Review: Maid in Leith – Aledvent Calendbeer 13
Beer: Maid in Leith
Brewery: Williams Brothers Brewing Co.
Type: Golden Ale
Served: Bottled
Alc: 4% Vol
Aledvent Calendbeer: 12
The festive season is about home, and Ale to the King has already covered one aspect of that with the Samuel Smith’s India Ale from Yorkshire. But this reviewer may very well soon be buying a home, hopefully in the Shore area of Leith. So if the festive season is about home, then Maid in Leith covers the possible ghost of Christmas future.
On the pour the colour is noticeably bright as sunshine. Its also incredibly transparent and looks like a thin tree sap with absolutely no head at all.
On the nose the summery theme continues (again, this isn’t exactly the most wintery drink); its got dandelions and fresh grass and there’s an unmistakably pollen like smell to it.
The flavour, however, is hard to get hold of. It just comes across as a very generic golden ale that’s not aiming for anything but to please as many people’s palates as possible. There’s a nice fizz on the tongue but the sugary sweetness that goes with it is a little too much for my taste. Its like a little bit too much butter has been added to a recipe and it overpowers the rest of the ingredients.
A little distinction is the slight hints of olive or perhaps olive oil on the mid-taste and especially pronounced by the viscous after-taste. Unfortunately its a little bit of a one trick pony and seems just bland and generic. It only just raises itself above mass produced stuff, but it seems to aspire to be one of those things in itself. A little more alcohol would give this the kick it sorely lacks and it seems a beer designed to fill a nicely designed, trendy label. Its a brew that wants to be sold more than it wants to be a good brew.
Ale to the King. 