Brown 500ml bottle, 5%, obtained from my local TESCO’s, best before Dec 2007, consummed Feb 2007. I had thought they only did this in a sedimented bottle form, but this beer was dead. Poured into a straight sleeve pint glass, the off white foaming head soon turned into a wispy covering which did nothing to enhance its appearance. It was cloudy and moody looking, like bad washing up water that had been used a lot of times, the colour was a redish, dirty brown. Incredible flowery aroma hits your nose, followed by a hoppy, barley, wheaty smell, a lot better smell than it looks its going to give off. Bitter sweet taste, a true British bitter, the bottle said to lightly chill it before opening, don’t understand why, this one was garage cooled and was fine apart from the appearance. The bitter sweet flavours stay for a while in the mouth, hops coming through towards the end. My eyes kept going back to the glass and they didn’t like what they saw, if this had been poured into a stone stein, the scores would have been more even, but it did look rough, so 3 is my drinkability score. I will try another and if it is clear, I’ll do another review, to right the balance.

500ml Brown bottle, best before Sept 09, drank May 09. Poured into a UK pint sleeve glass. Clear body, light orange (and I mean orange) in colour, plenty of carbonisation rising up to an off-white big bubbled head. The head fell to nothing very swiftly, not even a collar and scum. I love Fuggles hops, but it the late burst of Goldings that define this beer, the aroma and taste is very hoppy (for a UK Pale Ale). The beer is a little thin in the body and the spritzy, tangy, dry feel to the beer wasn’t really to my liking. Very disappointed with this bottle, I’ve had this beer in its Cask version and although it is lighter in alcohol when Cask, it had more flavour and body to it.

Nov 2009: Brown 500ml bottle, best before Nov 2011, so I think this is the 2009 version and therefore very young? Poured very slowly into a UK pint sleeve, didn’t want to upset the sediment, which I didn’t. Good colouring, a dark hamogany brown/red with a weak white head, maybe the slow pour didn’t help the head. What head was there soon did a runner and left nothing at all, not even a collar. Barley and wheat used in the brew, never knew that and I’ve had this in cask form many times over the years, it being a fairly local brewery. Seasonal spices (cloves, cinnimon and nutmeg) filled my nose at first, then some roasted malts and plums. The taste was also seasonal, Christmas style. Rich pudding and plums mixed with malt molasses and treacle type flavours, the same spices mentioned in the aroma section also turn up in the mouthfeel as your mouth drys. The 6%ABV sits nicely, but I am worried about the condition somewhat, where did the head go and why? Much prefer the cask version, slightly upset with the bottled one.

Brown 500ml bottle, best before end of Feb 2010, drank mid Dec 2009. Poured into my vase shaped pint glass. Voted Britains best bitter in 2004 by SIBA (Small Independant Breweries Association). The beer was first brewed to celebrate the legend of a fairy who hid gold in a south Shropshire beauty spot (Bury Ditches). Light amber, more than the dull gold I described the cask version. It is light for a normal UK bitter, but this is brewed using Pale Ale and Lager malted barley. The white head left loads of lacing as the beer was consummed. The smell is a little different to the cask version also, the hops take over completely, they have used Fuggles and the American Cascade and Mount Hood hops. I am sure they are in the cask beer too, just not as prominent in the aroma. The beer has a dry feel to it and a bitterness which leans towards grapefruit and other citrus sour flavours. Both the dryness and bitterness are there from the start but the intensity grows towards the end of the mouthfeel. This is the second UK beer I’ve reviewed today that has used Lager malts, this one is far superior to the first. It has a presence, depth and something to say.

Brown 500ml bottle, best before the end of July 2010, drank in April 2010. Poured into a ’Batemans’ badged pint sleeve. This 4.1% Blonde was a light amber, almost golden colour, clear and fairly bright. On top at an off-white/cream coloured head. Some good lacing appeared on the glass as the beer level sank. The rear label claims ’Pear drops and a fruity smell’, I got some hop aromas and fresh yeast, no fruit or pears for me. They have used Pale malts and a blend of Fuggles and Cascade hops, this appears to have given the beer a well balanced feel and an easy to drink flavouring. It isn’t hoppy or malty, just a pleasant mix of the two and very understated at that. Well carbonated for a UK bitter, but not really fizzy or over the top. All in all another good beer from one of my local breweries.

Brewed to celebrate 18 years of the Midlands Air Ambulance. This brewery often does a semi-charity beer, this is one I picked up and thought worth reviewing. A brown 500ml bottle, best before the end of July 2010, drank and reviewed on 4th June 2010. Poured into a vase shaped pint glass (’Old Speckled Hen’ badged). It was a dullish old gold colour, clear bodied. The head was white and full, it did fall away to a collar and a wisp fairly quickly. The beer is brewed with both barley and wheat malts, the aroma confirms that. The taste is a good mix of malted grains and a meddium hop content to ensure it has a bitter and dry finish. Easy to drink and at 4.3%ABV an ideal session beer. Don’t know if it came out in cask, if it did, I’m sorry to have missed it. This is a small regional brewery that constantly produces beers that deserve a bigger audience, get yourself to Shropshire and try some of their brews.

14th March 2012
Hamilton Hall Spoons. Light palate, pretty dry. Astringent hops - dry bitterness dominates. The fruit, when you get to it, is orange with a little mango. Dry bitter finish with minerals.

500ml bottle, best before Apr 2012, poured into an Abbot Ale glass tankard 4 Nov 2011. Lovely autumnal red colour, the white head sadly wispy and weak: a collar stayed throughout the review, but I want a head on my beer! Woody aroma, pine hop and some malty molasses in the nose too. The beer has a smooth semi-sweet malt front, some hop bitterness appears half way through each mouthful and gives the beer a harsher finish than expected from the initial taste. Fairly rich and thick body wise, its clear looks giving no indication of its depth. I love beers this colour and with a malt swetness, what a pity the head couldn’t stay with the tasting.

On 15th Dec 2011 I wrote this: Hand pulled pint into a UK sleeve poured during the re-opening of a local pub: being re-launched as a Real Ale place. Amber to light amber in body colour, with a thin, yet staying off-white head of tight bubbles; the beer being drawn through a swan-neck and sparkler. The nose is an easy blend of floral hops and lightly baked biscuit malt aromas. The malts win initially on the taste front, with the hops arriving as the mouth dries to give a good bitter feel at the end of each quaff. No complexity here, just a pleasant mix of ingredients that produce a light, refreshing session beer that isn’t going to ruin your morning by giving you a hang-over no matter how many pints you have. Quaff is certainly quaffable and suits it’s name.