VICEROY INDIA PALE ALE RECEIVES TASTY PLAUDITS FROM TOP BEER WRITERS
Top beer writers Roger Protz (editor of the Good Beer Guide), Adrian Tierney-Jones (author of the Big Book of Beer) and Pete Brown (auithor of the Cask Ale Report) have given their verdict on the National Trust Viceroy India Pale Ale produced under licence by the Westerham Brewery. Roger Protz selected the Viceroy India Pale Ale as his beer of the month for November 2009 awarding the beer 4 1/2 stars. Adrian Tierney-Jones declared the beer “Excellent”. Pete Brown described the beer “a true IPA, with an assertive aroma of apricot and peach giving way to a full-flavoured but balanced beer.”
Roger Protz wrote:
Westerham’s bottle-conditioned beer has a honey colour with spicy hops, wholemeal biscuits and plum fruit on the nose. Tart and peppery hops, chewy malt and ripe plum fruit fill the mouth while the finish is bitter and spicy. Hops dominate but there’s a fine balance of juicy malt sweetness and tangy fruit. Malt: high. Fruit: high. Hops: high. Beer of the Month – November 2009 – Roger Protz (Click for full article)
Adrian Tierney Jones wrote:
Viceroy IPA is at the lower end of the abv spectrum at 5%, but its nose still grabs and then caresses with the musky, aromatic air of the hop sack (a common characteristic of Brit-IPAs perhaps). Orange-amber in colour, it also has a wilful orange marmalade nose, which is very reminiscent of said marmalade spread on gently toasted white bread (fresh of course); there’s also the aforementioned hop sack come-hither. On the palate a deep orange Cointreau strike, hints of cherry brandy (and even almond paste), plus some mouth-warming alcohol notes — all toiling together to make my palate as happy as the proverbial Larry. The finish is long and dry with a crisp graininess. The difference from the likes of Goose Island (and Punk IPA) is there, noted and known, it being much more of a soulful beast than its brash transatlantic (or Alba) cousins. A sensuous beer then, though not backward in coming forward, a purring beast that is happy for you to drink lots before it pounces. Excellent. – Adrian Tierney-Jones (Click for full article)
Read the full article by Pete Brown in the Publican (Click for full article).
