Delicious, well balanced, up there with the best!

It pours a lovely clear copper colour with a big foamy off white head, it’s smells delicious and kind of how you would expect from a c-hopped IPA, citrusy grapefruit and lemon zest and some orange. The body was lovely and smooth, with less carbonation than the head would suggest.

Flavour wise Adnams American IPA was well balanced, biscuity sweet malt with the grapefruit hop character, theres a good does of pine needles chucked in with a  few herbal, almost clove like notes. Fantastic!

Adnams American IPA is a fantastic beer that I think punches above it’s weight at 6.8% it’s sublimely drinkable and will get you into as much trouble as Innovation, this puts it up there with Innovation as my favourite Adnams beer.

It’s beautifully well balanced, not too hoppy, not too malty and with just the right amount of carbonation it’s great for when you want a hop fix but don’t want your brains blowing out with huge massive hop kicks.

Hat’s off to Fergus and the guys over at Adnams for trying something different, unfortunately I’ve now drank the second bottle so I’ll have to start on the other beers in the case.

You can buy the beers here, follow Adnams on twitter here, read my Adnams beer reviews here, or read the Meet the brewer with Fergus here.

It’s grey and rainy outside and just the site of the picture as I was uploading it cheered me up, it brought back happy memories of the day I drank Spindrift, It was a lovely hot, sunny day and the beer really did hit the spot.

I really do love the blue bottle.

Spindrift comes in a distinctive blue bottle which makes it stand out really well and makes a change from the usual brown and green bottles you see day in day out.

Spindrift got it’s name from Adnams location on the coast and the feelings they wanted to evoke in people when they drank it, I had thought about popping down to the beach at the end of my road, to take a few pics of the beer on location but to be honest I was nice and comfy on the chair in the garden.

The beer it’s self is a 5% and is a blend of East Anglian malted barley, Boadicea and First Gold hops and high grade malted wheat, this gives it its typically Adnams aromas although a lot more subtle and understated. There were hints of peach and grapefruit and some malty sweetness, great stuff.

The head was a little bit thinner than I had expected but what was there stuck around in the time it took me to drink it, although this wasn’t very long because it was just soooooooo drinkable, it slipped down so easily I couldn’t believe it, before I knew it it was gone.

The flavour is light and thirst quenching, you get the toasted malt and a little sweetness  from the malt followed by the floral hops which give it a lovely bitterness and just enough zing to keep you wanting more.

I could really see this going down well at BBQ’s and parties with just about everyone, not just ale lovers. It would be great in little mini kegs and might even suit something like the new Molson Coors Home Draught system (which i will be reviewing soon),  I could certainly see this becoming “my go to” summer beer and something that will be in my fridge over the summer.

If you want to find out more about (or buy some) Adnams Spindrift then you can visit the Adnams website here or follow them on twitter here. If you do decide to buy some then remeber to by some Innovation too as it really is one of the best beers brewed in the UK.

The first of the two beers was Adnams Extra, this once award winning beer fell off the radar for a few years but this year, in honour of Cask Ale Week, was ressurected. It’s not usually bottled but Fergus being the gent he is very kindly bottled some for me and a couple of other lucky bloggers.

Adnams Extra

The Second bottle was a trial bottle of something special he has been brewing, it comes in at around 10% ABV and had been maturing in open tanks for 4 months.

Both bottles came in lovely swing top bottles with neat hand written labels … more beer should come this way, especially stronger beers, as being able to re seal them is really handy.

I popped open the top on the Extra, it poured with a lovely deep copper colour with a decent head, considering it had been taken straight from the cask a few days prior. The aromas were herbal, floral and slightly hoppy.

It tasted lovely, there was a lovely bitter hoppy taste with some  juicy sweet fruit coming through along with a touch of malt, the herbal notes from the aroma were also present. This finish was long and dry with that lovely hop bitterness coming though. This was a real winner, it wasn’t quite as sweet and malty as some of their other beers and I really do hope they keep brewing it and hope that it makes it into their bottled range too.

Adnams mysterious 10% ale

I decided to keep the second bottle to share with my brother who popped round later that evening, I popped that open and poured it into a couple of half pint glasses. There wasn’t much head and it was lacking conditioning and carbonation, but the aforementioned neatly handwritten label had warned of this.

The aromas were yeasty and boozy there were also notes of banana, interesting indeed.

The flavour was quite raw yet surprisingly drinkable, there were lots of yeasty esters and malty sweetness, there were just the faintest hints of hops . I couldn’t put my finger on the style of beer, it seemed somewhere between a wheat beer and an IPA, maybe a little bit like a amped up version of Crown Brewery’s Wheetie Bits.

I’ve got a feeling that once the beer is finished and has a bit more fizz and conditioning then this could be a fantastic drink to  share, serve well chilled and sup in the garden on a hot summers evening.  Nice one Fergus.

You can visit the Adnams website here, read Fergus’ blog here, follow him on twitter here, read his meet the brewer here and read my Adnams Beer Reviews here

I was very kindly sent my bottle of Tally Ho by Sean at Adnams who offered to send everyone involved in Beer Swap a bottle to try.

