Batemans XB (Cask)

Brewed by Batemans
Style: Bitter
Skegness, England

Serve in English pint

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Cask - Boston United Football Club. Poured through a sparkler. A clear amber beer with a creamy, mostly lasting off-white head leaving a full and even lacing. Sulphur, caramel & bready malt aromas. Biscuity malt, some toastiness and sulphur again, mid fruit and a fairly short hoppy finish. Softish mouthfeel with some sting, light to medium body with an OK length finish.

This is Batemans cooking bitter (as my Dad calls it), meaning it is their basic brew and not their best beer. It is one of only two cask ales at his local and is what I always have when visiting home: surprised I’ve never reviewed it before. This is from a BA review of 29 Oct 2011. This review is of a pint taken at my towns Wetherspoons during their beer festival. Hand pulled and into a UK straight sleeve: Mid to light amber in colour, with a dull white head on top, good lacing and a pleasant look all round. Challenger, Goldings and Styrian hops give the beer a hop aroma but not overly so, the pale and chocolate malts (local Lincolnshire ones) ensure the malts also feature in both the smell and taste. Easy drinking session ale, well balanced, a true classic Pale Ale Bitter. The flavours belittle its alcohol content, well worth trying if you come across it. Rarely seen outside the Batemans pub estate; XXXB being their biggest seller to the free trade.

Cask. The Yorkshire Terrier, York. Medium white head, amber body. Malt, slight hop, yeast, fruit. Bittersweet. Bitter finish. Pretty average.

5th October 2011
Liberty Bounds Spoons. Clear amber beer. Tidy cream coloured head. Smooth low carbonation palate. Mild toffee cream malt. Slightly tangy. A forensic trace of hop. Semi dry finish. Mildly bitter aftertaste.

Hand pulled cask at The Village Inn (JDW) Rayners Lane, Harrow but remembered in far better fettle from numerous Bateman’s pubs over the years. Amber with a white head. Very fruity (Pear drops) with restrained dusty English hops and a little diacetyl. I much prefer their mild.

On cask at The Standing Order. Pours a dark golden colour with a fair beige head. Aroma of caramel, yeast and barley. Similar flavours of caramel, yeast, toffee, grass and white pepper. Mild carbonation and CO2 prickle. Nice bitter linger.

Cask @ Camperdown Place. Mild sour vegetable malt flavour. Hazy Amber brown colour, not much head. Bog standard bitter.

Cask at the Prince Arthur (JDW), Fleet. Amber with a thin cream head; aroma of dusty hops; medium bodied with a weak earthy malt flavour and a lightly hopped finish. A pleasant ordinary bitter.

Cask @ The King’s Highway JDW, Inverness.
Amber...clear...thin white head.....reasonable lacing.
Aroma - not much going on here - a bit of malt.
Taste of caramel and biscuity malts, some bitter bit spicy hop, touch of fruitiness.
Soft carb...Finish a bit dry and sour with some minerals.
Bog standard bitter. OK.

Pint at the Old Manor in Bracknell. Amber brown beer with a decent head. Light hop floral aroma. Tastes light, slightly bitter, a touch fruity. Can taste hops, a hint of citrus. Reasonable but a little plain.

Cask in JDW The Metropolitan Bar. Golden with very little head. No lacing at all on glass. Nose is buttery, vegetal, slight bit of Burton snatch. There’s a.so toffee malt. Wonder if this is on the turn. Not very nice. Buttery taste with caramel malt. Dull and lacking any fruit or hop character other than a bit of mild bitterness on the finish.