Tasting Notes: Meantime London Pale Ale
Brewery: Meantime Brewing Company
Location: Greenwich, London
ABV: 4.3%
Version: 500ml bottle
Source: Sainsbury's
I've had the great pleasure of sampling no fewer than seven six beers from the Meantime Brewing Company in Greenwich over the past two or three months (plus an extra one back in January) and I'm hoping to post Tasting Notes for most of them over the course of this week.
Just for the sake of introducing some sort of order into the process, I'm going to be posting in ascending abv order. So that means that I'm starting with Meantime's London Pale Ale at 4.3%, which, the label proudly boasts, made it into the International Beer Challenge 2007's selection of the World's Best 50 Beers.
Popping the cap on the bottle releases an apple-fresh, hoppy aroma and the beers pours a rather attractive dark golden colour, with a big, frothy head. The flavour is smooth and slightly sweet - hints of honey and biscuit - but with a sharp, bitter bite that cuts through quite nicely. The flavour and the bitterness both intensify as the drink goes on, resulting in a very satisfying beer indeed. Quite delicious and very drinkable, it's one that I'd imagine would make for a great session beer if you could find it on draft.
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There certainly is a fruity hoppy aroma; I also picked up hints of grapefruit and orange in there, with some of the former present in the taste as well. Personally though I found the finish unbalanced, as though the malt was trying to push through and ruin the fun.
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Ah, I'm all in favour of the malt, mate, so if it pushed through I most probably welcomed it... :)
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