Exciting things are happening at Adnams. After years of inspirational leadership by head brewer Mike Powell-Evans, who retired a couple of years ago, the company is now building on the huge respect it enjoys among beer connoisseurs with new thinking from Mike’s successor, Fergus Fitzgerald.

The classics – Adnams Bitter and Broadside – remain in place and are as good as ever. But, Fergus, riding the wave of adventure that is crashing through the brewing industry, is taking this Suffolk seaside town brewery into uncharted waters, building on new developments initiated by Powell-Evans in his last years at the helm.

A good example is the range of ‘World Beers’ that the Southwold business began offering on draught last October. The range has so far included Kölsch Beer, Belgian Abbey Ale, American Style IPA, Belgian Style Witbier and Irish Dry Stout.

You can also consider the wide selection of bottled beers now available: the low-strength bitter Lighthouse; the blond Explorer; the carbon-neutral East Green; the mild/old ale Gunhill; the US IPA-style Innovation; and the recently-released Spindrift, a version of their premium keg bitter, in a striking blue bottle.

Another recent development is the launch of a bottle-conditioned beer. For the brewery’s first foray in this direction for many years, Fergus has chosen a stalwart of the Adnams range.

Earliest Days

Tally-Ho, in fact, hails from the earliest days of Adnams in Southwold. The brewery dates it to 1880, not long after the business was acquired by George and Ernest Adnams in 1872.

Stylistically, the 7.2% beer has been dubbed a barley wine. It is generally brewed every October for sale around Christmas in selected pubs, although last year it was brewed in July, to allow the beer more time to mature.

It pours a bright ruby colour – courtesy of pale, crystal and brown malts in the mash tun – and lifts a complex aroma to the nose: powdery chocolate and toffee, joined by light, winey dried fruits as the beer warms in the glass.

The ruddy hue and the chunky malt witnessed in the aroma lead you to expect a beer with full body and depth. You’re not disappointed. Malt fills the mouth, sweet and rich, redolent again of chocolate and toffee.

Some winey fruit wafts around the palate and faint suggestions of marzipan and sasparilla trickle through. The strength is obvious, bringing a pleasant warmth and a slightly vinous catch to the throat, but in no way hinders the fine balance of flavours.

Hops know their place in a beer like this, and it’s primarily to provide bitterness to balance the sweetness of the malt. For the most recent brew, Fergus selected Boadicea and First Gold hops, both known for their fruity profiles, so perhaps a little of the fruit quality also derives from their influence.

Sometimes even the tastiest beers fall away in the finish. Not so here. The end is protracted, laced with winey alcohol, dark chocolate and toffee, before bitterness takes over and dryness has the last word. Satisfying is, for once, a particularly appropriate term.

The beer is presented in 330 ml bottles, which strikes me as a good idea. This is such a rich and complex beer, intense and rather heavy in places, that a full half-litre might be a little too much. Unless, of course, you find someone to share it with.

And, with the reputation that Adnams enjoys, there should be no shortage of takers.