December 16th, 2009FletchtheMonkeyBarley wine, Beer Reviews, Beer and Food, IPA, Pale Ales

After a hectic day out on Saturday in the bustling streets of York complete with Christmas Market, I needed to relax with good food and beer when I got home. I’d been eyeing up three Harvey’s beers in my cupboard for a week or so and had been planning to drink them all together. Saturday night seemed perfect, with the promise of a hot curry and Christmassy afters.

Harvey’s Blue label

The first of three Harvey’s beers, I was hoping this would nicely wash down a Thai green chicken curry. It’s a coppery pale ale and poured with next to no head. I was expecting something lively from this diminutive bottle, but it was generally flat and a bit watery. Having heard lots about Harvey’s beers my first impressions were a little underwhelming.

It had a really nice, subtle aroma of lemons and limes, and there was a limey tang in the taste. It was super drinkable being soft on the palate with a smooth mouth feel. It wasn’t very bitter (the bottle says a ‘delicate bitterness’ which is an understatement) as you might expect from a beer weighing in at just 3.6% ABV. There was a sweet maltiness in the finish. I believe this beer is dry hopped which may explain some of its character

This did actually live up the bill, kind of accidentally, as it did wash down the green curry well in taste and texture, but I’m not sure this could become a favourite, and I’m not sure I’ve had the best bottle of it. One to give another go…

Harvey’s India Pale Ale

Having found the Blue Label a bit flat I was hoping the India pale ale would have a bit more kick. I was very surprised to see that it packed only 3.2% of alcohol goodness, which is low for most beers let alone an IPA.

I straight away suspected dry-hopping in play (I haven’t been able to confirm this or not yet). The label was actually ripped over the ABV but once I’d managed to repair the tear it definitely said 3.2%. So given the Blue Label was only marginally stronger I approached this bottle with some trepidation.

It immediately had more fizz and bite to it and was a similar complexion to the Blue Label. The gentle carbonisation was pleasant but there’s not a whole lot of taste to back this up. It was clean, simple and refreshing, but it won’t blow your mind hop heads.

Harvey’s Elizabethan ale

Third up of the Harvey’s beers is Elizabethan Ale, a strong barley wine beer. Barley wine isn’t a style I have a lot of drinking experience with, but knowing I had mince pies to follow the Thai green curry (some time later!) this had been one of the reasons I picked the Harvey’s trio.

The aroma was sweet and the taste and texture extenuated this, syrupy and like sticky pudding. At first the spirit-like alcohol taste was quite noticeable (although I had jumped from a 3% beer to one at over 8%!) but after a few sips this dissipated behind peaches and demerera sugar.

This wasn’t overpowering as I’ve found with some barley wines, in fact it seems to be a family quality of the Harvey’s beers that they are easy to drink if a little subdued. Perhaps subtle is a better word. But I like them all and there’s definitely a role for Harvey’s in my beer cupboard.

And barley wine and mince pies kinda works too!

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Tags: Ale, Barley wine, blue label, Elizabethan, harveys, india pale ale, IPA, pale, sussex