Shepherd Neame 1698 was the last of my Beer Swap Beers, I know all of the reviews were supposed to have been finished before Christmas but as I received 7 beers plus the 4 test parcel beers, not to mention my trying not to drink during the week (sometimes failing miserably…a bit like tonight really), resulting in it taking a rather long time for me to type them all up, so apologies to @petebrissenden if he has been waiting for my reviews to finish!
Shepherd Neame 1698
Shepherd Neame is one of those breweries that is synonymous with English (and real) ale and is possibly one of the most well known breweries in Kent, so I wasn’t surprised when I opened my Beer Swap parcel to find one of their beers.
Most people will be familiar with their spitfire beer which is avaible in most good supermarkets, quite a few pubs and is a really good ale, in fact it was one of the first real beers I ever drank.
1698 poured a lovely deep amber colour with a bubbly white head, It smelled of sweet fruits, hints of spices and a touch boozy.
Taste wise I really enjoyed it, It was quite sweet and had a distinct caramel flavour that was complimented by the malt and spices with just the faintest hint of hops, the finish was quite sweet and boozy and lasted a decent length of time, I soon found my self polishing off the rest of the bottle before I realised it was 6.5%.
This is certainly a beer I will buy again and I will be on the look out for Shepherd Neame beers I’ve not tried before, if you want to find out more you can visit their website here
One of the few Shep beers I haven’t tried. Having grown up in Kent, it’s difficult not to love Shepherd Neame. My only criticism is that I often find there is isn’t huge variations between their beers. They all tend to have a familarity between them.
If you see it, grab the 2009 Christmas Ale they did (I know its Jan now but I’ve seen them around well into Feb). I really enjoyed it.
I know what you mean about the familiarity between them, I love the Christmas 2009 ale – I had it in a little tea shop on the North York Moors a couple of weeks ago, it was very tasty, but a bit strong at 7.5% for drinking on a lunch time…the 4 mile walk home was a bit harder after a couple of those and some home made goodies from the tea shop.
That’ll be the Shepherd Neame yeast! It put my esteemed colleague Ed off every one of their beers but I like the taste. It is powerful though, and does intrude somewhat, but also gives the SN beers a dimension no other beer has. I find Finger, Goldings and 1698 all very moreish.
Great site – two thumbs up.
Glad you like the site, ive not had goldings for ages
I have to say, this beer surpised me. I expected a typical overly loaded taste, but not at all. A well balanced, crystal clean taste. Very good indeed.
I’m not a drinker, but I recently discovered this 1698 stuff and yes, it’s got something very nice about it. I purchased 3 for 4 in Adfs the other week and called on my girlfriend to purchase some more this week. As I say, I’m not a big drinker, but this goes down a treat. Jusr I can’t make things easier to concatenate on. It’s made sanding wood difficult, and god knows what it’s done to my computer-programming skills. Ellehh..
LOL James, glad you enjoyed it!! thanks for commenting too!