Burton Bridge Burton Porter

Handpulled cask at JDW Hatch End, Harrow. Deep red/brown with a beige head. A fresh cask in superb condition resulted in a half gallon session when I’d just popped in for a flyer. It went down like a dark mild, delicious but to be honest, it tasted pretty much like a mild too. No assertive roast, burnt or chocolate hits. Pretty mild all round if the truth be known. If it had been badged as a mild I’d have scored it 4+.

Bottle. Reddy brown with a fine beige head, which never completely dissipated. Sour fruity aromas, apples and some yeastiness. Again, fruits are present in the flavour with roasted malts and coffee leading to a dry finish. The palate texture was surprsingly cask-like for a bottled version: low carbonation, soft mouthfeel with a medium lasting bitterness.

Sampled this porter in the Saltcot (JDW), Saltcoats in April 2009. Clear dark ruby red in colour with a thin creamy white head. Little aroma but slight berry fruit in there. Thin, dry almost leathery mouthfeel. Dark malts give a sweet fruit note overall with fig, plum and tart blackcurrants in there. Very dry woody notes in the aftertaste with liquorice evident. Short intensity of hop resins add to the dry finish. An ok porter but there are better examples out there.

Bottled(500ml). -I was very happy when I’ve found this porter. I opened it and try with Marko...few seconds of silence and then... WTF is this??? Total lack of everything here...in my English porter from Jackson’s 500 Great Beer Guide...This can’t be true. Dark brown coloured, medium to big beige head, light roasty nose. Light roasted malt, some caramel, extremely watery and nothing else. Maybe something weak similar to kelp. Once again- huge disappointment.

Bottle courtesy of and shared with ogivlado who found it in Wien (thanks!)
Bottle conditioned, eh? Humm. Poured an extremely dark brown body with a fine off white head that went away slowly. Nice. Proceeded to smell it expecting at least some solid roasty maltiness and got... nothing. What little there is and that I might’ve imagined (that’s how light it was) is some dark malt. And then I tried it and tried it again and was baffled. The bottle looks nice, the beer looks nice. It’s bottle conditioned. How the hell did they manage to make it taste this.. weak and plain. Light caramel, very light milk, dry, slightly bitter. Extremely light roast. Wow what a failure. I can imagine that we just ran into a bad bottle but for over four euros a bottle, I doubt we’ll be having it again.

Wet herbs and rotten wood smell even old-dead barnyard or very old attic. Wee header and brown cloudy colour. Light sweet at first and hits you then with a heavy bitterness. Full body, light fizzy with a long astringent finish, slight sticky texture. Constantly asks for another sip - to recommend!

Bottle, LCBO. Appearance: Deep brown with a small/medioum pancake colourd head. Aroma: Like an old persons house, some definite hops though and malt. Also a mild sourness. Flavour: Dusty, mild, some leather and port, slight peatness, with a long malty finish.

Brown bottle, 500 ml, purchased at the LCBO, savoured on January 14 2009; eye: mahogany, clear, no effervescence, voluminous beige head that turns into a sheet, good lacing; nose: hops, fruity, yeast; mouth: hops, roasted malt, fruity, tiny layer of caramel, coffee, finale is a bit dry in roasted malt with a good presence of hops and a bit of fruitiness, slightly harsh texture, light astringency, mildly bitter, lightly sweet, medium body, average carbonation, lightly sour; overall: good FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 500 ml, achetée à la LCBO, savourée le 14 janvier 2009; œil : acajou, claire, pas d’effervescence, mousse beige abondante qui tombe et se transforme en une couverture, bonne dentelle; nez : houblon, fruitée, levure; bouche : houblon, malt rôti, fruitée, p’tit filet de caramel, café, finale un peu sèche en malt rôti avec une bonne présence de houblon et une p’tite présence fruitée, texture légèrement rugueuse, légère astringence, moyennement amère, légèrement sucrée, corps moyen, carbonatation moyenne, légèrement aigre; en résumé : bonne