BREWER: Elusive Brewing, Berkshire, England

STYLE: Pale Ale

ABV: 4.2%

VESSEL: 330ml brown bottle

TWITTER: @ElusiveBrew

INSTAGRAM: elusivebrew

DATE OF POST: 28th February 2021

 

JYMI SAY’S…

I really like the look of this bottle that Elusive have put forward… even though I don’t think it looks very good at all. Make of that what you will…

I also really like the reason this brew was born. Elusive Brewing teamed up with The Grumpy Goat, a fantastic bottle shop in Reading and The Greyfriar a fantastic crafty boozer also in Reading, to create a beer in celebration of Reading Pride with donations made for every Spectrum bottle, keg or cask sold. Great work!

I ALSO really like the way this pale ale presents in the glass. So thick, so crushable, so enticing.

AND I ALSO REALLY LIKE THIS BEER! It is incredibly fresh and drinkable and I really don’t think a glass would hang around for long on a hot summer’s day. There is a lovely citrus vibe going on with Spectrum and all rounded off by a pretty large bitter finish. It’s a well put together brew there is no doubt about it.

The one thing that left me a touch undecided was the body of this beer. It is very thin. On one hand this makes it very drinkable and crisp which again is great for the aforementioned summers day but it could leave the drinker wanting on other occasions. However I’m actually going down that it’s lightness is it’s genius here.

A very decent beer indeed.

Jymi’s Rating: 82%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Spectrum bites back. When you take that first sip, it really does have a pleasant bitter bite about it. And it’s backed up with a nice hoppy hit.

All in all, this is a very capable beer. It’s different from the crowd; it has its own personality. But it’s not anarchic in its approach. Spectrum is just different enough. Different enough to make you want to chose it above other beers. But not so different that it won’t make you want more.

The whole thing about Spectrum works. It has a good aura about it. It does its own thing in a market that wants beers to do their own thing. I’d be very happy to meet Spectrum in a local pub and I have no doubt that soon I will do, such is the quality of the beers coming out of Elusive.

Importantly, Spectrum is well brewed. I like what the team are doing at Elusive. They’re making good beers. Good beers that are different.

Sammy’s Rating: 87%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 84.5% 

MOB review next weekend: ICELANDIC WHITE ALE by EINSTÖK ÖLGERÐ

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