Contact Details
Frog Island Brewery
The Maltings
Westbridge
St James Road
Northampton
01604 587772
http://www.frogislandbrewery.co.uk
Description
a 10BBL brewery with two friendly fellas running it. from what i saw they've got 2 mash tuns, two boilers, and three open topped fermenting beds.
they dont do "tours" as such, but when you walk in to talk to them and or buy stuff (as they do sell to the public) you cant miss the plant.
Beers available
Natterjack 4.8%
Croak & Stagger 5.6%
Fire bellied Toad 5.0%
others are available on cask, but not bottles
Availabilty
direct from brewery or from the local Morrisons and BP garage next door. They export to Europe and other places but can't remember where
Review
I started with the Natterjack, the descriptiong reads: "Natterjack is golden in colour with a sweet and fruity aroma. The recipe combines English Maris Otter and English Wheat Malt with floral english Goldings hops and bitter english Target Hops. The initially sweet taste is followed by floral hop flavours and lingering malty, bitter aftertaste."
Appearance is on the golden side but very light, similar to a dark lager, no head on pouring but there was a nice hiss when the bottle was opened. Although the description states a floral aroma, i'm not sure if my cigarette on the go hid this, but i wasn't picking up much of the aroma. first taste... Wow, the Styrian goldings have definitely hit me with their notoriously grassy first taste. It is, as it states, a very bitter pint. You hop heads will love it, but if you know me, i'm not too keen on bitterness. It did linger. I'm now halfway down the glass and my mouth is adjusting to the grassyness, which is subsiding so i'm getting the target hops and maltness coming through. The grassyness returns though if you leave it a bit (as i am while writing this) between sups. Not a bad pint, but the overpowering goldings make me not want another.
Onto the Firebellied Toad. "This golden-brown ale is brewed from english malts, and just a single variety of hops, Phoenix. the aroma and flavour of the ale exhibits the intense character of the hops. a combination of maris otter , crystal malt and wheat malt provide the perfect balance, and leads to a bittersweet finish."
oooh this one poured out nicely, good head and a lovely crystal clear golden colour. this one looks more like an ale
. Aroma, very floral, sweet and something else i cant put my finger on, it's coming across like a witbier in aroma, very similar to Hoegarrden. It's alluring hehe. First taste was a pleasant surprise, definitely not as grassy, which i was a bit afraid of from the first one. its very mellow. the aftertaste is exactly as it says on the bottle, bittersweet. damn this one's hard to describe... it does taste very basic in nature, you can defintely tell there's only one hop in this, but somehow it does taste whole, and finished, if you know what i mean. This one i'd probably order another of if i was drinking it in a pub or festival.
Croak and stagger. "A Rich, sweet aroma greets drinkers of this dark ale, after a bitter, roasted initial tate, the full bodied and robust flavours of maris otter, crystal wheat, and chocolate malts become more pronounced. these are complimented by the sweet, spicy character of english cascade hops and the lasting bitterness of english target hops."
I popped this open, and poured a lovely stout looking, deep brown pint, with nice white head, similar in appearance to Guinness, without the ruby tinge.. and the smell.... oh the smell.... i can smell the roasted malt from 2 feet away as i'm typing this, and i'm typing as fast as i can to get on with it! hehe.... past the roasted malt, i'm getting floral notes. the cascade is more prominent but the target are definitely there in the aroma. for a stoutly appearance the floral nature is a pleasant surprise. right.... onto the tasting! ooooh that's a taste i've never experienced before... the roasted malt isn't a prominant feature of this beer, surprisingly. It's very sweet, borderline sickly. it's a rather unique experience, the sides of my tongue tingle in confusion between bitter and sweetness. the aftertaste is also unique, while i'm typing this and not drinking, i can still smell the floral nature floating around, the aftertaste and all of the flavours linger subtly on the tongue as if i'm still drinking it. this one seems very well balanced between the cascade and the target, but i think the sweetness would get over powering if quaffed. It's a very nice pint and i'm very pleased to have drunk it, but i'm noticing that this one is going down a bit slower than the others. if only it wasn't quite so sweet, it'd make a lovely quaffing pint. this would go lovely with a savoury meal because of it's subtle nature.
All in all i'm still pleased i live only 2 miles from this brewery. If i can pursuade them, i'll try and get them to sort me out a single bottle of their normally casked ales for a sample review
If you're a hop head, and in the area, i highly recommend you stop by and grab a couple of bottles of the Fire Bellied Toad, and especially the Natterjack.
