Titanic are one of those breweries that may look a little old fashioned at a glance, with slightly tongue in cheek beer names and dated website etc, but actually make some fantastic modern beers. Titanic Stout is still a favourite of mine, it's one of the bottled beers I keep going back to again and again. Perfect carbonation and deeply roasty, malty cocoa flavours that come together in a smooth, hugely drinkable beer. I also really enjoyed the Titanic New York Wheat Porter I tried during one of last years Wetherspoons Real Ale Festivals.
So it was a pleasant surprise on a recent supermarket trip to see a big 'New' sign down the beer aisle and this offering from Titanic next to it.
The daftly named 'Iceberg' (I did warn you) is a combination of Maris Otter pale malt and wheat malt, with Yakima Galena and Cascade hops. Sounds promising.
The clear bottle wasn't really selling it to me if I'm honest, although it did allow me to see the fantastic colour of this brew. For a wheat beer it only has a very light haziness, it's almost clear, with a really nice pale orange hue, more vienna lager than wheat beer.
There's not a lot to pick up on smellwise, just a little crisp hop and a slight lemony freshness. It has an almost pilsnerlike light aroma.
The taste starts lemony and fresh with a very slight light malt, that takes a few sips to pick up on. There's a nice bitter orange pithyness but not that full on orange flavour you would associate with a normal wheat beer. The body is very light and doesn't have much of a traditional wheat beer thickness to it - but the lightness suits the beer and it doesn't ever taste 'thin'. It poured with a thin head but it stuck around.
This is where things get really interesting. Hugely bitter citrusy lemon hops come through in the end and it finishes extremely bitter with massive hop dryness. This is a really clever beer where the hops come through late but huge, the finish is very, very long and that hop bitterness just builds and lingers longer with every sip. It's very refreshing but that dryness just urges you to take another sip. I'm glad it's a relatively low abv because it is just so damn drinkable.
Which brings me to my next point. This beer surprised me. At 4.1% this is a session strength beer that is huge on flavour, something I haven't found in a really long time.
I really enoyed this quite unusual beer, it's got the bitterness in the finish of a great IPA but the refreshing quality of a light wheat beer or great unflitered pilsner. A perfect summer beer. What a find, and easily in time for BBQ season!
which supermarket?
ReplyDeleteSorry should've mentioned that! It was Morrisons, they are £1.75 per bottle or 4 for £5.50, which is really good value.
ReplyDeleteBoth the Titanic Iceberg and Titanic Stout are on that deal (which includes any bottled beers of £1.75 or £1.69). Morrisons have a really good range but it doesnt change that often, so was nice to see some new additions.
Not seen this myself; I've only had the Titanic Stout in bottles - although I've had Iceberg quite a few times on cask over the years and i'm a fan. Will keep an eye out!
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised by it. Such a nice summery beer
ReplyDeleteunfortuantly mine was skunked, shame.
ReplyDeleteSkunky smell or had the beer turned completely?
ReplyDeleteAlways a risk when brewers use clear bottles. Worth trying again though mate, I really enjoyed this beer.
it had a very heavy grass/skunk element, very heavy. Perhaps i used the word skunked in a wrong context then, the beer didn't appear off totally but very heavy grass/green/weed/skunk element, whatever you want to call it!
ReplyDeletesounds like a bad bottle to me, definately wasn't there when i tried it.
ReplyDeleteIt was all lemon freshness
Titanic have 5 pubs opened in the staffordshire area. Mainly around Stoke-on-Trent where it is brewed.
ReplyDeleteThe Best is probably the White Star in stoke. It has 6 regular titanic ales all year round, plus guest beers, so occasionally you can walk in and see a selection of 7 titanic ales to choose from, all of which are unbelievable in taste, and each one different. Ranging from the subtle tastes of 3.5% Steerage, to the quite scary 7.2% Wreckage. All of which are top form beers.
I would deffo recomend a visit.
Cheers 'anon', do you work for the brewery? Why anonomous?
ReplyDeleteI welcome everyone and anyone to comment as long as its useful, which your comment definately is, so thanks for contributing. Those pubs sound great and will definatekly pay a visit if I get the chance.
I'm yet to try a Titanic beer I didnt like. Had an american hopped one recently in The Scarbrough hotel in Leeds that was superb