01/07/1997.BEAR INN, 8-10 North Street, WIVELISCOMBE, Somerset, England (FREE HOUSE)

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bottle conditioned. Orange color, hazy. Hints of mandarin and earthy hops in the aroma. Earthy and flowery hoppy flavor with hints of mandarin and butterscotch. Thin. Earthy bitter aftertaste.

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

From Jun 2008

Purchased at Wilbur's Total Beverage in Ft Collins, Colorado.

It pours a clear gold with a huge head of billowy foam. Excellent head retention for the entire session and there is plenty of lacing.

The smell is a nice mix of caramel malt and some fruity notes. Overall, the nose is telling me that this one is going to be on the sweet side with not much of a hop presence. Being an English Bitter, I hope that's what it turns out to be.

The taste turns out as I hoped. Some sweetish tones kick things off followed closely by a nice fresh fruity flavour that soon dominates. The hops are there, of course, but assuming that they're the Goldings, they give this Bitter just a wee touch of citrus just before and through the finish and add the necessary amount of "bitterness" to balance the malt. Well done, me thinks, as I'm finding this 4.3%abv example of the style *very* easy to drink and it's not just because it's low in alcohol; this is a tasty son of a gun and that will stand, for me, on its own.

I have no clue as to the age of this bottle, other than I notice some haziness with the second pour and some....floaties. Ok. Another brew from the UK that, obviously, isn't in its peak condition and I guess I'm getting used to that by now. That's a pity because even though I *know* that it's well past its optimum state...I still find it tasty and very drinkable. A fresh sample would probably make me really go gaga..

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Cask. An overriding yeast aroma and taste from the pint, but I think it was coming to the end of the barrel. Some hops, some malt, but overall not great.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Cask @ Murderers, Norwich. Small head with good duration. Color is golden. Aroma and taste are fruits, flowers, malt and hops. Bitter finish.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Cask @ Gardeners Arms, Norwich. Pours golden with an offwhite head. Aroma of malt, flowers, light sweet fruit, apples. Flavor is light sweet, malt, flowers, fruit. Medium body, soft carbonation, light bitter finish. 180217

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Cask @ Gardeners Arms, Norwich. Clear golden with a small white head. Aroma is sweet, malty and apples. Flavor is medium sweet and moderate bitter. Sweet and light bitter finish. 180217

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Cask at cloisters. Pours clear golden, nose is floral, toffee, light citrus, taste is sweet, lemon, chewy toffee, floral.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Fra cask på Great Western Hotel, Exeter 27 Sep 16. Lys kopperfarget. Lett plomme- / druearoma. Tynn tett lacing. Smaken frisk syrlig frukt. Tørr & bitter etter hvert. Hint av grapefrukt.

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Hazy golden beer with a sort of mottled head of white and amber from the bottle. I assume this has arisen from sediment in the bottle or something. Faint grassy aroma. taste has the same quality, with some zesty citrus coming through from the hop. Other than a faint bitterness there isn’t much flavour which lingers. Nice though.