Drink Along - Williams Brothers Seven Giraffes

For some reason I haven’t really tried many Williams Brothers beers. There always seems to be something more rare or more interesting to try instead, so I never get round to them. They’ve got a reputation for making good beer and, truth be told, if it wasn’t so easy to get hold of their stuff, I’d probably be more active in trying to track it down.

Seven Giraffes – no, the name makes no sense to me either – is a pale ale brewed with seven different varieties of malted barley, lemon zest and elderflower. It’s 5.1% and immediately has me asking myself: why would you use seven varieties of malted barley?

The aroma is initially quite unpleasant; to me it’s got that classic cider-like aroma that typifies homebrew kits made with large percentages of white sugar. Given a while that seems to blow off slightly, and through comes a lot of malty sweetness, perhaps some honey and then a little alcohol. No sign of that lemon zest and elderflower.

Flavour is initially very sweet, malty and honeyed; a bitterness builds in the finish, going far enough to balance out that sweetness. That initial cidery flavour is nowhere to be found – what was that all about – there’s some slight alcohol warmth and a feeling on strength that’s magnified by a smooth, thick mouthfeel. This reminds me of a heller bock, I think lager fans will enjoy this and it might work better served at a colder temperature.

Despite the initial impression, I quite like this. It’s not really the sort of thing I usually go for but I found it pretty enjoyable. Still no sign of that elderflower and lemon zest though ...

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