Dark Star Festival

Brewed by Dark Star
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Horsham, England

Serve in English pint

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Cask@Ealing Beer On Broadway. Quite malty. Toasty/roasty malt characters. Grainy, wholemeal flavours. Malty, but well balanced bitter. Another decent one from Dark Star.

Real cask. Pours dark amber with a medium head. Aroma is dark fruits and malts. Flavor is dark fruits, caramel, malts and plenty of hops. Nice.

Cask at Harry’s, Jyväskylä. Plenty of dark caramel and fruity wine gums in the aroma and flavor. Bittersweet with nuts and toffee also. Well made and in good condition, but these caramel flavors and not my thing.

Pint from the Rake. Ruby copper colour, slight haze, small tanned head. Smelled of rasins and slightly off fruits. Tasted roasted malts, had a long bitter finish. Not overly smooth. Overall reminded me of a German Dunkel.

Cask at the Magpie, deep brown with a big cream-white head and a very faint haze. A touch of yeast, peppery hop and wet wood on the nose, then the body is malty, dry, earthy and faintly spicy-woody, with a slightly tart malt tang in the otherwise hop-bitter finish.

Half, from cask @Craft Beer Co, London. A creamy white lace, over clear nut-brown body. Light nutty and toasted malt aroma. And a pleasant whiff earth, fruit and evergreen from the hops added. Light to medium malt body. Sweet, toasted and peppery. Distinct and elegant bitterness. Smooth on the palate. Lasting hoppy ending. Highly drinkable.

07/04/2011 Brasserie 4:20 (cask). Spillata a pompa. Ambrata scura, con riflessi rossicci, lieve schiuma biancastra sporca. Aroma leggerissimo, appena luppolato, appena caramellato, con note fruttate di mela e pesca. In bocca è appena più convincente, lievemente caramellata, con luppolatura leggera e non invadente. Corpo medio-basso, liscia e beverina. Ottima session beer.

Cask, Marble Arch Inn, Manchester. Murky mahogany colour with a thin off white head. Aroma of yeast, sweet malts, orange, spice, booze. Sweetish flavour with malts, fruit and yeast notes. Some muffled hop bitterness towards the finish. Ok but pretty underwhelming overall.

Cask @ O’Hara’s, Tampere.
Pours pale copper colour with minimal head. Aroma of mild fruits, caramel malts and grass. Flavour of malts, mild fruits, caramel and some toffee notes. Quite easy to drink, inoffensive.
3323

Cask @ O’Hara’s Freehouse
Aroma has caramel, toffee and bready malt. Flavour is rather bready with some toffee and grainy malt. Nothing disturbing, nothing special. Works fine as a session ale.

Cask @ O’Hara’s, Tampere.
Pours a dark copper colour with a lacy white head. Aroma of grassy bitter hops and some floral notes. Flavour of floral hops, grass, caramel and some malts. Medium bodied, slick mouthfeel and a light, bitter, and somewhat floral finish. Overall a nice bitter which lacks a proper malty body.