Cask at the Wandsworth Common Spring BF, London. Pours clear, rich gold with a bubbly white head. Dry leaves, grain and toast in the nose - a pretty classic bitter so far. Light to medium sweet flavor with some toasty toffee, leafy bitterness, dry grass, faint berries. Light to medium bodied with fine carbonation. Dry, lightly sticky finish with dry leaves, faint wood and toasty sugar. A very solid bitter. Well rounded.

cask at reading ... deep black .. thin tan head ... soft coffee malt nose ... dark malts ... solid rast ... soft coffee malts ... nice ...little pine

cask at reading ... deep red brown ... soft mellow toffee roast nose... light fruity malts ... soft fruit ... ok ... but no real depth

[Cask at Reading BF] Dark brown with a moderate cream head. Chocolate up front followed by a moderate roastiness. Yer average mild. OK. c9

Cask gravity at The Hop Pole brewery shop (small sample) Aylesbury, Bucks 03.05.12 Pours dark brown with barely any head. The aroma is superb, little bit of smokiness some fruit, really great stuff. I am a little disappointed in the flavour though it us fruity, tangy and with a sour edge in fact I wonder whether this is just a little tired and is maybe past its best. Dry and fruity with a little coffee, touch watery. Great promise shown on the nose was not followed up in the flavour department. A8 A3 T5 P3 Ov13 3.1

Cask handpump at The Hop Pole, Aylesbury, Bucks 03.05.12 Pours amber with white head, not as crisp as the description suggests in fact it is a little sweetish for me. Dryish at end, bit of chewy caramel. It is ok. A6 A4 T6 P3 Ov12 3.1

(Cask at Old Fountain, Old Street, London, 19 April 2012) Almost black colour with frothy, beige head. Malty, roasted nose with coffee, chocolate and dark bread. Malty, roasted taste with notes of chocolate, coffee, dark rye bread and a gentle coffee bitterness in the finish. Medium body, well rounded mouthfeel. Fairly dry. Well made and very nice porter.

cask at Egham ... amber ... copper ... thin lacing ... soft toffeee fruity nose ... soft juicy malts ... quite dull im afraid.

Cask, gravity at The Hop Pole, Aylesbury, Bucks 28.03.12 Gold with good clarity and a nice white bubbly head, looks great. Pleasant nose, gentle wafts of hops, a nice buzzy bitterness on the tongue, touch of raspy lemon but all underpinned by a nice soft mouthfeel and a pleasant sweetness. This is a very decent blonde and much the better out of the two Aylesbury beers that I had today. A7 A5 T7 P4 Ov14 3.7

Cask, handpump at The Hop Pole, Aylesbury, Bucks 28.03.12 I had a half of this beer which poured amber with a bubble swiftly departing white head, good clarity, in good nick. I wasn’t that struck on this I found it to be a bit harsh, I’m normally a big fan of bitter beers but the bitterness rather than tangy or fruity just seemed quite harsh even a bit unbalanced, there was a little fruitiness and whilst not a bad beer maybe it just wasn’t my thing, maybe it is the challenger hop than I am not a fan of. Strangely some 10-15 mins later I tried a small taster of this in the shop at the back of the pub on gravity and found this altogether more agreeable, ok so it still wasn’t my thing but it just tasted a tad easier to get on with, crisper, fruitier and less hard, there fore I will consider both of these and combine my ratings which were 2.8 and 3.0 A6 A4 T5 P3 Ov11 2.9