Have you ever waited for ages to sample a particular beer, and been underwhelmed when you finally tried it? Here in the Low Weald, beers from Thornbridge Hall are as rare as hens' teeth, so when our local Waitrose stocked them I was delighted. At the weekend, I settled down to drink a bottle of Jaipur and Kipling, both beers that the cognoscenti rave over.In both cases,the beer was highly carbonated,so much so that the flavour and aroma were muted. As a control, I had a bottle of Westerham's Viceroy IPA, a beer that I am familiar with, but hadn't drunk for a while, mainly because of the cost.Here, the beer was naturally conditioned, and the level of carbonation much gentler, with a consequential depth of flavour.
Am I being obtuse in prefering my bottled beers to be "real ale in a bottle"? I accept that natural conditioning can be spoilt by the hands of a less well trained brewer, and that it probably doesn't improve bog standard sub 4% ABV ales, but firms as proficient as Thornbridge Hall should be able to carry out the process to perfection.
Good beers, but inapropriately presented.Ii'm still waiting to try them from the cask (and preferably on gravity!).