2.6 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
Cask at Horsley Lodge, Derbyshire. I hadn’t had Bass, either cask or keg, for years. I found it to be adequate; I was just pleased that there was a cask beer available at the wedding reception I was attending. It is not dissimilar to other Marston’s beers but mostly lacking the unpleasant sulphur quality. Its flavours are fairly pedestrian malt with a bit of hop bitterness on the finish, nothing special.
2.5 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 10/20
Cask (handpump) @ , Cannington TA5. Amber coloured, quickly vanishing froth; very shy hoppy nose, very light fruity taste, kind of bitter fruitiness in the end.
2.5 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 10/20
Keg, at the St. Paul’s Tavern, London Deep, clear, amber colour. White lacy head. Bitter hop aroma. The palate was a little abrasive. It was pretty warm in London yesterday and I think my Sydney blood got the best of me. This was just served too warm form me to appreciate. I had a bad rating day yesterday it must be said.
2.5 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
From the cask in many pubs. A good regular, though not as nice as it once was. Dry hopping helps. I think the recipe has changed. Not very zippy.
2.4 AROMA 2/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 10/20
Pretty average bitter, nothing stands out apart from a nice creamy texture making it easy to drink
2.3 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 9/20
a standard bitter pretty much what everybody has been saying about this beer- amber, nice head and lacing, malt and vegetable and a touch of english hops. kind of a bad aftertaste from the vegetable and it is just a tad sweet. i will pass.
2.3 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 8/20
Gotta have this one down. Had this a few times and always been let down. Huge reputation. Never quite got it. Just another run of the mill bitter. Cask conditioned.
2.3 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 7/20
UPDATED: MAY 29, 2008 In an attempt to somewhat recreate Bass of old, we dry hopped a 9g cask with almost 200g of Goldings and matured it for 4 weeks. But what a disappointment. The ratings are based on the dry hopped version. The aroma of course was of 200g of Goldings, fresh, citrussy and flowery and some came thorugh in the mouth too. The problem was that it just isn’t a great or interesting beer at all underneath it’s makeup. There’s flavour, but in the same stables as Green King IPA, and a shockingly thin body. Why put such a great yeast to waste? (Although it was improved by blending with Timmy Taylors Landlord)
Update
After a couple of days of being on, the beer became more balanced and was a slightly more hoppy version with that earthy dry hopped effect, drinkable but still needs more body.
2.2 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 9/20
Cask at The Star Inn Bath: Amber coloured, quickly vanishing froth; very shy hoppy nose, very light fruity taste, kind of bitter fruitiness in the end. Pretty bland.
2.2 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 9/20
Last time I tasted Bass was in August 1993 in Kilmalcolm, Renfrewshire. This is my tasting notes take at the time. Cask, handpump dispense. Clear amber in colour with a loose foam white head. Slight metallic aroma with thin mouthfeel. Weak pale malt base leading to a poor range of noticeable flavour. Slight sweetness of barley sugar and green apple noted. Hop resin in the aftertaste giving a harsh metallic flavour. Finish has a slight metallic taint with a sweet note of green apple still evident. A poor session beer.
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