5.9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 5.5

Cask at the Nags Head, Covent Garden, 16/07/18. Clear golden copper with a decent egg shell white head. Nose is straw, grains, biscuit, fruit esters. Taste comprises brown bread, straw, a touch twiggy, grains, biscuit, fruit rinds. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, semi drying close with modest bitterness. Passable bitter.

7

Benchmark bitter really

6.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 5.5

Handpull cask at the George IV, Sawbridgeworth. Golden brown, clear with a foamy white head and lots of lacing. Nutty and slightly astringent nose. Toffee, caramel. Taste is bittersweet with a sweetness from the malt balanced by a bitter tang from the hop. Some sulphur in the aftertaste. Probably much better as a light mild. Hops seem out of place somehow.

5.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Cask at the Woolpack - I believe that this is a pale mild and it certainly has a level of sweetness that you would associate with the type. No real hops, just quite an overpowering sweetness that I didn’t enjoy. Creamy mouthfeel, but I think that was due to the tap.

6

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

Cask @ McMullen Covent Garden. Clear rusty chestnut orange color, average sized creamy beige head. Smell and taste malts, a bit nutty, caramel, lightly bitter. Average body, soft carbonation. Ok beer.

6.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Cask. Klare hell rostbraune Farbe, mittelgroße weiße schaumkrone. Geruch karamellig, nussig, dezent süß. Geschmack karamellig, süß, nussig, okay.

5.6

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

Cask @ Spice of Life, London. Clear dark amber with an off-white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel, dark fruit and light nutty. Flavor is medium sweet and light bitter. Sweet and light bitter finish. 260316

6.2

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6

Håndpumpet, på Nag’s Head (Covent Garden): klar mahognyfarge med flott skum helt til bunns. Frisk og samtidig meget myk, citrus, kjeks, kornblanding og bare et snev av gress mot slutten. Avrundet og balansert, mye å glede seg over i bare 3,7%.

5.6

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

Many, many years ago we used to drink this in my mate’s local in Stevenage. Bit of an old blokes local- the denizens were distinctly bemused by a group of young’uns striding around repeatedly saying "Ak! Ak! Ak!" in the style of the aliens from Mars Attacks. I remember it being a very tasty darkish beer, but understand it has had a major recipe change in the interim. It’s now amber with a thin white head. Very fruity throughout; not a particular fruit, the generic fruit of a child’s fruit drink. Sweet caramel behind. On the sweet side, but at least there’s plenty of flavour and it’s gor some character. However, it disappointed compared to my memories- it certainly failed to bring out the alien in me!