Shepherd Neame Spooks Ale (Bottle)
Bottle: Filtered.
A classic beer of true quality, Spooks Ale is characterised by its huge biscuity malt palate, derived from three traditional roasted barley malts used in this brew, giving a glorious deep red hue. The excitingly complex malty flavours are wonderfully balanced by a huge citrusy, hoppy bitterness and aroma from a particularly fruity hop added at four stages in the brewing process.
A classic beer of true quality, Spooks Ale is characterised by its huge biscuity malt palate, derived from three traditional roasted barley malts used in this brew, giving a glorious deep red hue. The excitingly complex malty flavours are wonderfully balanced by a huge citrusy, hoppy bitterness and aroma from a particularly fruity hop added at four stages in the brewing process.
3.2
151 reviews
Faversham, England
Community reviews
Bottle - 500ml. Brown body with average carbonation and a thin off-white foamy head. Well balanced malty/hoppy aroma with some grown sugar and biscuity hints. Its robust taste is slightly dominated by hoppy flavors. It carries woody, spicy, and brown sugar notes. Ends with a long, strong bitter finish. Enjoyable everyday Bitter.
Pours dark brown with a beige head. Aroma is very malty, loads of caramel and earthy malts with some sweet hop bitterness. Taste is a little smokey roasty flavouring with a small floral hop bitterness. Nice drink for the halloween stroll around the neighborhood.
Bottle morrisons. Amber ok head. Aroma is fruity malts toffee. Taste same some metallic nice bitter finish. Medium body. Ok stuff.
Has scuttle sweetness to it, aroma of light chocolate. It pours light red, and has bit of a brownish head. Tastes great, and has medium texture. Realy pleasant after taste of almost smoke like Balfour.
Not horrible, just not so drinkable. Foamy head. Malty, sweet and uninteresting. LCBO.
500 ml bottle. Pours a clear copperish dark amber with a resilient white head. Aroma is biscuit and a hint of fruit. Flavor is biscuit, spicy caramel, red berries. Finish is very lemoney and grapefruity. Good bitter punch. Lingering citrus flavors. Medium body, soft and creamy mouthfeel, average carbonation.
500ml bottle, dark amber-copper color, with a frothy bubbly white-beige head, with a nice soft biscuity, toasted, caramel, bready malty nose, with some toffee, light fruity dried raisin, sugar pie crust accents, with a toasted bread crumbs, bran muffin, faint spicy floral leafy hop note in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a good grainy biscuity, caramelized, toasted, bready malt, toffeeish, earthy flowery leafy, grassy hop character, with some faint roasted grind coffee bean, burnt toast, bran muffin, tobacco leaf, dried fruity raisin sugar pie crust flavors, leading towards a grainy biscuity maltiness, fruity, toffee, lingering earthy leafy, grassy, citrus hoppy, mild lingering roasty bitterness finish.
(Bottle) Darkish amber colour with frothy, beige head, leaving traces of lacing. Malty, fruity nose with notes of dried apricots, orange peel, dried fruit, honey and toasty, biscuity malt. Malty, slightly toasty taste with dried apricots, brown sugar, dark bread, orange peel and a certain citric bitterness in the finish. Medium body, with balanced sweetness. Well balanced and tasty. Quite enjoyable.
Bottle: Poured a clear brown color ale with a rather large foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma consists of light dry biscuit malt with some light bitter notes. Taste is dominated by dry biscuit malt with light roasted malt notes with some light dry bitter hops notes also noticeable. Body is about average with good carbonation. Enjoyable but a little bit too much toasted malt notes for my taste.
Pretty good for a bitter. Average carbonation, pours orange. Well balanced, good for style. Bottle.
bottle a dark golden yellow amber colored beer with a white head aroma malts spicy fruits and hops flavor malts spicy fruits and some hops
Bottle from the LCBO. Autumn-amber colour with a big off-white head that falls back to a thin but lasting cap. Aroma of toasted malt with some light roastiness and a squeeze of citrus oil. Flavour has a great malty base - very toasty, but earthy, some slightly burnt brown sugar, sweet barley cereal, hint of cocoa - balanced by a healthy dose of hops that offer notes of citrus and pine, culminating in a very nicely bittered finish. Very enjoyable!
Sweet, fruity aroma but hard to get any real nose from it, subtle, somewhat vanilla. Deep red with minimal light head. Pretty standard ’supermarket beer’ but has some character, metallic malty.
Bottle 500 ml
Aroma: sweet toasty feel, slight nutty touches, slight pepper , some vanilla sugar.
