B & T Shefford Old Strong (SOS)

Brewed by B & T
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Shefford, England

Serve in English pint

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A Mes rate: Cask at Baker St ’Sporks.
Clean gold with a brown tinge. Not much happening in the aroma. A bit of hop and some sweet pineapple notes. Lots of bready malt in the flavour with some more pineapple, very slight marzipan and a tiny hint of tingly bitter hops in the finish. Pretty dull.

First tasted this in Babbity Bowser, Glasgow in January 1993. Cask, hanpump dispense. Clear ruby red in colour with a thin off white head. Slight note of fruit malt in the short aroma. Thin mouthfeel and good lacing. Pale malts give a juicy fruit flavour of redcurrants, fruit jellies confection. Strong hop resins gives a dry bitter aftertaste. Slight note of dry liquorice in the finish. An ok session bitter.

Bright medium amber. Thin head. Slightly earthy, slightly appley character. Accent on fruitiness, with a nice, earthy caramel balance. A nice working class bitter.

Cask @ Weatherspoons Penzance. Copper and clear. Brisk balanced aroma has nice hops. Fruity, soft palate. Slightly yeasty. Decent stuff but a bit too fruity like canned pears.

Cask @ The Counting House. Mild malty aroma. Medium brown colour, good head. Caramel malt flavour. Sweet & smooth.

Cask at the Claude du Vall (JDW), Camberley. Gold with a tight white head; grainy aroma; creamy texture, light grainy flavour; the finish is biscuity and lightly bitter, as if a single hop was wafted over the brew. Innocuous and boring.

Cask (Lloyds/JDWs Uxbridge)
6 Simple fruity aroma. Touch of graininess and breadiness.
3 Rich orange, brief head.
6 Slightly wooly, touch of mushrooms in the retronasals. Body simple, malty and grainy.
4 Full bodied dark bitter.
13 Passable, but it seems it’s past its best even though it was reasonably freshly on. JDW up to their old tricks?

Cask @ Counting House, JDW. Clear golden colour, off-white head. Aroma is flowery and vegetables. Flavour is light malted, a bit fruity. Slightly dry finish, light bodied. Not good at all.

Cask (gravity dispense) at Ealing Beer Festival, July 2009. Amber colour. Some sharp notes. Clean. The name is a bit misleading - this is really just a decently balanced strong bitter. OK without generating too much excitement.

22nd April 2008. Beautifully balanced malt and hops. Mellow malt and crisp jiucy hops. Semi dry finish and a sweet note at the end.

Cask-conditioned at the King of Wessex (JDW), Bath 5/7/08. Pale amber with a slight white head. Caramel aroma with a touch of earthy hops. Flavour was slightly syrupy with some fruit and a warming alcohol finish. Ok.