Flowers Original

InBev UK
Brewed at Brains
Style: Bitter
Luton, England

Serve in English pint

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UPDATED: OCT 11, 2005 Flowers was originally a Stratford Upon Avon brewery - hence the picture of the immortal bard on the pump-clip. But it has been many years since it was brewed in Shakespeare’s home town. Flowers was bought up by Whitbread with production moving to the Cheltenham plant in the late 1960’s. The Cheltenham brewery closed in 1998 and Flowers is now brewed in Dorset by Hall & Woodhouse. This has always been a nicely balanced Best Bitter with a good orange tang, regardless of who brewed it. Slips down easy when fresh. Fairly stable so can withstand a certain amount of poor treatment. Decent beer.
Oct, 2002 It was always a pleasure when in Shakespeare country to have a fresh pulled pint of Flowers. This is still a tasty pint, slips down easy with an intense fruit experience finishing with a sulphur tinged hop bite, gentle, yet enough to clear away the fruit. A great session beer. [3.2]
June, 2005. Tap & Spile, Whitby. Sparkler. Fresh & fruity. [3.1]

Sampled this well known bitter in Coanes, Johnstone in March 1991. Cask, handpump dispense. Clear dark amber in colour with a creamy white head, unusual fragrance of summer flowers in the aroma. Thin mouthfeel leads to a slight sweetish taste overall. PAle malt base gives a light floral digestive biscuit base with soft berry fruit. Dry hop resin in the rounded aftertaste cuts through the sweetness. Malt returns in the sweetish finish with barley sugar noted in the mouth. A poor session bitter.

500ml can poured a pale golden color with a frothy white head and some thin lacing. Aroma of light grains and hops. Taste is light malty sweet and a moderate hoppy bitter finish. Not a big fan of nitro flow brews, but this is one of the better ones.

On tap, Manchester. Pours clear, light gold. Minimal head. Mild for something that describes itself as "strong ale"(?). Bready flavours and a little floral lacing. Smooth mouthfeel

Cask at the Westbourne. Pours a clear, rich copper with pretty much no head. Nuts, mild toast and mild fruits on the nose. Some doughy malts and burnt nuts in the flavor with light sweetness. Light bodied with fine carbonation. Very dry finish with heavy herbal and leafy hops. Nothing special.

On tap at the Sun in London. It poured a clear golden liquid with a minimal white head. A very mild flavour of bread and a hint of caramel. Smooth mouthfeel with a light-medium body. A very mild bitter but at least easy to drink.

Draught Frankland Arms, Washington, West Sussex. Pours amber with thick white head - lovely. Sweet malty aroma. Pleasant malty flavour with touch of bitterness. A little thin but very pleasant.

Cask. Brownish-amber. Rather sweet. Malty. Amber malt, chocolate, toffee flavors. Slightly roasted, slightly earthy taste. Very light on the hops. Nice enough. Not terribly interesting but a well-made bitter.

Cask at the Lord Roberts, Nottingham. This is a simple bitter which I only had because it was the best of two uninspiring cask beers at the pub. It has an inoffensive sweetness but is watery and leaves little impression.

UPDATED: AUG 7, 2008 Cask. Excellent session beer, aroma is as light and fragrant as the name but thankfully the beer tastes maltier. Clean but adequately hopped finish. Palate is a little thin but the flavour more than makes up for this, just what you want from a bitter. Note: Seems to be very sensitive to condition: my regular place keeps it superbly, but had one somewhere else recently and it was rather musty and lost flavour.

UPDATED: DEC 20, 2009 [25/4/2008, on tap at the King Alfred, Chippenham] Large and lasting head; smooth but bland, dull and watery; a bit of malt but little else. [Re-rate 16/12/2009, cask at Great Expectations, Reading], Good deep rich malt aroma. Sweet and buttery, sour oak wood comes through then something unpleasant and rotting in the finish. Not a pleasant experience.