Double Diamond Original Burton Ale

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

Serve in English pint

Draught, at an English Pub on 3rd Ave, NYNY.
Decent bitter indeed. Decent to good, hope aroma and flavour. Probably too hoppy for the English market but not hoppy enough for Americans, thereby being very marketable as English beer. But its not!!

Tap at Bryant Lake Bowl, MN. No aroma. Hazy amber in color with nice lace. Dry, bitter, nice. A little bit like Bass. Also has some similarities to Fullers ESB, but not as good. Pretty decent English brew. The bartender at Bryant Lake Bowl told me the brewer was Burton. Although Burton Bridge makes a ’Dublo Diamond’, it is retired. I also recognize the logo on this page as the one on the tap handle, so I am quite confident this is the right brew. It is possible Leeds Brewery bought the recipe from Burton Bridge.

Cask-flow can. Colour is a very eye-pleasing light-medium amber. Nose is fairly sweet and pretty simple – not much power to it. Nice, creamy mouthfeel doesn’t really lead anywhere. The taste is pretty flat, mostly sweet with slight hints of undefinable fruit, and a bitterness that swells towards the middle and then departs for the finish. Not all that tasty or refreshing, you can do much better than "Burton’s Finest".

500 ml can. I don’t see a widget, but it pours as if there were one in there. Pale copper colour with a thick, persistent white head. Aroma of caramel malts and UK hops. Nice fruity malts and spicy hop aromas typical of UK bitters. Mouthfeel needs some carbonation, the beer just seems limp and lifeless (probably the nitro). Watery palate. Sweet, fruity malts, spicy and slightly woody hops with a hint of stale flavour. It isn’t really bad, it just needs more to be good.

Drank warm to get flavor. Watery golden colour and slight creamy head. Some very rounded malt sweetness and long, very soft hop bitterness at first. Moderate to watery body. Appealing slightly fruty / spicy tones at room temp not unlike some cheap belgian blondes. Don’t chill this beer. As I drink an industrial-hop bitterness starts to build up with each sip, it hangs on the tongue and palate, I know if I drink the whole can it will irritate my gut (typical cheap Brit beer.) A paradigm of mediocrity - it’s like a banal conversation you feel you must feign interest in.

Nitr-can. The colour is pale brass; the nitro-foam forms a finger-thick compact off white head. Looks good to me!

The smell is subtle and a bit sweet with notes of nuts and a trace of some faceless hops.

The carbonation is very very very weak, almost stale.

The taste is mild with a chemical/artificial flavour with some sweet malts and a weak bitterness. The aftertaste is mostly sour (like an used dishcloth).

This is probably the worst ale I have encountered, which is sad, as I like this style quite a lot.

UPDATED: JUN 22, 2006 Sampled on draft at Smokin’ Joes in Pittsburgh this beer poured a cooper color with a small white head. There was a light sweet aroma. The flavor is lightly malty, faintly sweet and very mildly hoppy. Another boring English ale, yawn.

Nitro tap. Medium amber colored with a dense white head. Fantastic lacing. Malty aroma. A bit sour with aroma. Hops are perhaps a bit vegetal. Smooth mouthfeel. Decent.