It's a cold and slightly damp early May evening and definitely NOT the sort of weather we should be experiencing at this time of year! What better then than to crack open a bottle of Brakspear Triple III that I'd had laying around at home for ages. From memory I believe I bought it for Christmas 2010, but never got round to drinking it. By following the instructions on the label, and clicking onto the Brakspear's website, I was able to check when my individually numbered bottle was filled (4th September 2010), so it is now over a year and a half old. It is none the worse for this though, as being bottle-conditioned the beer has matured like a fine old wine.
It was very lively when poured, but not excessively so that it fobbed everywhere. Even so, and despite slow and careful pouring on my part, it formed a thick, fluffy head which meant I had to drink half of it before I could get the rest into the glass! Fortunately both halves poured perfectly clear, and I was left with a glass of sparkling, light-mahogany coloured beer with a hoppy nose and a wonderfully complex and very satisfying taste. The notes on the label describe the beer much better than I can, viz: "Thanks to the two fermentations in the Brakspear 'Double Drop' system, this highly aromatic and satisfying strong beer delivers its rich flavour with subtlety and balance. Crystal, Black and Maris Otter pale malts provide the backbone of this outstanding rich beer. Hops are added three times to provide a good balance between bitterness and fragrance."
That sums up this excellent beer nicely. My bottle had certainly matured well and had developed a slightly vinous edge, reminiscent of a Madeira wine.It was also a full 500ml rather than the sissy 330ml size it is sold in today!
7 comments:
Sounds absolutely lovely - what a vintage bottle-conditioned ale should be.
Downhill from here on I'm afraid. The new Brakspear Triple doesn't claim to be bottle conditioned nor does it claim to be CAMRA approved. When I asked Brakspear via their webpage portal I got no reply whatsoever (4+ weeks and not counting ...). Shame, once a good company and beer and now a so so beer and a don't care company.
Progress? - I leave that up to you.
I'm sure I read in some CAMRA publication that, while Triple had gone through a phase of not being bottle-conditioned, it has now gone back to bottle-conditioning, albeit at a lower strength of maybe 6.5%.
I noticed Brakspears Triple on sale in ASDA today; price £1.80 a bottle, or two for £3. I also noticed that the strength has been reduced from 7.2% to 6.7%, and the bottle size is now 330ml and not 500ml, (as mentioned in my post). I didn't see whether it was bottle-conditioned or not.
Following on from Curmudgeon's first comment, the bottle I had definitely was everything a vintage bottle-conditioned ale should be. It's not easy to get bottle-conditioning right, and I am often wary of buying BCA's because of bad experiences in the past (fobbing, cloudy, flat, sour - you name it, I've unfortunately experienced it). Fullers have got it right, and I was going to say Brakspears have as well, but perhaps I'd better reserve judgement until I've had a chance to check again on the Triple.
Have re-checked; current stocks of Triple are definitely bottle-conditioned.
Just got a bottle. It was brewed July 2013, is in a 500ml bottle and is at 7.2%
Forgot to add, it's bottle conditioned as well! Looks like its gone full circle
Post a Comment