Occasionally, I’ll put my beer geekery credentials to use and write professional-style tasting notes. Today, I bring you Wellington Brewery’s “Special Pale Ale”

Wellington’s take on an English Pale Ale pours a crystal clear cognac, dark amber colour, with a rich head that looks like delicious French Vanilla mousse. The aromas are true to style, with notes of freshly-baked brown bread, caramel and a hint of ripe prunes. On the palate, the first flavour is of dark bread, which then gives way to a sweeter caramel taste, with a subtle bit of Grand Marnier. There is an ample amount of carbonation, which starts strong and still remains by the fizzy finish. At 4.5% this is a sessionable ale that goes down easy.