Apperance: poured as clear amber colored ale. Medium slightly tanned beige cap . Sparse lace on glass walls.3+
Taste/Palate etc. medium bodied with that thin walls. Clean toasty malt mid with nutty woody bitter side and top end. Touch of black tea. Very nice clean straight bitter.
pours clear dark golden with a small whtie cap, little retention and no lacing. plain caramel, sweetish honey toasted malts, some fruitiness, pepper, grass, dash of earth and nuts. average carbonation, light body - watery, short grassy-peppery finish. boring and completely forgettable. meh. DP.
Deep amber pour with a thick sticky off-white head. The nose is quite spicy with a nice rich maltiness. It has a very lovely earthy sort of bitterness along with some peppery flavour. More assertively bittered than many examples of the style. Pretty nice pint really.
(bottle) clear amber colour with a tan tan head; aroma of biscuit; bit creamy texture; rich and roasty flavour, dry, with long medium bitter finish
Chestnut brown with offwhite head. Light aroma of bready malts but I really can’t pull much more out of it. The body of the beer is really smooth and encompasses the beer really nicely. Flavour is rich & full, nutty malts with a mild citrusy twist lingering in the background.... flavour eases of to a mellow aftertaste.
Bottle [500ml]. Pours a deep orange-amber with a large lasting fluffy off-white head and some lacing on the glass. Aroma of biscuity malt, nuts, light hops, some fruit and light diacetyl. Flavour has some "bottle" up front followed by biscuity malt, lightly toasted, and with spices, toffee, light hops and an average bitter finish. Average bodied. Just O.K., I was hoping for better.
500ml bottle from Morrisons, Ayr - clear brown ale, foamy off-white head, biscuit malt aroma, intermittent lacing, moderate carbonation, malty flavour, balanced by some fruitiness, but I don’t get a citrus hit from this one, refreshing, easy to drink
500ml bottle from mr_h. Reddish orange brown, big foamy head. Oaty spicy grain malt aroma. Slightly metallic oaty malt flavour. Sharp with bitter aftertaste. A decent bitter.
500 mL bottle. Dark copper brown with a small beige head. Looks pretty good. Nutty, malty aroma. Smells pretty good. The flavour is a little thin, but the sweetish maltiness is there early, and there is plenty of bitterness in the finish. Nothing exciting, but pretty solid overall.
500 ml bottle from LCBO. Pours a clear, dark amber colour with large eggshell-coloured head. Aroma is caramel, toasty bread, and earthy/herbal note. Flavour is fairly toasty malt with notes of caramel, bread and fruit as well as a decent earthy, herbal bitterness. Medium body. Not bad.
Dark mahogany pour, small beige head. Sweet malty nose, bread, and caramel malts, with subtle cherry notes. Body is good, carb is solid. Finish is quite bitter, and smooth. Good dose of UK hops, and nutty malts.
500ml bottle. Pours a clear caramel colour with a three finger, fluffy off-white head. Carbonation rising to the top.
Aroma is large with notes of bread, caramel, and a bit of an earthy roastyness .
Taste is a a malty bitter with a slightly roasted aftertaste.
Low-medium body with a medium carbonation. Slightly fizzy (probably force carbonated) with a clean mouth feel.
Overall not bad. Great branding with an appealing label. The roasted flavour is interesting. Kind of like a black lager/black IPA. Might buy again if I was in the mood for an ESB. Cheers!
Raised in celebration of Myles. You will be missed. Go play with your buds!!!!!
500ml bottle from the LCBO. amber with a small tan head. fruity, hoppy, and english malt nose. balanced flavour. quite a lot going on for a 4.7% ale. liked this one.
bottle - pours a clear amber-red 1 finger off white cap reduces quickly to a surface lace, but does lace the glass well. Modest carbonation, Nose is malty caramel, some leafy hops - flavour follows nose - caramel, golding bittering in good balance clean bitter finish with a decent hop bite at the end - nice little bitter but nothing spectacular.
500 ml bottle from LCBO, served cool in a tulip glass.
App.: Clear copper with a fair tan head.
Aroma: Earthy, woodsy malts, a little caramel, roasted grains, light diacetyl, a touch of fruitiness, a little toffee/treacle, quite stark.
Palate: Medium body, moderate effervescence, a little astringent.
Flav.: Quite dry and stern, some hints of caramel/toffee/treacle, a little citrus, unbalanced bitterness, a little woodsy, harsh; dry with harsh and forceful bitterness and a long, unpleasantly stern finish.
I spent the day rating lousy ESBs. Why am I drinking this??
Bottle from Asda. Auburn red in colour with a bubbly head. It has a grainy sweet aroma but the grain really comes into its own within the taste as its very tasty.
Bottle @ Christers. Pours copper with a creamy offwhite head. Aroma of malt, light caramel, grass, herbs. Flavor is malt, caramel, nuts, grassy hops. Medium body, soft carbonation. 030713