Adnams Tally-Ho

I finally got round to drinking it a couple of nights ago when I was in the mood for a deep dark barley wine style ale so out came the Tally Ho.

It comes in a rather cool little bottle with a lovely traditional style label and It weighs in at 7.2% ABV, It pours a lovely deep dark brown with an almost red hue to it, it had a decent head which surprised me as the reports from other bloggers were that it was almost headless and in some cases completely headless, I wonder if they maybe had their bottle a bit too chilled as mine was at room temperature.

Tally Ho smells exactly as you would expect, dark roasty malt with a hint of smoke, lovely sweet  dried fruit and just a hint of spice, perfect for a cold snowy evening in front of the TV.

It tasted fab, it felt almost silky in the mouth, the roast malt and fruit from the aromas came through into the taste along wtih the spice and a bit of pepper, there was also a sweet almost dark chocoaltely flavour.

Not only had the head surprised me but just how drinkable this was also surprised me, it was amazingly light for such a deep dark beer and is something I could see my self drinking regularly. However, and I can’t believe I am saying this, I do wonder if Tally Ho would benefit from being laid down for a few months before drinking, It’s not something I can usually find my self doing but I might just have to order some to try it with.

Big thanks to Sean for sending it to me!

You can read the Adnams blog here, visit their website here or follow them on twitter here.

Fergus smiles for the camera

What is your brewery capacity?
Our Annual capacity is about 140,000 brls

What is different about your brewery?
Adnams is a mix of the traditional and the modern. We specialise in cask beer, which is seen as a very traditional product but we have modernised the brewing over the past decade and we now have the equipment, and I think the desire, to expand our brewing horizons. We are becoming more experimental in what we do but still keeping our history and tradition at the core. Brewing on the East Coast of England with a view of the Lighthouse and the Sea from your window gives you a certain perspective on your place in the world and so we try to make sure we are a positive influence on our neighbours and the wider community.

How long have you been brewing for?
As Adnams, at the Sole Bay brewery we have been brewing since 1872, I have been brewing for about 12 years.

How did you get into brewing?
I studied Biotechnology and my first job was in a Dairy testing cheese that had been stored at 25oC for a month. I decided fairly quickly that was not for me. In 1995 I got a temporary job at Fullers in the lab when I was 19 and I decided brewing was what I wanted to do. I loved the mix of the creativity and science of brewing. I spent 6 months there before returning to Ireland where I worked at Murphy in Cork for a short while before returning in 1997 to Fullers. I spent 7 more years at Fullers and while I was there I studied for the brewing exams. I worked in most areas of the brewery before finishing up in the brewhouse. Then in 2004 I moved to Adnams as assistant brewer. In 2008 I finished off my Master brewer exams and I took over when our previous Head brewer retired early last year.

What beers do you brew regularly?
Our regular cask beers are Bitter,Broadside and Explorer. While in bottle we do Bitter, Broadside, Explorer,East Green, Lighthouse, Gunhill and now Innovation as well. (Note: Glad to hear Innovation is now regular – it’s truly is an awesome beer)

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
We brew an ever increasing list of seasonal beers. In addition to bringing  Lighthouse and Gunhill out as seasonal cask beers we will be brewing for cask: Oyster stout in Feb, Extra in April and May, Mayday in May, Regatta for the summer months, possibly a Halloween beer, then Old ale for Oct,Nov and Dec and Tally Ho for December, although we will brew that in July and age it until we release in December. We will bottle Tally Ho again next year (but a bit earlier than this year).

We will also bottle a few one off brews next year but I can’t talk about them yet. We are also doing a series of one off cask beers which are our interpretation of different beer styles in cask. We have brewed a Kolsch style, a Belgian abbey style and now a German Wheat. In January we are doing and American IPA, in Feb a Belgian Wheat beer and in March, well of course an Irish dry stout. (Note This was written at the end of 2009 so next year is actually this year – confused – yeah me too ;o) )

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
Hopefully with a wider appreciation for the breath of flavours in beer. I think all brewers will need to be more inventive. I also think brewers need to be more forthright in defence of beer against the anti-alcohol lobby.

What is your proudest moment in brewing?
I have a proud moment everytime someone who says they don’t like beer tries Innovation. At the moment I’m particularly proud of our German Wheat beer and I’m always proud of the way everyone at Adnams puts their heart and soul into what we do.

What was last beer you drank?
Had a taste of our version of a German style wheat beer in cask with Mark Dorber a few hours ago plus a little trial we have in FV43.

What is your favourite hop?
Currently it’s Nelson Sauvign but I’m trying to get hold of some of this years Bramling Cross that I smelled a few months ago, which was fantastic, and a new hop from America called Citra.

What is your brewing ambition?
I love brewing beers that people want to drink and I think my ambition as a brewer is just to do that.

