Cask at Briar Rose, Birmingham
Light amber color with creamy head. Almost no aroma. The mouthfeel is smooth but also unpleasantly metallic, with some malt flavor, and low bitterness.
Boring.

50cl bottle from ABCBeers. Decent white head. Clear amber/golden pour. Nice subtle bitterness

8th November 2009
Clear amber beer. Well balanced and fairly strong nose. Softish palate, quite dry. Fairly strong malt and a good balance of bittering hop. Not terrible but as with so many English bitters - the hops are al bitterness and no fruit.

Feb 2008: This one of the ’Serious Country Ales’ themed beers from Greene King (owners of Ruddles name). I once had a Gurkin flavoured beer which had a green hue to it and actually tasted of girkins, it was horrible. I am reviewing this as I drink it and I don’t really want to taste nothing but rhubarb, so here goes. Clear 500ml bottle, no best before date visible on the bottle. Poured into my Bateman’s straight pint glass. Deep amber colour with a thin white head, looks OK but is no world beater in the appearance stakes. The aroma is more towards custurd than rhubarb, there is however some rhubarb crumble smells too. The taste is all rhubarb and sour rhubarb at that. The label doesn’t lie, apart from the bit about rhubarb having a sweetness. If it does have a sweetness i think they have boiled it out. No way of telling Bramling Cross Hops have been used unless you read the neck label. Different to anything I’ve ever had before and not all bad. I am not a huge rhubarb fan at the best of times but I’ve almost enjoyed this beer. Will I have another? Most likely not. I have had to start eating chesses to help me finish the bottle and hide the taste.

When I was a tidler, I used to love this beer on draught, brewed in the tiny county of Rutland. "Get puddled on Ruddles" was my moto whenever I came across it. Times move on, now I am a big fish and the brewery I talk of has been flushed away. This beer is now made in Suffolk by the bad boys of English brewing, Greed King, not that the labelling would let you know that. This clear 500ml bottle was drank in May 2007. Poured into a pint sleeve glass a large slighty off white head sat on top of a clear terracotta orange body which had bubbles roaring up to join the head. Hops, toffee and caramel, a sweet aroma for an English bitter. The taste wasn’t so sweet, but as the beer warms it sweetens, some toffee remained from the aroma, the caramel tasted burnt and a dryness adds to the proper bitter flavours you would expect from such a style. A metalic tone appears after the fluid has left, which I didn’t like. Pity about the mouthfeel, it ruined the drink for me, I will not be having a bottle again, but will try a cask pint if I see one on my travels.

licorice, leaves, spruce, cereal, orange, cloudy, frothy, medium sweetness, very bitter, lightly sour, medium body, sticky, average carbonation, bitter, long finish,

Bottle. Amber colour with a white head. Hoppy flowery and caramel nose. A very mild bitter flavour with a medium caramel and fruity note.