Ogham Oak

Brewery: The Celt Experience

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Today I'm going to do a horizontal tasting of the Ogham range from The Celt Experience in Wales. This series is named after a secret code used by Gaulish druids and is a series of three big beer styles. Oak is the first I'm going to try in the series (Ash and Willow will follow) and this is a Belgian Tripel brewed with Orange peel and Cinnamon, using american hops and yeast from Flanders. Its namesake Oak is the wood that implies Strength and Wisdom. I served this at room temperature.

Appearance: A bright clear golden colour with a slightly thick head that reduces a little.

Aroma: Funky lemon notes twinned with sweeter notes that are slightly malty but also have some freshly made lemonade characters. 

Flavour: Typical Belgian malt notes on the front; followed by fresher, citrus notes, that have a slight funk - formed from hops and yeast.

Body: Medium body, quite smooth and thick on the end, but too fizzy.

Aftertaste: This funk increases in the back, coupled with a puckering. The flavours become a bit more green, there are also hints of peanuts. There is also a salty note in here, that becomes more prominent with drinking.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, very close to an 8 but there are just a few things off like the fizz and the green notes don't really work; there is also something missing that is needed to round it out. Not getting any cinnamon from it, but that is probably good as I don't think being strong enough to identify it would go well.

Price Range: £2.48 for a 330ml bottle, a very good price.

Food Pairings: Some sort of crustacean, probably prawns covered in lime and coriander.