post germinating in my head, this mini lull may continue for a few days. Until then, I will drink another brew.
The beer tonight is something I have been eyeing at New Pi for a while: Abbot Ale, brewed by Greene King of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England.
Serving type: 500 ml can. There is a batch code printed on the bottom but no freshness date.
Appearance: Poured into an imperial pint glass. There was a short but messy spray of beer after I cracked it open (grr!). The color is pale amber with honey tones. A finger of semi-dense eggshell-colored head left a thin cap and ring around the edge.
Smell: It smells like an English pale ale. Light malts, sweet caramel, toffee, honey, a touch of lemon, and some earthy hops. It is very clean.
Taste: It has a relatively full-bodied mouthfeel but the flavor is a tad lacking. It mostly mirrors the smell: light malts, sweet caramel, toffee, honey, lemon zest, and earthy hops. What is most enjoyable is the way the flavors slowly parade across the palate. At first it is sweet, then the lemon zest emerges, and then the bitter aftertaste follows at the end.
Drinkability: This is a decent (canned) British import. I bet it is much better from a cask, though.
Fun facts about Abbot Ale:
-Style: BA classifies it as “English Pale Ale.”
-Price: Grr! I forgot to get the receipt!
-Serving temperature: BA recommends 45-50ºF but Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide recommends 50-55ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Beers of the World recommends “[r]oast red meats.”
-Nerdiness from the website:
-According to the Great Beer Guide:
-The Abbot Ale website features a page in which visitors can take a four-stage test to receive an “Abbot diploma”: http://www.abbotale.co.uk/abbot-diploma.php.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
The beer tonight is something I have been eyeing at New Pi for a while: Abbot Ale, brewed by Greene King of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England.
Serving type: 500 ml can. There is a batch code printed on the bottom but no freshness date.
Appearance: Poured into an imperial pint glass. There was a short but messy spray of beer after I cracked it open (grr!). The color is pale amber with honey tones. A finger of semi-dense eggshell-colored head left a thin cap and ring around the edge.
Smell: It smells like an English pale ale. Light malts, sweet caramel, toffee, honey, a touch of lemon, and some earthy hops. It is very clean.
Taste: It has a relatively full-bodied mouthfeel but the flavor is a tad lacking. It mostly mirrors the smell: light malts, sweet caramel, toffee, honey, lemon zest, and earthy hops. What is most enjoyable is the way the flavors slowly parade across the palate. At first it is sweet, then the lemon zest emerges, and then the bitter aftertaste follows at the end.
Drinkability: This is a decent (canned) British import. I bet it is much better from a cask, though.
Fun facts about Abbot Ale:
-Style: BA classifies it as “English Pale Ale.”
-Price: Grr! I forgot to get the receipt!
-Serving temperature: BA recommends 45-50ºF but Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide recommends 50-55ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Beers of the World recommends “[r]oast red meats.”
-Nerdiness from the website:
The famous Domesday Book chronicles "cerevisiarii" or ale brewers as servants of the Abbot in the town’s Great Abbey. The Greene King brewery sits alongside the historic ruins of the Abbey and to this day our brewers still draw water from the same chalk wells used by brewing predecessors all those years ago.
-According to the Great Beer Guide:
When the beer was introduced in 1955, an artist created an imaginary abbot. His model was an old portrait of Herbert Henry Asquith, first Earl of Oxford, who seems to have had no connection with beer or abbeys.
-The Abbot Ale website features a page in which visitors can take a four-stage test to receive an “Abbot diploma”: http://www.abbotale.co.uk/abbot-diploma.php.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