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
I’ve worked under 3 head brewers, Reg Drury and John Keeling at Fullers and Mike Powell Evans at Adnams and learnt something from all of them and I learn something from almost every brewer that I meet. I met a Danish brewer called Per Kølster during the summer and I loved his approach to beer, he was growing malting everything himself and growing his own hops, all his beers are unfiltered and unpasteurised. He was letting his ingredients lead the way to the beer he would create. It was as uncomplicated and as true a reflection of what brewing should be about as I have seen.

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
Oh loads of beers, the last one I tried that I loved was Nils Oscars’ Rokporter

What is your Favourite hobby outside of brewing.
I have a 3 year old son so my main hobby is going to the transport museum and riding around in seemingly endless circles on the old trams. I have a few Bonsai trees that I like to look after when I can.

And there you go – you now hopefully know something about Adnams and Fergus that you didn’t know before. Many thanks to Fergus for taking the time out to complete the questionnaire.

If you would like to find out more about Adnams then check out their website, blog and master brewer blog and follow them on twitter. If you see their beers give them a try, they very kindly sent me some Innovation in 2009 and it really did blow me away, everyone I have given a bottle to has agreed just how tasty it is.

They were also one of the breweries to take part in Beer Swap and did some rather cool videos which you can watch here.

Oh you can also read more about the Adnams beers I’ve had so far here. more coming as soon as i’ve typed them up.

Then the very kind guys over at Adnams said they would send me some to try, it arrived a few weeks ago and I have since polished nearly all 12 bottles off…I did give a couple away to friends to try and their opinions are included below.

Innovation is  Adnams version of an American IPA, it weighs in at 6.7%  and is brewed with blend of hops from England, Slovenia and America (namely Boadicea, Columbus and Stryian Goldings), Innovation was originally brewed to celebrate the opening of Adnams new brewhouse but was such a success it has been brewed again.

Innovation has won lots of awards, Gold In the BBI awards, first in it’s class at the world beer awards and most recently got a gold star in the European Beer Star Awards 2009.

The beer comes in a lovely bottle, it has a kind of embossed with the word Innovation in gold, this definitely gives the beer a premium feel. It is also apparently quite eco friendly too as it takes 30% less energy to produce than most beers.

The beer it’s self pours a lovely golden copper colour with a lovely head, the aromas were of pine, a little hint of floweriness,  hops and lots of citrus with a hint of sweetness.

What I wasn’t prepared for was just how good the beer tasted, it was packed full of flavour, it starts of quite sweet with the hints of toffee and malt, then comes the bitterness in the form of a lovely resinous hoppy flavour and plenty of the citrus that you got in the aromas, the flavour lasts a good while in your mouth too. What was really amazing was just how light it was for a beer knocking on for 7% ABV.

I’ve tried it with curry, chilli, cheese, steak and plenty of other stuff, it goes really well with all of them equally as well.

As I mentioned it earlier I gave a couple of bottles away to friends and family, the general consensus was that it was one of the best beers they had all tried, they were all also surprised at the amount of flavour and how drinkable it was for 6.7% as they were mainly used to drinking session beers of 4-5%

If you want to try it (and I know you do) you can buy it from Adnams or now in single bottles from beermerchants.com for around £2.70 per bottle….well worth it and I for one will be buying another case once I have room for it in my beer cupboard…. Adnams Innovation is one of my ales of the year that’s for sure.

Again it comes in their new eco friendly brown bottle and a % of the profits of the beer go to support the prostate cancer charity which is always nice to see.

Adnams Gun Hill Bitter

The beer pours a lovely dark ruby colour, it is quite aromatic, you can smell the hops, barley and a hint of malt straight away in addition to that It had a nice foamy creamy head.

The beer it’s self  had a quite sweet malty flavour with a hint of spice and a bit of lemon, it has a quite dry finish which makes it really drinkable and a fantastic session beer, it reminded me a little bit of their broadside beer, maybe not as strong and flavoursome but quite a similar taste, you can definitely tell it’s from the same brewery.

If you see it in the shops it’s worth buying along with their Lighthouse

The bottle said it was developed from championship beers and was also a “charity” beer and that Adnams would donate 10p from each bottle to Muscular Dystrophy.

Adnams Lighthouse

At 3.4% its a light brown ale, it poured well with a creamy colour head [Ed: Which doest last long], it smelt nutty and malty, but as you would expect it wasn’t a strong smell.

I was pleasantly surprised with the flavour of the beer as I wasn’t particularly expecting much taste from such a weak ABV beer, it was a very traditional bitter taste with mainly malt and a little hops coming through that gave it just enough bitterness.

Personally I think it would make an excellent session ale and would love to give it a go from a cask, I would also recommend it if you are just getting into ales and don’t like whopping great lip smacking bitter beers.

Another thing of note was the bottle was made from 30% recycled material which can only be a good thing.

Ed: Having tried this for myself I agree with what Moggy says. It is light and uncomplicated which makes it easy drinking. I does have a slightly ‘old fasioned’ brown ale taste but it much lighter than most browns.