Lord Admirel Nelson Special Bitter

I purchased this bottle from the brewery a couple weeks ago. I did so because it had the same name a the Lord Nelson brewery at The Rocks in Sydney, Australia in which I frequented while there. Anyways I got around to tasting it while making Curried Carrot/Sweetpotato Soup, and Hummus on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Appearance: Brown amber with a soapy white head (big and small bubbles) that is well maintained. Lacing is slightly wet. Clarity is sub-optimal, yet enough to let light through and allow for the carbonation (though rare in appearance) to be visible.
Aroma: Rich cara malt backbone from the get go, but topped of with a pine and even tropical hop bitterness. Some fruity esters are present in the form of ripened plums and even cherries. Otherwise the citrus hops really perfume the nose with rich floral and deciduous scent.
Taste: Robust malt flavor of caramel, toffee and toasted barley. Some brown sugar notes, and even a nuttiness. The sweetness really clashes with the hop flavor, which I think Three Floyd's is renowned for doing. While the expectation falls around a malt forward beer, they dosed it with a hefty amount of hops (Amarillo/Simcoe?) to open the doors to another dimension of flavor. I can draw the citrus and tropical alpha acids with an accompanied pine and grapefruit complexity. Almost orange zest!
Mouthfeel: I figured from the level of malt sweetness in this beer, there would be a lot thicker body, however the hops really help balance with a cold bite bitterness to dry the palate while the carbonation works in a similar fashion. Smooth and well textured.
Overall Impression: Wow, I wasn't expecting this much from this beer, especially because they didn't even have it to try at the brewery...bombers only. But nevertheless the diversity of this beer is something matched by few. Way to go guys, keep pumping these new creations out!


Tim: 94/100
Jen: 91/100