St Austell Admiral Ale won Supreme Champion in the International Beer Challenge 2008.

This ale celebrates Nelson’s 200th anniversary at Trafalgar in 1805. Apparently ‘… it was St Austell’s Blue Anchor Inn that the King’s messenger carrying news of the bottle, first stopped for refreshment on his long journey from Cornwall to London’.

Anyway, this premium bottle conditioned ale has been brewed with Cornish Gold malt.

Bottle notes tell is this is ‘… a truly complex beer to savour, best enjoyed when decanted carefully leaving the sediment behind’. Oops! I should have read that before I poured it – but there is nothing here leaving lumps in your ale. Nothing at all.

This ale is brewed with both Styrian Golding and Cascade hops which gives the ale a deep bronze colour and a biscuity flavour and a spicy aroma.

Oh and it’s a 5.0% ale.

The verdict? It’s not hard to understand why this ale has won awards. It’s fruity, malty and downright gorgeous. I’m not really sure what ‘biscuity’ means (I don’t eat biscuits) but it’s irrelevant to me. It’s really great. I’m just upset that I only have one bottle.

This is a great bottle. I’m going to check out hostelries in Cornwall because I can’t imagine how great this would be on tap (if they do that).

I’d score this 4.5+ out of 5. I doubt I’ll find a bottle as good as this for a long time. It really hits the spot and ticks all the boxes. Get some !