Sussex Best
(has 2 batches)
Harvey's Brewery in Lewes, East Sussex, England 🏴
Bitter - Ordinary / Best Bitter Regular|
Score
6.56
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Sussex Best is our most famous beer, a superbly balanced bitter with prominent hop character. The brew evolved over decades, satisfying the expectations of the people of Sussex and its adjoining counties. Finest Maris Otter malted barley is supplemented with a dash of Crystal malt for balance. Our hops are a blend of four different local varieties, to give a distinctive hoppy finish.
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7.6/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
2008-11-07, Cask Conditioned at Coal Hole, London, 7-5-7-4-15=38
Amber color; small compact head; beautiful lace. Light apples aroma, malt, grassy; later, freshly cut grass and Alpine flowers (they have a milder smell). The body is medium to thin, this Ale doesn’t surprise in the front, but later a good caramel flavor, with some sweetness and a fruity note comes out, and the body as well gets rounder. Very good.
2008-09-22, cask conditioned at Cockney Pub, Århus, 8-5-7-3-16=39
Bright amber color; thick head, sticky lace. It has a beautiful aroma, with malt, hops, sweet, earthy, grassy, light fruitness and light manure. Good body, strong caramel flavor, quite strong bitterness, good English hops. Dry and quite powerful final. Wow, I didn’t remember it so good!
2005-10-30, Cask at the Market Porter, London, 6-4-7-4-14=35
Beautiful hazy amber color; thin creamy head. Light grassy aroma. Good malty taste, correctly bitter, but the malts are too much mellow, not enough biting. Good.
Amber color; small compact head; beautiful lace. Light apples aroma, malt, grassy; later, freshly cut grass and Alpine flowers (they have a milder smell). The body is medium to thin, this Ale doesn’t surprise in the front, but later a good caramel flavor, with some sweetness and a fruity note comes out, and the body as well gets rounder. Very good.
2008-09-22, cask conditioned at Cockney Pub, Århus, 8-5-7-3-16=39
Bright amber color; thick head, sticky lace. It has a beautiful aroma, with malt, hops, sweet, earthy, grassy, light fruitness and light manure. Good body, strong caramel flavor, quite strong bitterness, good English hops. Dry and quite powerful final. Wow, I didn’t remember it so good!
2005-10-30, Cask at the Market Porter, London, 6-4-7-4-14=35
Beautiful hazy amber color; thin creamy head. Light grassy aroma. Good malty taste, correctly bitter, but the malts are too much mellow, not enough biting. Good.
Tried
from Cask
on 18 Dec 2005
at 14:16
5.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 3
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Thin, coarse, white head; clear red-brown body. No discernible aroma. Mild, malty taste, very clean; bitter, but not too much so. Aftertaste rather dry, with citrusy/piney notes of hop (EKG?). Some sweetness. Light, drinkable, and not too boring. (On tap at White Horse.)
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Dec 2005
at 11:45
9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 10
Cask at The Pilot, Maidstone, Kent. This is such a distinctive beer. A flowery hop and yeast nose leads to quite a sour hoppy flavour and a good bitter hop aftertaste. At times I would go miles to have a pint of this, other times the sourness sometimes puts me off. Very good though 3.5/5 Re-rate, The Bowl Inn, Hastingleigh 14/04/07 Almost the perfect bitter, lovely aroma, character and malt in the mouth and good biting hop finish. Great condition, great flavour. The Harp, Chandos Place 2011, it’s like the beer on turbo, fantastic delineation of flavour.s The Royal Oak 2013, THE perfect Best Bitter in my opinion.
Tried
from Cask
on 30 Jun 2005
at 10:38
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Cask. Dark copper colour. Rocky white head. Nice refreshing, sourish aroma, fruity and grainy hoppiness. The bitterness has a certain sourness and fruitiness to it which is quite nice. Long, rough, fruity aftertaste. This beer is strangely appealing.
Tried
from Cask
on 09 Jun 2005
at 17:13
9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
Cask conditioned at the White Horse, Parsons Green, London. Copper colour, moderate to low head. Very aromatic, dark fruits and barnyard. Dry hopped in the cask? Interesting hoppy and spicy bite from start to finish. An excellent bitter! (A pint I had later at The Tottenham was not nearly that good. A well kept cask is a must!)
Tried
from Cask
on 10 Mar 2004
at 16:06