One of the great classics of traditional English pale ales or bitters, originally aimed at local miners but apparently Madonna's favourite beer as well, at least according to what she claimed in an interview with talk show host Jonathan Ross in 2003... I never had this one cask-conditioned, alas, but luckily I did manage to get my hands on a bottle of the filtered version - which I suppose qualifies as an EPA just for being bottled. Quite regular, egg-white, moussy, slightly and irregularly lacing, stable head on a crystal clear, deep 'old golden' beer with 'rusty' amberish tinge. Aroma of warm margarine, dried mugwort leaves, unsalted peanuts, butter on hot toast, dry hay, field flowers, dandelion, a whiff of dry Earl Grey tea, moist white pepper, vague whiff of unsmoked cigarette shag. Cleanish onset, restrainedly fruity with notes of unripe apricot and dried peach, finely tingling but very active carbonation adding a lot of refreshing, almost 'metallic' minerality as in fresh spring water, smooth body - a little bit buttery even. A margarine-like aspect, possibly a diacetyl remnant, floats over a toasty-bitterish, peanutty and bread-crusty maltiness, which remains slender but adds a late bitterness which is eventually taken over by noble hops, in a somewhat earthy and leafy, but also wormwoody, spicy way, lingering for quite a while and doing a perfect job in drying the finish; the very pronounced minerality I already mentioned, lingers on with it after swallowing. This Yorkshire classic is about as English as it gets for a bottled beer (keeping in mind that tapped beer, whether cask-conditioned or not, is still the dominant factor in English beer culture), with a crisp, light-footed, elegant and still powerful character. This kind of 19th-century style ales may not be as hip and trendy as all those American-inspired craft beers flowing over the United Kingdom, I think we still need to honour them and respect them for their huge historical influence, and it is good to know that many (even self-proclaimed beer geek Madonna) still do. I love drinking a classic like this every now and then and I am glad that I can finally tick this famous beer off my list - it seems the guy depicted on the front label used to smile more explicitly on the former version of the label, but I see no reason why he should restrain his smile, this is as solid as it gets in this particular class of beer. Cheers to sir Timothy Taylor!

50 cl bottle @ home. Rated on 08.10.2021 Aroma has licorice and hayish tones. Flavour has licorice, hayish malt and some grapefruity notes. Finishes with biscuity malt. Too much CO2 and foams too much, otherwise ok.

Cask at The Princess of Wales, Blackheath. It actually really really deserves the hype. Gold and hopy and crunchy bitterness. Fantastic bitter (19/10/21). --- Cask at Captain Cooks, Östersund. A classic bitter. Kept at 3.8. (unknown). --- Cask at The Princess of Wales, Blackheath. I really need to boycott this pub - £7 for Taylors, that is INSANE. Not delivering at all in the sAme way this time - came across pretty average. 7.5 to 6.8. (24/1/26)

Okay medium clear copper body and modest foam. Sour malt on the nose, tart and unique. Taste is more sour grain, soft biscuit hints, finishing smooth and dry. Quite enjoyable.

Gravity cask at Crewe Rail Ale Festival. Pours a very dark reddish brown with a small off-white head. Some malt in the aroma plus hints of berries. Flightly watery in the mouth, but plenty of bready malts and liquorice. A little fruitiness as well leading to a dry finish. Nice but not outstanding.

Pours a quite clear light copper/amber, with a couple of fingers of a quite dense, slightest off-white head. Decent retention and lacing. Aroma notes: delicate malty base of caramel and nuttiness, a nice underlying wet earth feel, soft fruity notes of citrus and perhaps berries. The aroma is overall not especially strong, but nicely soft, clean and well defined. Taste notes follow the aroma closely, perhaps with a bit less precision/definition, but with excellent bittersweet balance. Medium sweet and medium bitter, with none standing out in the mouth and the slightest bitter edge in a semi-dry, semi-earthy finish. Light bodied with average carbonation, resulting in a quite easy, semi-smooth mouthfeel. I guess the mouthfeel is probably where the bottled version misses the most if compared to the cask version. Overall, this is still a pretty good drink.

Bottle from Tesco. Pours a clear amber colour with a medium sized throthy white head. Aromas of caramel, bread, biscuits with a hint of citrus and floral. Taste has caramel, citrus, biscuits, a touch of floral and some peppery spice. Earthy hop bitterness on the finish. Medium body with fair carbonation. More fizzy and bitter than i remember. Not bad

Bottle from Morrisons. Pours a clear copper/caramel colour with a medium sized creamy off-white head. Aromas of caramel, citrus fruits, biscuits and toasty bread. Taste is much more citrus, lemon peel, marmalade, caramel, toasty bread, peppery spice and also a hint of floral. Big hoppy citrus bitterness on the finish. Medium to full body with a smooth oily mouthfeel. Maybe just a bit too much bitterness for my liking but still a tasty beer. I like it more than when i last tried this a few years back. Good beer.

Handpull cask at the Seven Stars, Rugby. Mid- to dark brown, translucent with a film of off-white/beige head. Malty aroma, some lightbherbal jokes. Tastes sweet, some watercress and vegetal character. Not much change of character in the finish. Oily, flat body. Not much to this. A lice a good mild but this struggles to be average.