Untapped Brewing Co. 'Crystal'

I previously reviewed the Untapped Brewing Co. beers here, here and here, and on the whole they are pretty good, certainly the darker the better with these guys I thought.
They are based in Cardiff, but brew in Gloucestershire, I met them once as they do the rounds of farmers markets here in South Wales and they were very nice chaps. I actually picked this beer up at the Cardiff Discount Supermarket where they had their full range.

This is the most recent beer in their line, Crystal, a wheat beer which is 6.0% abv, I paid £2.45 for it, and it was bottle conditioned.

Great carbonation, 95% of the yeast firmly on the bottom of the bottle. Colour was a golden yellow, nice bubbly off white head.

It was light on the aroma, certainly some sweets, possibly bubble gum, apple and sweet but light tropical fruit.
Taste - a medium body, there is a moderate alcohol presence, very slight citrus but thats beaten back by sweet grain flavours, malts and wheat. Faintly fruity, but minimally so, not much spice or the characteristics i have experienced with other wheat beers. Overall the taste was a bit lacking, not bad just limited.

I think my initial opinion still holds, their darker beers 'Triple S' 'Eclipse' and 'Ember' for me are their best beers and well worth checking out.

Untapped Triple 'S' Simply Superb Stout

Untapped Brewing Co. Triple 'S'  Simply Superb Stout

Triple 'S' Simply Superb Stout is the latest from the Cardiff Untapped Brewing Co.

Again from Untapped comes a lovely clean styled bottle, their label designers are providing some great work, a simple uncluttered yet distinctive look. But thats no good if the beers duff! which it thankfully is not.

Lovely creamy foam light brown head and almost black colour. Good bready malt fragrance with some chocolate and caramel also. Taste wise this is lovely and smooth with a slight bitterness, not to heavy just right. As it warms up comes in a slight harsh caramel tinge and background sweetness balanced well.
Another good beer from Untapped, you can buy their bottles from Real Beer Box or from local Cardiff shops and markets listed on the website.

Bigger Picture

Untapped Brewing Co. 'Ember' 'U.P.A' & 'Sundown'

After the thoroughly enjoyable Untapped 'Eclipse' the other night i decided to get stuck into the rest of their range.   'Ember' at 5.2% is described as a "Winter Warmer" , an ale with three types of roasted malt that give it a good dark colour (see below) with slight tan head. There is a tang and fizz on your tongue, chocolate aroma which then follows through in the taste and its not to heavy either.

In their description of this beer they call it a "strong, old style ale" rather than a stout. I'm not sure i'm knowledgeable enough to know what the difference is with this beer, but i do know its a very good one.


Next up was the U.P.A 4.5%. A light golden pour into the glass, sweet fruit and citrus aroma.
A balance of hops and malt, and a good, medium amount of bitterness follows. Very enjoyable but i would say not particularly distinctive.
Lastly was the 'Sundown' a golden ale which is lively, with a sweet fruit note i couldn't put my finger on, and bready aroma, a refreshing yet dry and bitter end. Superior to the U.P.A. definitely.
In order of preference i would give top marks to the Eclipse, followed by Sundown, Ember and then the U.P.A.

All of these beers, and a few more beside (Marble, Otley, VoG, RCH were ones i picked up), were bought at the excellent Arth Wine in Penarth run by a very knowledgeable and friendly chap called Richard. You can find them next door to the railway station, where they have a walk in chiller section keeping our lovely beers at the exact temperature (9.3`c when i went in!) as well as a great range on the shelves. I will be going back very soon!

Untapped Brewing Co. "Eclipse"

Untapped Brewing Co. are two chaps based in Cardiff, although they brew at Whittingtons in  Gloucestershire. I picked up all four bottles that they produce and started with "Eclipse" their dark ale.
First thing to comment on is the styling, a dark dark brown bottle, obviously made darker with its contents, and a fantastic graphic on the label, great use of minimal colour also, really well done.

In the glass it is a lovely deep dark brown colour with an off white head that stays throughout. A nice roasted malt aroma and taste, light in mouth with good but mild chocolate hits and a moderate bitterness that is satisfying, leaving you wanting another.