Comparisons: Bristol Beer Factory: Acer: Project Progress

Now this one is more of an addendum that a tasting note, something neat and unusual.  I’m glad I got a chance to try this one, one of fewer than seven hundred bottles.  This beer, BBF’s Acer has so far been a tap only beer, a fact that caused me much consternation when I found out due to the fact it uses the sorachi ace hop with which I am so enamored. In fact on the tour they kept it pretty damn quiet that they were playing with this thing, a bottled version of Acer. Considering how much I was bugging them about it that must have been no mean feat.  Apparently they have been having great trouble making the beer work in bottles, this, project progress is their first attempt which they considered worth releasing and is hopefully a sign of a full release soon.

Now visual wise this thing top trumps even the tap, the head is massive and sturdy  a ground lemon skin colour with a hazy lemon to apricot body when you do a full sediment pour. Aroma again knocks it out of the park, lots of the sorachi ace bubblegum and lemon with some pine and resin mixed in. Even a touch of unexpected strawberry which just made me go wow.

So two for two, not just matching the style of the tap version but if anything bettering it.  Now we are onto the being a picky little git part of the write up. The body is still pretty good and matches the style of the tap well, however it seems to need larger sips to get the flavour going.  When you take it on smaller sips it doesn’t quite have the punch, seeming more like a standard bitter than the lemon citrus and resin that comes on a mouthful.  The body always did tend towards the bitter base of the style, but I feel in the bottle it could maybe do with just a bit more.  Finally the finish is pretty spot match with a very dry hop finish, more lemongrass and the digestive biscuits come out massively. Lots of hop oil texture.  Only problem really on this emphasis is the body and finish work against each other for purpose. The more large mouthful body calls to a session ale, which matches the abv. The massive dry and hop oil finish would make me think of more a take your time beer.

Still, I am being sodding picky.   But heck, for something called project progress it’s probably the best time to be. Still it matches very well to the memory of the tap version, and its flaw in the body is mainly a slightly more emphasised version of my only real complaint about the tap version.

If they released it as is I would be very happy to have it available. If they manage somehow just to tweak it that touch I would quickly become ecstatic.  Here seeing what happens next.

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