Review: Wells' Banana Bread Beer

Alright, here goes a first attempt at reviewing someone else's beer. But please be gentle. It's my first time.

Now that the requisite virginity joke is out of the way, let's get down to brass tacks: this is one fantastic beer. It is, according to other review sites (not to be found on the bottle or the company's site), an English Strong Ale, which apparently are "generally malty with minimal to low hop presence (beerpal.com)." That seems like a fitting description of this beer. Aside from the strong banana flavor, the primary taste is the malt, which mixes nicely with the fruity banana flavor. The hops are just along for the ride, though they provide a nice spicy undertone to the overall flavor and come through more strongly in the aftertaste. Sure, they might use 'banana flavor' in addition to their FairTrade bananas and natural mineral water, which might account for the rather intense (in my opinion) flavor. But that flavor, whatever its origin, balances and blends easily with the malts and hops. Each ingredient has its own role to play: the malts provide a base, ensure a certain stability and definition to the drink; the banana counteracts and balances the traditional malt flavor with a light and fresh feeling; and the hops leave just enough bittering, not too weak or too strong both in the initial taste and aftertaste, to leave you wanting more.
So the overall review for this beer? Outstanding? Excellent? How about just, you know, great. A fine and unique flavor that could have been a mess (I mean really, bananas? in beer?) but succeeds beautifully.