Adnams The Bitter (Cask)

Brewed by Adnams
Style: Bitter
Southwold, England

cask @ the tap in wim village. strange musky sweet yeast nose, quite herby (sage). Dark amber colour, lacing white creamy head. a lot more bitter than the aroma might suggest, fishy and a lot of leather. long bitter finish. not really mine.

Cask @ Wenlock Arms. Clear amber with tiny white head. Sweet fruity aroma with caramel notes. Fairly sweet flavor with notes of apples and caramel. Ends sweet.

[Cask at the Coopers Arms, Reading] I disliked the bottled version of this beer, finding it far too bitter for my palatte, and it was with some trepidation that I ordered a pint on draught. However, as seems to be the case with Adnams, the cask version is a totally different animal to the bottle; a different ABV, and a very different flavour too - one does wonder how they can sell it under the same name. It pours a deep, handsome orange/brown, with a good, lasting, cramy head and - thankfully - little carbonation (I’ve always felt that English bitter is ruined by excessive carbonation). The initial taste has a good bitter hit, but unlike the bottle this is not overpowering - soon some earthy and leafy hop flavours emerge. The bitterness quickly mellows as you drink more of your pint to reveal the familiar, reassuring Adnams maltiness. There’s a surprise in the tail end - woody flavours come through, followed by a smooth, warming, comforting, caramel-and-butter finish that leaves a soft mouthfeel. Overall I rather enjoyed this - it’s far better than the bottled version, with a decent depth of flavour for a low ABV bitter. However, it’s still not up to the other main Adnams brews (ie Broadside and Explorer) in my opinion.

Light berry malt aroma. Amber color with small head. Mild toffee malt flavor with moderate hops finish. Mild carbonation.

2008-03-08. Crisp dark amber-brown body with a tiny off white head. Flavour of lightly caramel malt, mild light bitterness, muted earthy hints to the malt. Mild very lightly earthy malt in the aroma, muted dusty caramel notes. Average palate is under carbonated and on the light side, but cask appropriate I suppose. Quaffable but quite mild - average.
Cask at the Tin Goose, Heathrow Terminal 1, London

Cask at The Globe, London. Orange brown colour. Quite bitter. Creamy and prickly mouthfeel. Hoppy and malty. Grassy too. Liked the Broadside a bit better.

[688-20070925] Cask @ Royal Oak (Oxford, OX). Grassy hops aroma. Clear, orange brown body with quick white bubbles. Fairly bitter grassy hops flavour, bit of leafy character and a slightly unpleasant aftertaste. Medium body. Not bad but does not stand out.

Cask in the 3 Judges. Aroma is noteably grassy bittering hop and thats about it. Taste is a decent malt base, but slightly over harshly bittering hop.