Wychwood - Wychcraft

Alright, so last night I dropped the ball on posting a review.  Its sad actually since we have over 10 already written at this point and all I had to do was remember to post.  A poker party until midnight and a few beers caused me to completely forget my posting responsibilities.  So to that I say, my bad.  Hopefully everybody who reads this was out getting a few beers in them anyway.

Today's beer comes to us courtesy of those funny sounding English people from "across the pond".  Wychwood Brewery, located in Oxfordshire, England, was established in 1983.  At the time it was known as Clinch's Brewery until 1990 when it was officially renamed to Wychwood after the ancient medieval Wychwood forests that border the town of Witney, the specific town where the brewery is located.  I must say, their website, linked above, is one of the best brewery websites that I have ever visited.  Its amazingly complex and well thought out. The art is dark and curious.  It almost reminds me of the book Where the Wild Things Are with its color palette and art style.  I love it.

The beer I will be enjoying from this artistically intriguing brewery is their Wychcraft Golden Pale ale.  The label depicts four sinister looking demon/angel creatures amongst a backdrop of what looks to be hops and other foliage.  The label boasts "The four elements combined to make a truly magical brew".  Sounds like Steve Jobs is one of their marketing people... A second, more realistic slogan is displayed across a banner "Thrice Hopped & Golden".  Now that I can get behind.  The head brewer, Jeremy Moss provides us with some tasting notes on the back label - "A pale golden potion with delicate red hues.  Wychcraft has a heady burst of fresh citrus aroma derived from three infusions of Styrian golding hops.  A sprig of gentle warming malty flavor finishes with a dry biscuit note and a counterpoise of bitterness".

The initial color of this brew out of the bottle is almost cloudy.  I'm wondering if this is a bit of chill haze since it quickly becomes clearer as it warms.  The head is minimal and off white.  Aromas off of this pale ale are fruity and citrusy in nature with some malty sweetness included to back everything up.  Traditionally English beers are less hop aggressive when compared to their American counterparts so I anticipate this to be a more balanced example of a pale ale.  The malt sweetness accentuates this difference immediately.  The flavor is a bit underwhelming.  The subtle fruitiness is there along with a bit of citrus in the finish.  The malt sweetness that was in the nose is hardly present in the flavor.  What I get in the flavor tastes like a watered down version of what I smell.  The 4.5% ABV is nowhere to be found and the slight bitterness extracted from the hops helps finish this brew off dry.

Overall 3.8/6.0 - While I need to recognize that English beers are generally less bold than American ones I found Wychcraft to lack in overall flavor and character.  I wanted more malty sweetness from this brew and never got it.  The citrus and fruity flavors apparent in the nose carried through nicely to the flavor.  But the overall beer itself could use a somewhat larger malt backbone to carry those flavors through to the end.  Maybe thats just my American beer bias talking.  See if you can find a bottle and give it a taste yourself.  Its an easy drinker, one that would go good with a light chicken meal or mildly spicy appetizer.