gravicask @ ealing bf 08. cardboard, grass nose. golden colour, little bubbly rim. smooth gentle mouthfeel, very drinkable.

Cask at Ealing Beer fest. Aroma is pale hay like malts, hops give grassy fruity characters. Taste is similar, but to be honest the notes go on to ramble about cowboys after this.

Cask at the Waggon and Horses (JDW), Alfreton. I’m not really sure what this was intended to be - seems more like a lager substitute than a premium bitter, but either way it’s a bit of a let down. Pale straw with a dense white head; thick and oily in the mouth with some tropical fruit flavours, and just enough bitterness to balance. Not something I’d choose to drink again.

Pondwater orange pour. Thought it was a chill haze but it’s just muck. Fleeting collar, squash-like stillness. Some initial piney hop, watery lemon, toffee and light ganja on the snout drowned in buttery popcorn diacetyl nastiness. Ok, it’ been stored under hot lights in a clear bottle on the top shelf of my local offie, but it’ s no excuse. Wait a minute..some pretty heady hop mustiness coming off it now. Bitter, soapy, sweet, sour. Pale sickly malt, Dip of Twiglet.Is my bottle infected, mistreated, or just shit? Could just about struggle through a half of this at a festival if I was pissed enough, but at home and in the sober light of day, not good enough.

Well, I have to say, I’m well aware my bottle of this was bad, way bad. But I’m going to rate it anyway. The "best by" date is still a year off, so it’s not an old bottle. Clearly part of what is wrong is infection, which is a brewery issue. And part of what else is wrong is skunking, which is also the brewery’s issue. (Clear bottle.) So disclaimers aside, and also noting that I’ll be keeping my eyes open for a less hideous example....wow, this really was something. Bright gold pour, small white cap of foam. Aroma of soft cheese gone off from being left out warm, mingling in a singularly unpleasant way with the smell of feet that have been confined to boots for a weekend of camping in the rain. Flavor is less gag-inducing than the aroma, but only just. Vague hops are hinted at under more spoiled cheese. Two sips was all I could manage to swallow before the rest of this went to sleep with the goldfish. A memorably painful assault to the senses.