Part two of my three part taste of Badger ales brings me to Golden Glory.
Whilst keeping to same dark bottle as the Original, the labels go for something more festive. The ‘Absolutely Glorious’ slogan and flowers give that much away. The Taste Profile box (visible in the blurry photo below) reappears.
The Taste Profile has the sweetness and fruitiness going almost off the scale. The description sheds some light on this. The ‘delicate floral peach and melon aroma’ should explain why the fruitiness is rated so high. The ‘distinctive bitterness’ however seems at odds with the high sweetness and low bitterness on the profile. This is a mystery.
Also getting a mention is reference to an award won. What award it was, we are not told. A welcome sight is that of a higher 4.5% volume. A bigg-ish jump from the Original’s 3.8%. I’m also glad to see that we get a whole 500ml - that’s nearly a whole pint.
Poured into a glass, we get a lighter colour than the Original. And a less frothy head.
Now… we have a mystery to unravel. What is this drink all about?
The first thing that hits you is the smell. Just as full-on as Original, but so different. It’s like smelling a bunch of flowers that happens to be surrounded by lots of peaches and other fruits. Spray an aerosol of fruit scented air-freshener for a similar experience. Alternatively, a cocktail or alco-pop will provide a similar experience.
After you’ve gotten over the shock of an ale that smells of flowers and peach, you can take a tentative sip. Half expecting another blitz on the senses, Golden Glory ale delivers something more palatable. It’s got that bitterness as a base, but on top of that is an aftertaste of flowers and peach.
Taking that much risk with such an unusual flavour, Golden Glory could easily have turned out revolting. Thankfully, it hasn’t. At no point did I find myself think “not another gulp”. Instead, I looked forward to each glug to take in the bizarre combination of tastes and smells.
I have never seen an ale take floweriness to such heights. It would be easy here to write it off as ‘odd’ or ‘eccentric’. Which it probably is. But that could be missing the point. I think those brewers at Hall & Woodhouse are making baby steps towards something that could be much bigger… an ale; for women. Think about it. The peachy and flowery smell and taste. Badger Golden Glory could be the first ale, to make it big with the female drinker.
What do you think? What would you change to make it the women’s ale of choice? Or do you know one that is even better at this task? Leave a comment!
Rating: 3.5 (more if you like flowers)
10 February, 2008 at 6:02 pm
[...] and family owned again after twenty years. We also learn that this is award winning ale. Yet again however, we don’t know what, when, or by whom. If you happen to know, leave a comment [...]
3 March, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I love this beer, but I’m a beer drinker already. Fruit beers however do seem to hold some extra appeal. I also love St Peters Grapefruit ale, St Peters’ Apple & Cinnamon and I don’t object to Kronenbourg Blanc.
Do none of these really appeal to the male palette?
10 August, 2008 at 10:24 am
This is a bizarre ale, way too much peach for my liking, it really does taste like air freshener. After I had half of the bottle I decided to throw the rest away due to the artificial taste that got worse the more I drank. If there was a minute trace of peach I would probably like it….. No, probably not, it tastes too fake.