Bottle at home, amber beer, small head, aroma is malty, taste is the same, bittersweet, meh

550ml bottle at the Hook & Tackle, Reading. Oddly I’d never tried this in my pre-rating days, and since I started ratings I’ve been "saving" it for when I found myself in a venue with no decent beer. So, here I was in a pub where the two mass-market cask beers had gone bad, and the only other options were macro lagers. This was not only the only new rate for me, but potentially the only drinkable beer. And so I finally took the plunge. The extra 50ml compared to your average UK bottle does make it feel pleasantly chunky, although it’s a shame they’ve gone for a clear bottle. Inside resides an attractive red-brown beer with a thick creamy head and a lighter fizz than I’d feared. It’s quite rich and fruity up front- nice malt there too- but caramel gradually takes over leaving it a tad on the sweet side. A light dryness in the finish and you’re done- there’s no great complexity. Overall it’s much better than I expected, but nothing special. Like Guinness, it’s a beer that you can rely on seeing you right when the only alternative is macrolager.

330 ml bottle. Pours a clear nutty brown with a thin, short lived tan head. Mild malty aroma with caramel. Sweet flavour of malt and caramel with a slight metallic, bitter finish. Light body with a watery texture and soft carbonation.

550ml bottle. Pours a dark brown colour, no surprises there, small white head. Very smooth, light caramel taste, while the aroma is malty/chocolatey. Only a little bitterness.
27th April 2015

Helder bruin bier met weinig schuim. Smaak is licht zoet, caramel en dropachtig, verder wat waterig. Smaak blijft niet lang hangen. Niet slecht, goed te drinken, maar ook niet bijzonder, standaard bier.

Bottle at the Standard, Bedford. It’s, well, brown. And clear, a bit thin-looking. Metallic-wooden smell, a hint of spruce. Bittersweet taste with malt to the fore. But then there’s that metallic taste again. Short finish. Not great but not bad.