Barngates Tag Lag

Brewed by Barngates
Style: Bitter
Ambleside, England

Serve in English pint

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Bottle from Booths Supermarket. A tasty beer considering it is not bottle conditioned. First bottles were hazy, but more recent ones are polished and very clear. A good bodied bottled beer from this excellent small brewery linked to the Drunken Duck near Ambleside.

@ Punch Bowl Inn, Crosthwaite. Golden coolour. Fresh, spicy, leafy hop aroma. Herbal and dry with lots of appetizing bitterness. Lightly earthy, toasty balancing malts.

Had this in Westermere, the Lake District, at the Spinners Wheel. Amber with a large head and excellent retention. Loads of caramel malt on the nose. Rich malt body with a prominent bitter finish. Well balanced and very good.

Cask @The Punch Bowl Inn. Dark warm gold, clear, with a thick head. Lovely aroma--the freshest I’ve smelled in a long, long time. Wasn’t brewed far from here, but smells like it was brewed right before my eyes. Worty but not in a young way, just a pure clean bitter, healthy malt aroma that is too rare. Smooth. Not hugely flavorful, meaning it doesn’t knock you over the head, but the freshness makes each sip a joy. I would imagine this is as much due to the exceptional condition of the beer as to the beer itself. Very strong malt backbone. Finishes dry. Eminently pleasurable.

Bottle from Booth’s, Ilkley. Pours distinctly orange gold with a well-retained, tight drum of foam draping the glass. Muted aroma leaking through; orange peel, varnished tables, chalk, distant armpit, nut oil. Full and mouth-filling with a clean, simplistic flavour; soft water washing over caramel-slicked stones, light spruce and resins, strong finishing bitterness. You can taste the huskiness of the malt as if you were actually chewing it.. The fullness and greasy, nuanced condition of a hand-pulled cask pint: bonus point. Utterly unremarkable and yet an utterly pleasurable experience...great beer like great beer when you hardly even notice it’s there. Bog standard northern English bitter...with knobs on. Actually pretty bloody good.

A Mes rate: gravicask at the Bricklayers.
Clean dark gold with a slim but stable white head and excellent condition. Good spicy and herbal hop aroma with some balancing sweet, yet earthy malt. Strong earthy malt flavour with some slight tangerine and nuts. Refreshingly fruity with a really pleasant dusky, citric finish and a lasting bitterness. Palate is spot on for the style. Really enjoyable and drinkable.

Cask, Carlisle BF. Superb pale copper coloured beer. Beautifully smooth and well balanced, with just a hint of bitterness and some subtle fruit.

Rich lager, fruity, deep-- very nice. I found it a refreshingly good lager among myriad lagers that never cease to underperform.

Bottle, poured a cloudy gold with a white bubbly head. A distinguished flowery malt aroma with strong caramal notes. Rich and malty caramal toffee flavours. Smooth.

Bottled. Lingering bitterness dominates A real bitter with plenty of body ane properly bottled. Very impressive label adds to the professionalism of this brewery.So much better than some micro’s with poor bottling and amateur labeling.They deserve to succeed.