English bitter by a brewery in Reading, thanks Craftmember for sharing the can. Plaster-like lacing, foamy, egg-white, stable head on a clear orange blonde beer with pale amber tinge, turning misty with sediment. Weird aroma of raw green beans, Brussels sprouts even, wet toast, raw button mushrooms, rusk, vague paprika powder, sandpaper and minerals. Sweetish but clean, slick onset, softish carb, thinnish body; mildly toasty maltiness, faintly bitter, bit bready and very vaguely peanutty, herbally hopped with notes of tea and withering weeds but also musky peas and cold vegetable soup or vegetable smoothie, bringing only light bitterness. The vegetable-like and weedy notes here are not what I expect from a good bitter (even a canned one) so there is a lot of room for improvement here – but of course a fresh and cask-conditioned one from tap will very likely be much better…

[Cask at the Alehouse, Reading.] A murky chestnut coloured pour with a tight beige head; fresh leafy hop aroma; sweet caramel malt body with a hint of ginger; then more ginger adding spice and heat to the finish. Unexpected, but pleasantly warming.

Cask at White Hart, Chobham. Aroma is rich and malty. Chestnut. Creamy off-white head. Taste matches the aroma with a big does of masks and a sour berry edge. Light-medium bodied. Slick. Flat carbonation. Long slightly astringent finish. Decent if not overly exciting.