Tribute: a masterclass in balance.

Name:Tribute.
Brewery: St.Austell, Cornwall.
ABV: 4.2% (bottle).
Style: Pale Ale
Season: Summer/Autumn

Availability: Available in most good supermarkets.

What I paid: £1.79 (Waitrose).

Try if you like: Bitters, pale ales, Sharps Doombar and Atlantic, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

When I read the words 'Pale Ale' I generally have reservations: my pallet doesn't seem to agree with many (Brewdog Punk for example just hop-blasts me to oblivion!) and the current trend for American IPA's are, in my opinion, overcrowding pumps, cans and bottles with their 'craft' hop barrage. So why did I approach a Pale Ale from St.Austell? Hype. Talk. People seem to have a lot of love for this beer. That and St.Austell's recent aquisition of my beloved Bath Ales made me very curious.

This beer is a masterclass in balance. 

It pours out the most caramel I think I've ever seen a beer: it looks like a shade of golden syrup! On the nose, you'd think it was going to be incredibly fizzy as the hops and zest (what some describe as 'grapefruit') waft nose-ward. However, this is not a gassy number: it's delicately carbonated and not too heavy at all: you could almost session this Cornish beauty.

Surprise came with Tribute when it delivered more than I could ever have hoped for in flavour. It's nose outlines its Pale Ale credentials but in delivery, you get so much more than that: a demerrera sweetness and malty unctuousness is delicately wrapped and woven in and out of hop zest: the drop does a waltz on your tongue in waves - the front hits sweet from the Maris Otter and Cornish Gold malts; at the half-way, you're kissed with the refreshing and zesty cushion of floral hops and then the wave crashes with a biscuity, caramel toffeeness that leaves you with the echoing sea-spray of a light bitter finish. It leaves you wanting more. It takes Pale Ale expectations and delivers an incredibly well rounded bitter finish. All of this expert balance means you could snuggle up with one of these on a cold Autumn evening or crack one open overlooking the lapping ocean on that rarest of occasions a hot summers day (in Britain at least). Pale ale fans have enough of their bitterness and citrus edge to indulge their penchant for the more refreshing end of the spectrum yet those that enjoy a Best Bitter will also find   joy at the bottom of this bottle.

I made reference to Doombar and Atlantic from their neighbours Sharps - imagine them crossed if you can and you're not far off Tribute. Imagine Sierra Nevada with a more caramel edge. I hate to draw comparisons because really this beer deserves singular recognition. Cornwall is a place dear to my heart and they, as a County, cannot help but produce some of the best beer Britain has to offer. Tribute is a fitting tribute to my favourite county in Britain: Cornwall can be very proud of this little lovely and indeed, St.Austell have brewed an absolute champion here. 

I love this beer.

Thank you St.Austell!