Flowers IPA

InBev UK
Brewed at Brains
Style: Bitter
Luton, England

Serve in English pint

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UPDATED: MAR 8, 2005 April, 2003:Cask, 5 Bells, Tenterden. This was near the end of the cask and did show some sourness towards the end of the pint. Having said that, it still wasn’t an impressive beer. The hops were edging toward stewed. The malt base was thin and boring. Flowers used to be a nice pint, but it has suffered in recent years. The Flowers brewery was founded in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1831 as Flower & Son. In 1954 they were bought by J. W. Green Ltd of Luton, and the name was changed to Flowers. The Whitbread empire took over in 1961, closing the brewery down seven years later when they transferred production to the Cheltenham brewery. It was the Cheltenham Flowers that I remember with fondness - but in 1999 the brewery was closed down and Flowers moved into the Boddington’s Strangeway brewery in Manchester. Then came the Great Millenium when the Interbrew stormtroopers, with huge smirks on their faces, took over the Whitbread and Bass brewing empires. Under pressure from the UK government they gave up the Bass brewing operation, and now only produce two cask beers - Flowers Original and Flowers IPA. A small (and declining) portion of the vast Boddingtons keg output is also produced in the cask. [1.8]
June, 2003: Cask, King’s Head, Rochester. This one was in better condition. It was drinkable without being remarkable. Upped a few points. [2.4]
March, 2005:The Fox, Maidstone. Nice pub with a good atmosphere and a half decent range of beers. This is a softly malty and nicely balanced Best Bitter. It lacks freshness and has a metallic feel in the finish. A drinkable ale but little to commend - indeed, off-flavours intrude more and more: a curious mix of stale, greasy and metallic. [2.1]

Sampled this in the Bar Point, Paisley in June 1992. Cask, handpump dispense. Dark amber in colour with a thin creamy white head. Aromatic hop flower bouquet, short on the nose. Thin mouthfeel and good lacing. Pale malt gives a digestive biscuit base flavour with slight gooseberry fruit notes. Dry dusty hop resins gives a slight bitter astringency to the short aftertaste. Finish has a sweetness of barley sugar fading to leave a dusty resiny palate. A poor session bitter.

Cask, The York. floral aroma. Some caramel and butter. Hint of spice on the finish.

Cask. Light, malty nose. Amber color. Flavor of caramel malt, minerals, pepper hops. Ok but a bit boring.

On tap at the Slug and Lettuce, Birmingham. Pours an orange/amber colour with small head. Aroma and flavour of caramel with light floral hop aftertaste. Drinkable.

On tap at Slug and Lettuce, pours clear bronze. Aroma of bitter English malts and light caramel. Flavour of traditional bitter English malts, light toasted caramel and light spices. Not too good.

Cask Conditioned handpump Royal Oak Naseby. An amber coloured beer with a whitish head. Sweet aroma with caramel in mouth as well. A lot of sweet nothiingness really.

Cask. Woody winey nutty nose, good chewy body, with oak, a good balance of sweet malt and grassy hops, woody bitter finish, very quaffable.

Cask The County, Hexham Copper-coloured with small white head. Hop aroma with some floral notes. Thin palate. Malty flavour with some hints of acid. Detected a fairly nasty aftertaste. Didn’t much like this.

Another beer that has been brewed at many breweries over the years. Very little in the way of distinctive flavours and difficult to know why it is still being made. Something and nothing.

From cask at Duke of Wellington. Pours clear and golden orange with a small off-white head. Light roasted and dry caramelish to breadish aroma. Bitter and roasted breadish malty base flavoured. Persisting malty into the finish.