今天在Facebook上﹐很巧碰見有在台灣的愛酒朋友進了英國Adnams酒廠的產品。這酒廠的東西實在都是不可多得的精釀﹐不論是傳統桶裝生啤﹐或是瓶裝啤酒﹐品質都十分卓越。尤其是Adnams Broadside﹐若來英國玩在酒吧看到而不嚐嚐看﹐恨是與經典的東南英 Best Bitter「整個地」擦身而過…

這一款Innovation﹐我看是酒廠想與以往主打傳統英式啤酒的主題稍作區隔的革命性實驗產品。用的酒花不但有英國革新的Boadicea、歐陸經典優雅的Styrian Goldings、更有北美新大陸的奔放Columbus。 但她嚐來﹐是不是真如酒廠所希望詮釋的美式IPA風格呢？看倌得自己定奪了… 我的心得則是﹐所有的酒真的都該有個自己的位子；釀得好﹐品質穩定﹐自然會風靡~~

跳出風格名詞的侷限﹐這Innovation﹐就是Adnams值得驕傲的新一章！

Adnams, Innovation, 6.7%abv. (English Strong Ale)

Bottle Version (Filtered)

Purchased at the Waitrose supermarket in mid-2008, this ale comes with an engraved brown glass bottle and a nicely-presented thick cardboard-paper box, along with a tag showing its individual, identity number (No. 10053)! BB 10/2008, served 6 months past the expiry date – hope this is still drinkable…

4.5/5 Appearance: pours a lightly dark amber hue, topped with a superbly tight and frothy off-white head almost like the texture of Crème Brulee; carbonation is pretty restrained, with occasional rocket-launches of tiny bubbles from the bottom.

4.5/5 Smell: the nose is full of sweet grapefruity and orangey-citric hops in interaction with creamy pale malts and other fragrant notes of Styrian Goldings hops (really this bit is impossible to miss, if one has tried and loved a full-aroma ale like Young’s Special London Ale). A close sniff reveals notes of candy-ish sweetness (here, the nose is given a touch of estery Belgian Pale!), a touch of aromatic, ripe-peach-skins and lychee-shells, and some diacetyl even. Creamy, hoppy, aromatic – pretty much like a well-hopped IPA with an American twist (the lychee-ish aromatic hops, of course).

4/5 Taste: a mouthful of aromatic yet tannic hop juice is almost tangy-dry simultaneously from the beginning, underlined by quality pale malts with notes of “dirty-cloths” (I always use this term without any intent of offence!) typical for an English Pale Ale, plus all the trimmings exactly as identified on the nose. The aftertaste continues with the aromatic fruity flavour profile, but also added with a lengthy aroma of grapes akin to Muscat or Gewurztraminer (the slightly sweeter type of white grapes) in the finishing touch. Moderately bitter, slightly dry, and everlastingly chewy hoppy in the end.

4/5 Mouthfeel: this ale is so enjoyable, with a truly enjoyable hop profile, lightly dry and moderately bitter while it’s also full of aroma and flavour. The carbonation comes at a moderate level, soothing but not totally soft like a cask-conditioned ale, while the body remains intact throughout the drink, providing some kind of a backbone to the palate.

4.5/5 Overall: I personally find this a highly enjoyable ale, for how harmonious the overall flavour profile is, and how beautifully the aroma is arrived at from the three hop varieties (British Boadicea, Slovenian Styrian Golding, and American Columbus). Alas, this is only a limited-edition ale and filtered. If the brewery could make it as readily available as, for example, Young’s Special London Ale and conditioned in bottles, I am quite confident this could be another popular choice for real ale drinkers wandering in supermarkets.

 --Yau (tasted 14/04/09; notes transcribed 26/02/2013)