Wellington Iron Duke Strong Ale

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 8:36 pm

Felt like something new or new-ish tonight and, intrigued by old faithful's comments, I set out to the LCBO at Wilson and Dufferin for some Trafalgar Portside Amber. Of course, they didn't have it. My fault for not checking the web site first. Anyway, I picked up six Iron Duke, mindful of the advice discussed elsewhere of checking best before dates. Mine is best before 7/25/05, which means, I think, I have a pretty fresh batch. It is excellent! Wonderfully malty and complex, but with a decent hop backbone. Very very drinkable. I'm not up on the nuances of style definition like some in the forum, but I would say it is quite close to a porter. Quite excellent, no matter what you call it.

As an aside, I also noted that Durham Signature carries a "brewed on" date. I wish more micros added this helpful info.

old faithful · Post by **old faithful** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 9:12 pm

Thanks for the report, I'll pick some up. I always admired Iron Duke, it is squarely in the English tradition of savoury old ale and when fresh can't be beat, as evidently you found.

Gary

the.brewer · Post by **the.brewer** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:14 am

In the case of a well "lagered" lager, "brewed on" date serves very little purpose at all, since it is the date that it is bottled or kegged that is of more significance.