Cask handpull at County Hotel Spoons Ashford. Hazy gold lasting white head. some biscuit some tart citrus hop bit of Sherbet some ok condition.

From a very English 50 cl bottle, acquired through Jeremy and Sabine, cheers! Strongly cobweb-lacing, pale yellowish white, moussy head leaving a medium thick rim on the edge and a closed blanket over the liquid, colour is a cristal clear, pure orangey amber with no visible fizz. Aroma has a slight ’stale cat pee’ lightstruck effect but fortunately this smell remains in the background and fades very quickly, allowing the true bouquet to shine: field flowers, dried sage, freshly toasted bread, roasted walnut, fresh thyme somewhere, ’natural’ iron, red apple, wormwood leaves, olive oil with dried Mediterranean herbs, dried grapefruit peel. Crisp onset with the typically Anglo-Saxon ’clean’ fruitiness, some subdued hints of apple peel, fresh bell pepper, dried berries, very little sweetness if any at all, minerally and generally neutral but with a touch of hop bitterness already announcing itself; carbo is soft and just fit for the style, mouthfeel is very supple, slick, light and a bit oily. Toasted malts make up the middle phase as expected, a bit nutty, bitterish like burnt bread with an ever so slight metallic tinge, supporting the announced hop bitterness which is the true star of this show, consisting of old-fashioned Euro noble hops yielding a notably resinous, earthy, floral, spicy bitterness in the finish, both in taste and in retronasal aromas. The flowers, chamomille- and violet-like, keep hanging around in the nose for a while, as the juicy, bitterishly toasted malts proceed their way into the throat. In these American-inspired experimental craft beer times, it is good to revisit classic European traditions every now and then, and this one clearly embodies the old English ’best bitter’ tradition as good as any of the more familiar names in this intermediate subcategory of the good old bitter style (think Sussex Best Bitter or Black Sheep Best Bitter). This kind of commitment to tradition should remind us of the fact that without all these noble European traditions, there would not have been a craft beer revolution. This particular example therefore demands respect, and justly so: technically perfectly executed, true to its style and applying the Target and East Kent Goldings hops in an elegant way, balancing them with toasted malt bitterness, resulting in a drying, quenching bitter with very high drinkability. I can imagine this is a lot better when cask conditioned, though, as should be the case with all traditional English bitters, but this almost goes without saying. In general: exemplary for its particular substyle and very accomplished as such.

Cask @ Fox & Goose, Hebden Bridge. Hazy lightish amber with a small creamy-frothy head. Hoppy ale with a tropical fruitiness that’s slightly stewed in both aroma and taste.

Bottle generously donated by Jeremy and brought to me by Sabine, cheers! Slow gusher upon opening. Towering high, foamy, moussy and very dense, pale beige, lacing head, slowly receding over an opaque black beer which turns out to be a very dark yellow brown in the end. Initially not very stout-like, yet pleasant nose of blackberry, raw rhubarb, redcurrant, fresh orange or even lemon and other fruity odours mingling with the basic, in this case rather subdued aromas of caramel, candi syrup, old bitter chocolate bars and faint coffee grounds, with further spicy (partially phenolic and partially hoppy) hints of mint, fresh ginger, flowers and liquorish. Crisp, refreshing onset of blackberry and redcurrant sourishness mixed with fig sweetishness and a subtle leathery and meaty umami touch, sparkling carbo but softening after a while. Middle phase has nutty and toasted malts, restrainedly sweetish but most of all bittering and mouth-coating, with a very oily, slick mouthfeel; a drying, sourish and deeply bittering, almost ’ashy’ roastedness takes over and dominates the finish, where, all the way in the end, it is reinforced with a spicy hop bitterness yielding some herbal and floral aromas retronasally and lasting quite long; the initial, soft, dark berry sourishness also lingers for a long time. Has more body than expected from a 4.5% ABV beer even if it is a stout; the yeasty effects in the nose distract a bit from the malts but somehow make this stout more interesting and individual than it would have been if a cleaner yeast strain would have been used. The effect is almost that of a Belgian stout... Still recognizably Anglo-Saxon though, and definitely a fine, refreshing, aromatic example of a dry stout. Very enjoyable.

Bottle obtained through a work-related relationship, cheers Jeremy! New label compared to the picture on the left hand side of this page... Medium sized, off-white, moussy, ’membranously’ lacing head over a lightly hazy, pure and warm golden blonde beer with medium fizz. Aroma is unfortunately heavily impaired by the dreaded lightstruck effect (sulfuric burning rubber, stale cat pee), strangely so as it comes from a brown bottle; this effect almost completely hides more pleasing impressions of lightly toasted white bread, damp straw, dried field flowers, mineral water, faint lemon peel, unripe pear, grass. Neutral onset even for a golden ale, crisp and clean, very lightly sourish and grainy with almost no sweetness, softish carbonation adding a minerally effect, smooth and light body, grainy middle phase, thin and almost watery with just a very light touch of malt sweetness but almost fading away, were it not for the Euro ’noble’ hops coming to the rescue in the end, providing a firm, earthy, leafy bitterness, lasting quite long and providing some herbal and floral retronasal aromas; ends very dry and bitter for an English golden ale. The late hopping tries to save the day: obviously the dominating sulfuric ’lightstruck stench’ ruins the nose completely, but in the mouth, they do create a strong bitter structure around which this beer is more or less centered, as it contains little else for balance. This unfortunate lightstruck odour kept penetrating the nostrils with strong perseverance all the way through the bottle and I would have liked a tad more malt sweetness in this type of beers; still preferable over any English lager of course, the beer style often ’mimicked’ by golden ale. Cannot honestly say I enjoyed this though, I do hope the other ones from this brewery will be better in their respective styles and I expect this beer to be way better on draught too, when light is not allowed to ruin the aroma.

Cask at the Guildford arms.... Golden yellow... Soft sweet fruits.. Light soft lemon fruits nose.. Juicy lemon fruits.. Light floral

330ml bottle from Favourite Beers, Cheltenham. Murky reddish brown colour with almost no head. Aroma is muddy fruit. Taste mid sweet.

Cask @ Moon Under Water, Manchester. Chestnut-red with a creamy head. Has light pale malts with a light sweetness in both aroma and taste. Slightly thin tasting with hints of chocolate in its aftertaste.