Brakspear Bitter (Bottle)

(bottle) Clear amber rich white head. Hoppy aroma of grass lemon-rind and earth. Malty flavour, touches of caramel and cracker. Thin body. Quite dry finish of grass.

Bottled:
Wood and port aroma, no hop notes. Copper color, no head. Light to medium bodied, few malt flavor. Strong bitterness, getting stronger in the end, remindes on sage. VEry dry finish.

aroma is of caramel and hops. tastes of caramel and grassy, flowery hop. dry, bitter finish. not bad but really tart.

Bottle. Dark reddish brown beer with a nice head. The aroma is dry, hopped and caramel, the flavour is very, very dry and caramel based. A good well hopped beer.

Back in the mid 70’s the barman at the City Lit college in Holborn served this direct from the cask. It was, in my memory, always fresh, bubbly and nutty. Of all the Ordinary Bitters I have encountered since this is the one that stands out as having the distinction of full flavour, harmonious balance, easy drinkability and lively personality all wrapped up in a reliable and unpretentious package. This is such a nicely judged session bitter that all the parts work together without drawing undue attention to themselves. To judge or rate this beer on isolated criteria would result in low scores. To really do this beer justice it simply needs to be drunk - preferably in a pub, with friends, and over the course of an entire evening. The palate is more dry than sweet, so never becomes cloying, and always invites further consumption. The fruit is tasty but not so sharp as to draw attention away from the conversation, merely enough to lubricate the throat for another riposte. And the hops stimulate the appetite and the senses. And at 3.4% this is a beer that can be consumed in volumes! An almost perfect Ordinary.

500ml bottle from Morrisons. It does have a very distinctive yeasty aroma. Otherwise a decent bitter, with some hop and some malty caramel, bu the dominant thing here is the yeast. Takes a bit of getting used to, but I quite liked it by the end. Yeasty English bitter.

Best Before 18/03/03: I have a few old boittles of this. I have had this from cask as well. Pours an orange amber with a quickly dissipating head. Clean, grainy malt nose. Pale biscuity malts, light body, with pleasantly bitter hops. A great session brew and quite good when fresh. Any sign of this stuff of late?

Bottle, Chester’s, Hamilton. Bottle was likely fairly old. Orange pour, hardly any head (looked flat). Slightly fruity and citrus hop aroma. Initial taste was a bit off, but past that, this was a nice medium bodied, fruity bitter. Pleasant. Update - fresher bottle from LCBO Summer 08 release - O loved it. So dry and bitter witht hat dusty like hop linger. Fantastic bitter!