An unusually warm 70 degree November day in Ohio made Wychwood’s Fiddlers Elbow seemed a perfect fit for my Saturday evening. Described as a beer that “evokes the lazy, hazy days of summer in golden meadows & ripe corn fields,” I assumed a light and fruity beer. To some extent it was, and to some extent it wasn’t. I would love to see the actual grain bill for this beer, as Wychwood was slightly ambiguous (as would I be, were I a brewer).
The Pour:
Describing beer is as subjective as personalities are unique. Described by Wychwood as Golden in color, I expected a a blonde hazy liquid to enter my glass. On the contrary the color was more along the lines of an English Pale ale, only a tad lighter in color. There was a slight haze and a rich white head that left great lacing designs as it slunk into the beer.
The Nose:
Up front are classic toasted/biscuit malt aromas. Buttery and coppery aromas mingle with floral and grassy hop notes. There is a hard to pinpoint fruity aroma in there too. With my nose in the bouquet of smells, I can imagine the summery, hay like nature of this beer. But at the same time, there is a richness to it that screams of fall.
The Taste:
Like the appearance, the beer was less “wheat like” and summery than anticipated. In fact, it reminded me almost of a lite ESB. Very bready with distinct caramel and buttery tones that I have come to love from certain English yeast strains. These diacetyl qualities, mixed with the light and crisp wheat tones, yield a more complex beer than meets the eye. The deliciously light and fruity (I thought cherries) hop flavors did make for refreshing beer. However, perhaps because I am not British and lived in hot and humid (in summer) Missouri, I thought this to be more of an early fall day.
Overall Thoughts:
Like other Wychcraft beers I’ve had, this beer doesn’t disappoint. While refreshing, and a great session beer, it didn’t blow me out of the water, though. Were it priced better, I’d stock up on these for an early fall camping trip.
Nate’s Rating:
Overall Satisfaction: 
Among other English Pale Ales:
So I have a confession to make: I still have not tasted the Fiddler’s Elbow! My brother and his roommate came up last weekend and they distracted me with too many other beers, including a few Belgians. I had been putting off the Belgian beers until I had worked my way through the other styles, but too late for that now!
We sampled Delirium Nocturnum Strong Dark, Grimbergen, and Hoegaarden (which I’ve had many times). The other beers we tried were the new Alaskan Winter Ale, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, and Wychwood’s Scarecrow.
They also brought me a little treat: Sam Adams Chocolate Bock in the Limited Edition bottle.
Needless to say … a good time was had by all. And I will get to the Fiddler’s soon!
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I am jealous scott! I still haven’t tried Sam Adams Chocolate Stout. Also, I am a HUGE Delirium Nocturnum fan. How did you like it? No worries, take your time! Rushing a beer is never a good thing!
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It’s hard for me to form an opinion on the Nocturnum since I really don’t have the baseline established for this type of beer yet, but I will say it was a very good brew. The thing that really struck me was just how prominent the yeast aromas are in this style of beer (and the Grimbergen as well.) I think my first reaction was, “WOAH!!! SERIOUS YEAST!”
Can’t wait to try more beers in this style … any that you, Mike or your other readers consider “must try” Belgians? (Sorry … don’t mean to take this review off track … great review BTW!)
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[...] not, these English Ales are all worthy of a try (or two). Nate has already written the review of Fiddler’s Elbow, so here are the other [...]
Man … Am I behind! I’m just now sitting and enjoying the Fiddler’s Elbow. (Better late than never.) I really like this beer and agree with your review, as this is a sessionable brew. I am also picking up on the “fruit-like” notes in the beer; Nate said, “Cherries.” For some reason I immediately thought of waffles with maple syrup. Call me crazy. There’s no maple in this beer, but the beer even has a maple syrup like color!
Fiddler’s is a very good beer and another winner from Wychwood.
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I think one could also make the case that it’s similar to Newcastle in a lot of ways (but better).
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