York :Guzzler (England: Golden Ale: 4.0% ABV)
Visual: Clear bright gold. Lots of small bubbled carbonation. Large yellowed mound of a head.
Nose: Floral. Wheaty. Moderate hop bitterness. Light vanilla. Orange rind. Cinnamon. Lemon.
Body: Light treacle. Cinnamon. Doughnuts. Smooth. Honey note. Light flour. Orange juice. Vanilla. Toffee.
Finish: Light treacle. Honey. Fluffy hop character. Cinnamon. Slight brown bread. Light earthy hops. Black liquorice.
Conclusion: This has much more subtlety than it seemed at first. Initially it seemed a vanilla sweet, mildly treacle touched, easy drinking ale. Nice enough, easy to drink – gently creamy with a dry flour back to contrast. You can forgive me for not expecting much, nothing more than a gentle session ale, based on that first impression.
It does keep that gentle style throughout, but gains a gentle cinnamon sweetness and light citrus orange notes that develop throughout. It still keeps things gentle, but it builds so that the more sweet and treacle notes drop into the background, letting fresher, subtle but enjoyable fruit notes to the front. Everything is quite restrained, but if you take your time to examine there is actually a bit going on.
It is nicely put together, pretty traditional styled in feel with a slight touch of the British earthy style, but without the connotations of dullness that can often be insinuated by “traditional”. It isn’t a super stand out ale, but a nice, easy drinking ale with a bit more than you would expect.
Background: A tasting note from up north, back with the family over the holiday. Dad had got some beers in, including this one from York. Many thanks. I love York as a place, very beautiful city, lots of good pubs and shops for a beer nut like me, lots of culture. Great place. Not drunk anything from the York brewery yet, so this is another new brewery on me. Have great holidays, whatever you celebrate – enjoy your drink!