Norfolk Spoils

We managed to steal a 4 day trip to Norfolk and Cambridge with some very good friends. Not wanting the trip to be all consumed with beer notes and chasing round the county trying to find local beers we hadn't planned on blogging. But, when we passed a sign for a shop that our guests knew proclaiming 60 different Norfolk beers we could not pass the opportunity, and our hosts were keen to join in.

We agreed on using a different format: scoring beers as a group unanimously out of 10, 0 being a beer so disgusting it moved you to tears, and 10 being a beer so amazing it moved you to tears. There were 5 of us so opinions sometimes varied, but will try and represent everyone!

177: Citraville, Old Slewfoot, 3.9%
Chosen because of the name, and one of my favourite hops. Citrusy, peachy, fruity. A refreshing sessionable beer, really fine bubbles, almost champagne-like. Perhaps a slight metallic aftertaste. Some debate about the score, withh our guest contributors rating it lower than ourselves, but we settled on a crowd pleasing 7/10.

178: Honey Ale, Norfolk, 5%
Hints of honey to smell, but not so much to taste. Not too sweet, acceptable, but certainly not punchy flavours. Rich, full, mouthfeel. General consensus was "alright". 5/10.

179: On the Edge Saison, Poppyland, 6.3%
We'd already heard of this brewery before the trip via twitter, and were hoping to try some. A saison, notoriously not one of my favourite styles. To me it smelt like a muted version of a typical saison, banana and spicy. Others got apple and muscovado sugar, reminiscent of German weisbiers. To taste, it was not overpowering phenol, rather delicate but complex. It tasted as though it should have been sweeter but actually was verging towards a sour beer, hence the name. A strong 6/10.