Donnington SBA

Brewed by Donnington
Style: Bitter
Cheltenham, England

Serve in English pint

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Cask at Red Lion, Little Compton, Oxfordshire. Beautiful dark amber ale with a small. off-white head. Malt and hops in the aroma. Less sweetness than in the Best Bitter and fuller bodied, not unlike marmalade. Medium bitter finish. Memorable beer on a memorable golden evening with the sun sinking over the Cotswold village rooftops...

Queens Head, Stow-on-the-wold, Cotswolds. Darkish brown/amber, creamy head, caramel and butterscotch malts & light bitterness. A lovely session drink for sure, very moreish. There were 2 staunched lager drinkers in our group and they happily quaffed SBA all weekend. And I do mean all weekend...

Cask @ Queens head, Stow-on-the-wold, cotswolds. Darkish amber orange, light textured white head, watery body, light caramel malts & lighter bitterness. A hearty drink to be enjoyed indeed. I really enjoyed this one and the hospitality at the pub. Pub and SBA both heartily recommended. Even the Mrs liked it (!).

Cask conditioned at the Royal Oak Beer Festival, Gretton, Glos’ Sat 4th March. Wonderful dark amber ale the balance of this beer is just right malty hoppy and lovely nice bitter finish. Donnington’s are one of the best exponents of getting an English bitter just right in my opinion this would have scored even higher if it were not for the fact that it was served just a tad too warm for my liking.

UPDATED: JAN 12, 2010 Cask-conditioned at the Black Horse, Naunton, Gloucs 9/9/07. Clear amber colour with a moderate off-white head that left plenty of lacing down the glass. Fruity malt aroma without being too sweet, with some accompanying hoppiness. Flavour was malty with a touch of red fruit and a decent bitter finish. An excellent well-balanced bitter. The landlord of the pub indicated that the Swindon Arkells inheriting the Donnington brewery has not led to any changes - long may this continue to be the case [4.0]. Re-rate at the Plough in Ford, Gloucestershire, October 2009. Still very enjoyable, although rather more sweet on this occasion [3.6]

Cask Stillage at the RUFC, Bromsgrove 15/07/2006 Fruit and strong malt aromas. Amber coloured and slightly sweet on the palate. Very malty with some fruit and wheat flavours. Smooth dry finish.

Straight from the cask at Arkell’s Brewery Beer Festival 2010. Chesnut coloured beer. Citrus nose, some fruit in the taste and a dry palate. Tasty.

Cask (hand pump / beer engine) at the GBBF 2008. ABV was said to be 4.4%. Copper coloured beer, minimal head. Malty aroma with decent notes of fruity hops (dark fruits). Malty flavour, notes of caramel but not really sweet, moderate "dusty" hops in the finish.

UPDATED: JUN 13, 2006 (Cask conditioned) Plenty of hops come through the aroma of this reddy brown loose headed beer. It quickly loses any fiz and settles to an easy drinking malt dominated warming ale. Very difficult to find, Donnington concentrate on their 15 tied pubs in Gloucestershire, but worth a try when you are in the area.

Cask at GBBF 08. Dark copper brown with an offwhite head. Quite malty nose, some roast as well as chocolate and fruit. Good malty roast flavours, a bit spicy, decent bitterness. Relatively light-bodied. Points for originality.