Brakspear Bitter (Bottle)

Brewed by Wychwood (Refresh UK - Marstons plc)
Style: Bitter
Witney, England

Bottle. Medium head with medium duration. Color is amber. Aroma and taste are roast malt, chocolate and hops. Bitter finish.

500 mL bottle. Copper-orange with a film of head. Toasty, full aroma with very little hops at all. Just a lot of lightly burnt toast. Not that that’s a bad thing. The burnt toast begins and ends the flavour as well, but in the middle it’s fairly thin. Some astringency. Certainly doesn’t feel like 3.4%. Nice session ale, but I’d like the hops to step up a bit.

50 cl bottle, Toronto. Deep amber colour, thin head,, spicy aroma. Lightly carbonated, deep hoppy flavor, long dry finish.

500ml bottle from the LCBO. Nice golden/brownish pour, with a good white head, and some nice lacing. Aroma is very very nice, a good mix of english hops, and some very nice caramel/fruity malts. Flavour is very nice, lots of good hops, i love the subtle but full bodied english hops in a good bitter. A great bitter finish, a great example of the style. Amazing session ale.

Bottle from the LCBO. Relatively clear orange-amber with a small white head. Aroma of fruity malt with some nice mineral notes in the background, and a hint of wood. Medium bodied. Soft malts off the top of the flavour with hints of butterscotch, a nice earthy/mineral character in the middle, and a surprisingly well-hopped finish. A solid session bitter.

500 ml bottle from LCBO - med clear ruddy-brown color and fine medium head. Aroma a bit wild and possible sulfurous. Damn. Lots of drying, bitter hops on the palate and finish. Tasting some burnt match-stick, this has to be a little skunked? It still performs decently as a pint with dry alefruit flavors and almost medium body with minimal sweetness. Stuart’s Bitter from Ontario is less aggressively dry-hopped and yet FAR superior to this for my taste. Just a commercial brit ale. And I love their Organic for some reason.

500 ml bottle - pours clear mahogany with a decent two-finger sticky white cap. Subtle aromas of leather, sweet malts, and a faint earthy, mineral quality. Flavour is surprisingly big for a beer with such low ABV. Date, prune, limestone (or how I imagine limestone would taste), molasses and herbal hops. Medium bitter finish. Wonderful session ale, and one I’ll be turning to frequently.

Upon smelling this beer, I began to wish my province’s liquor monopoly would cease business with this brewer. Musty, cardboard and bandage smells common to Wychwood, plus some flat malty scents. But the body and flavour aren’t bad at all. Nicely bitter, smooth and not too carbonated, a little bit of funk in the finish.