Double Diamond Original Burton Ale (Export)

Formerly brewed at Leeds (Carlsberg UK)
Style: Bitter
Leeds, England

Serve in English pint

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UPDATED: NOV 2, 2004 Double Diamond HAS CHANGED! A recent shift from bitters and stouts to lagers and pilsners in the comonwealth world {like my beloved Canada} has caused MASIVE declinens in the export market for some wonderfull oldworld crafted ales, and fearing bankrupsy many bitter brewers have changed their recipie dramaticaly, to try to keep up with a steady rise in carlsberg sales. Untill now the biggest example of this was Bass {now under bankrupsy protection} , reducing the bitter level by 70%, and then changing the malt to change our beloved coper pale ale into a golden ale, the color that wrongly comes to the mind of most north americans when you say an ale is "pale" . But I digress. The new Double Diamond comes in a new "Caskflow" can, a system very similar to the famous guinness "Draughtflow", except that this wiget is hard fassened to the bottom of the can. On pour the change is obvious. Cream ale style rise, foamy guinness like head. No carbonation left in beer after rise. Colour unchanged. Clasic coper pale ale. Bland aroma, sour on the nose like spoiled apple. taste. ALL WRONG!! not a Burton ale at all. cream flavour, sweet, smoth, mild malt hiding in the corner of my mouth, no hop to speak of. Oily mouthfeel. After taste remenesent of sour welsh ale, cloying on the molars. Sad tear comes to my eye. Previousley double dimond was one of my perferd ales. In pubs or in bottles from my local shop, it had the perfect not too bitter flavour for a cold summer night. {I cant get enough hop in the heat though} then it dissapered of the shelves. at my local they taped a new keg one day and suddenly it pulled like a cream ale. then today I see them stocking the shelves with not bottles but cans. Filled with joy I rushed home with 2 cans, and upon pouring I was alread disapointed. Bitter fans STAY away from the new Double Diamond, However, Killkey and Bodington fans aswell as fans of welsh ale should give this new cream ale a try {even though the can calls it a Burton ale}

Multiple tastings. I remember drinking these while on exchange in London. Nothing special but wanted to get this one added to my list.

Originally rated February 2005. Poured an amber colour with a nice creamy head with very good retention. Lacing was also thick and spider web oriented. Aroma was of biscuits and slightly sweet malt. The taste was also sweet, like mild caramel, and had a little bitter kick at the end. Nice and smooth mouthfeel. This is the closest thing to Boddington, when both are compared from a draught can. Great session brew.

500ml bottle poured a golden color with a frothy white head that settled to some very thin lacing. Aroma of light grains and some hops. Taste is light malty sweetness with a pronounced hoppy bitter finish. A decent bitter with a light to medium body and decent carbonation.

UPDATED: JAN 31, 2012 Bottle. Golden colour with a white head. Moderate malty and a fresh hoppy nose. Solid malty caramel background in the flavour with some hopps in front :-)

I agree 100% with rubbishystuff. I can remember this was a very popular beer about 20years ago, I used to drink it at my family’s bar. So, I couldn’t wait to drink this beer again to rate it, And what a major disappointment! I thought maybe it was me. Did the recipe change? Or the brewery change? Anyways, still ok, but not what I remembered.

Didn’t this used to be better? No wonder CAMRA was formed. Plain old bitter that is not as good as it used to be. Serving: Bottle

Nitro can! This unexpected little "bonus" created the most explosive, cascading creamy head and what impressive lacing to boot! The colour was a cloudy orange/amber, but what of the aroma. Has my nose gone dormant? Perhaps I served it too chilled and not in the traditional British method of not so cold. The taste was of coffee and perhaps some caramel.

Poured a clear amber color w.th a big white head. Aroma was of mostly bland malts, with some spicy hops floating in there. Flavor was much the same, sweetness in the foretaste and a decent hop finish.

...big can. Not too bad at all, I was surprised. Weird malty flavor, as I can remember. I need to try this again to refresh my memory, but I think it was pretty decent, and relatively inexpensive.

Bottle. Amber colour with a white head. Light caramel aroma. Malty taste, some grainy notes.