Coniston Bluebird Bitter (Bottle)

Coniston
Brewed at Hepworth
Style: Bitter
Coniston, England

Serve in English pint

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Excellent bitter aroma and flavor. Very clean and drinkable. This is one of the better bitters that I have consumed this side of the pond.

Hazy straw colored beer with a creamy, sandy colored head. Aroma of fresh hops with a hint of malt in the background. Pure hops from start to finish, doesn’t smck you upside the head with hops, it just stays front and center. The label uses the term ’spicy’, however I failed to notice. Just a textbook Bitter.

A solid beer. The first aroma (while the head was still settling) was very fruity, reminding me a lot of the aroma from the Melbourn Brothers fruit beers. The flavor was simple but well balanced: bitterness was not too sharp, the dry hoppiness really crisp. As the beer lost a bit of its carbonation and warmed to room temperature it degraded a bit too much--the last gulp from my pint was a tad unpleasant, in fact, due to a limpness in the mouth. But overall an extremely enjoyable beer for this style. (bottled, bought at Sainsbury’s, Oxford)

Slightly flat looking beer. Overall the beer is good because it is bitter yet it is a very refreshing drink.

Bottle conditioned. At last an english, low gravity bottle conditioned beer that is a pleasure to drink. Good rocky head with excellent challenger aromas. Good balance of malt and grapefruity hops in the mouth and a slightly sweet hoppy finish.

A good ’session’ beer. Mellow flavors, and a nice crispness at the end. Very tasty

A very nice beer... lighter bodied than Fullers, with a much more delicate presentation of flavors. Crisp and drinkable.

Boy this brew has mixed ratings - from 2.0 - 5.0. I have to go with Hey_Kevin in championing this beer. I find it thinner-bodied than Fuller’s, with a much crisper hop flavor. Maltiness is subdued, but there. Very subtle aroma; like you are walking the heaths (or is that the newly mowed lawn smell from my socks?). Whatever the case, an excellently balanced beer, third to Alesmith’s and Boyne’s in my book (although my Bitter book is a small one).

a slightly below average ESB. label indicated bottle conditioned, but not much head (as I usually find in a b.c.) and fewer yeast floaters than normal (that’s not a judgement, just an observation). The flavor was between mellow and crisp, much less bitter than i expected, but overall not a bad choice.

It’s a good ale, but it’s not remarkable. Good flavor, clean finish. Not a whole lot of hops, but I like it.