“Bridge Road Brewers reached the 15th year of brewing in 2019. To celebrate we have continued the tradition of brewing a new yet bigger incarnation of the B2. This year we have stepped things up to reach Mach 9.0.”
Glassware: IPA glass.
Appearance: Pitch black with a dark brown fusion. It conjures up a loosely held layer of foam which doesn’t hang around. Spotty lace sticking to the glass as it subsides.
Aroma: Wow…complex! Our first thoughts are those new dark chocolate and caramel Tim Tams. Followed on with molasses, old leather, toffee, cotton candy, espresso coffee, prunes/dates/stewed fruits, black forest cake, cherry jam, earthy spices and fresh vanilla bean. There’s some really subtle piney notes but they sink in to the rich complexities nicely.
Flavour: Smooth as silk! Lots of vanilla, espresso coffee, creamy lactose, semi-sweet dark chocolate, fruity yeast driven esters and dark fruits like raisin and dates. Belgian candi sugars moving in to a subtle line of hop bitterness mid way. Reverting back to creamy vanilla sweetness and lactose, piney hops and eventually subtle espresso bitterness, roast and ash adding to the dryness in the long finish.
Mouthfeel: Surprisingly lean but we may be getting that confused with its ultra smooth texture. Medium-full body. 12% AbV – pretty well concealed for its size. Co2 is perfectly positioned.
Overall: It’s tough to find any faults in this. We’ll say, it’s far better than last years vintage but that is in no way a criticism of it…it’s just that this is a superior drop. Probably one of then best in the series. Brilliant!