6.2

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

Cask at Picture House, Stafford. Pours a cloudy chestnut with a small foamy white head. Corn is the main ingredient of the fluctuating aroma alongside hints of floral hops and autumn fruits. In the mouth it is sweet and quite juicy with a creamy texture. Main flavours start off as being oranges and malts, but later on caramel, biscuits and traces of floral hops come through as well. Finish is slightly fruity. It’s not a bad beer, just not very exciting.

28/11/2014. RAVEN, 7 Queen Street, BATH, Bath & North East Somerset, England (FREE HOUSE). Nice pale beer, but tastes of neither pudding nor stone...

5.2

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

Cask @ Manchester & County, Manchester. Clear golden ale with a small-thin head. Not much aroma, with some malts, and a fairly neutral taste. Pretty much a standard golden ale with a crispness and a sessionable seasonal brew.

4.9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4.5

Cask at the Pilgrims Progress (JDW), Bedford. Yellow gold, with a slight white head. Aroma of vegetables, burnt herbs, a bit of apricot brandy, garden flowers, sea salt, butterscotch. Taste is bitter/sour. Harsh and astringent, a bit hard to drink. Cardboard in the finish. Weak palette. Is this off or just plain poor? Both methinks.

5.4

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

Cask at JDW Briar Rose; clear golden yellow pour with a creamy white head, feint malt aroma, taste has light citrus, sweet malt and a hint of honey.

6.5

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

Cask (handpump) @ The Lord Moon Of The Mall (JDW), 16-18 Whitehall, Greater London, London, England SW1A 2DY.Clear medium orange yellow colour with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to white head. Aroma is moderate malty, toasted - caramel, moderate hoppy, citrus, grass. Flavor is moderate sweet and bitter with a average to long duration, citrus, grass. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft to flat. [20121207]

4.6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5

Clear yellow colour. Aroma has some floral notes and also vegetable water. Flavour has some pale malts but also a strange taste of canned peas.

6.2

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

Cask at the William Webb Ellis (JDW), Twickenham - 15/12/12. Clear pale golden with a thin white head that retains well. Nose is pale malts, touch of citrus, caramel malt. Taste follows nose with mineral tones, sugars. a little musty, orange, a touch vegetal, light smoke. Medium bodied with light carbonation leading to a bitter finish. Pretty average.

4.8

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

Hand-pulled pint in my local Wetherspoons on 11 Dec 2012. Slightly disappointed with this to be honest: not a Christmas or Pud feel to the brew at all. Pours a golden amber colour, mine had an off-white head that left some lacing on my glass, but it wasn’t ’ore inspiring’ in looks and presentation. The nose was weak and earthy with just a single flower ester to give it a floral hint. The taste was equally as weak and nondescript: bland and uninteresting are the best two words that come to mind. I was expecting a Christmassy explosion of flavours but all I got was a smooth blend of normal ingrediants that didn’t inspire or excite. Nothing actually wrong with the brew: it just wasn’t a Christmas Pudding sort of beer.

5.2

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

Cask @ JDW Elgin 111212
Golden, clear, dense thin white head, some lacing
Aroma of pale malts and some wet hay
Taste of pale malts, soft musty dull light fruits, earthy cereal malts, soft peppery hop, some odd yeast, not great
Palate - Medium body, smooth. Finish - dry, bitter spicy hop in the lingering finish
Overall - Nothing Xmas here, not great flavour, pretty meh