Frog Island Brewery
The Maltings
Westbridge
St James Road
Northampton
01604 587772
http://www.frogislandbrewery.co.uk
Description
a 10BBL brewery with two friendly fellas running it. from what i saw they've got 2 mash tuns, two boilers, and three open topped fermenting beds.
they dont do "tours" as such, but when you walk in to talk to them and or buy stuff (as they do sell to the public) you cant miss the plant.
Beers available
Natterjack 4.8%
Croak & Stagger 5.6%
Fire bellied Toad 5.0%
others are available on cask, but not bottles
Availabilty
direct from brewery or from the local Morrisons and BP garage next door. They export to Europe and other places but can't remember where
Review
I started with the Natterjack, the descriptiong reads: "Natterjack is golden in colour with a sweet and fruity aroma. The recipe combines English Maris Otter and English Wheat Malt with floral english Goldings hops and bitter english Target Hops. The initially sweet taste is followed by floral hop flavours and lingering malty, bitter aftertaste."
Appearance is on the golden side but very light, similar to a dark lager, no head on pouring but there was a nice hiss when the bottle was opened. Although the description states a floral aroma, i'm not sure if my cigarette on the go hid this, but i wasn't picking up much of the aroma. first taste... Wow, the Styrian goldings have definitely hit me with their notoriously grassy first taste. It is, as it states, a very bitter pint. You hop heads will love it, but if you know me, i'm not too keen on bitterness. It did linger. I'm now halfway down the glass and my mouth is adjusting to the grassyness, which is subsiding so i'm getting the target hops and maltness coming through. The grassyness returns though if you leave it a bit (as i am while writing this) between sups. Not a bad pint, but the overpowering goldings make me not want another.
Onto the Firebellied Toad. "This golden-brown ale is brewed from english malts, and just a single variety of hops, Phoenix. the aroma and flavour of the ale exhibits the intense character of the hops. a combination of maris otter , crystal malt and wheat malt provide the perfect balance, and leads to a bittersweet finish."
oooh this one poured out nicely, good head and a lovely crystal clear golden colour. this one looks more like an ale
. Aroma, very floral, sweet and something else i cant put my finger on, it's coming across like a witbier in aroma, very similar to Hoegarrden. It's alluring hehe. First taste was a pleasant surprise, definitely not as grassy, which i was a bit afraid of from the first one. its very mellow. the aftertaste is exactly as it says on the bottle, bittersweet. damn this one's hard to describe... it does taste very basic in nature, you can defintely tell there's only one hop in this, but somehow it does taste whole, and finished, if you know what i mean. This one i'd probably order another of if i was drinking it in a pub or festival.Croak and stagger. "A Rich, sweet aroma greets drinkers of this dark ale, after a bitter, roasted initial tate, the full bodied and robust flavours of maris otter, crystal wheat, and chocolate malts become more pronounced. these are complimented by the sweet, spicy character of english cascade hops and the lasting bitterness of english target hops."
I popped this open, and poured a lovely stout looking, deep brown pint, with nice white head, similar in appearance to Guinness, without the ruby tinge.. and the smell.... oh the smell.... i can smell the roasted malt from 2 feet away as i'm typing this, and i'm typing as fast as i can to get on with it! hehe.... past the roasted malt, i'm getting floral notes. the cascade is more prominent but the target are definitely there in the aroma. for a stoutly appearance the floral nature is a pleasant surprise. right.... onto the tasting! ooooh that's a taste i've never experienced before... the roasted malt isn't a prominant feature of this beer, surprisingly. It's very sweet, borderline sickly. it's a rather unique experience, the sides of my tongue tingle in confusion between bitter and sweetness. the aftertaste is also unique, while i'm typing this and not drinking, i can still smell the floral nature floating around, the aftertaste and all of the flavours linger subtly on the tongue as if i'm still drinking it. this one seems very well balanced between the cascade and the target, but i think the sweetness would get over powering if quaffed. It's a very nice pint and i'm very pleased to have drunk it, but i'm noticing that this one is going down a bit slower than the others. if only it wasn't quite so sweet, it'd make a lovely quaffing pint. this would go lovely with a savoury meal because of it's subtle nature.
All in all i'm still pleased i live only 2 miles from this brewery. If i can pursuade them, i'll try and get them to sort me out a single bottle of their normally casked ales for a sample review
If you're a hop head, and in the area, i highly recommend you stop by and grab a couple of bottles of the Fire Bellied Toad, and especially the Natterjack.
