Greene King Fireside (Cask)

Brewed by Greene King
Style: Bitter
Bury St. Edmunds, England

Serve in English pint

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18th December 2012
Cask at the Goodmans Fields Spoons. Clear brown - amber beer. Small off white head. Smooth palate. Sweetish malts and sweet orange marmalade. Overall quite a sweet beer. Drinkable but I could not be bothered with another and switched to lager!

Cask at the Quinns Head (Harlequinns RFU), Twickenham- 16/11/12. Dark chestnut brown with a thin tan head that quickly clears to the edge. Nose is dark malts, dark fruits, toffee, nutty tones, light hops in the background. Tastes of dark malts, caramel, treacle toffee, nuts, figs, marshmelow, butterscotch angel delight. Medium bodied, light carbonation, smooth on the palate, bitter finish.

Tasted this in the Salt Cot, Saltcoats (JDW) in November 2012. Cask, handpump dispense. Crystal clear copper red in colour with a thin white head. Slight note of malt in the very short nose. Thin mouthfeel and good lacing. Pale malts gives a weak fruitloaf base with pomegranate just about evident. Slight prickle of spicy hop resins giving a note of black pepper in the aftertaste. Finish is just about malty with a hint of blood orange zest in the mouth but short on depth and complexity. An Autumnal Ale - but far too weak to be called a Winter Warmer though. A rather bland effort from Greene King, gives us something exciting to write about - like Suffolk Springer!!

Cask @ some random pub off Charlotte Street. The pour’s deep brown with a tiny off-white head. The nose is sweet nuts, some red berry and shoe polish. Hints of wood. The taste is mild leather, more red fruits and strawberry. Big, fat malty body. More nuts and shoe polish. Light body, very soft carbonation. Not a great deal of vitality in this pint. Overall, not too bad.

Cask at Assembly House, London. Pours clear, golden-brown with a fine, light tan cream head. Sugary, semi-dark malt nose, some toast. medium sweet flavor with lots of unfermented sugars and mild, leafy bitterness. Light bodied with fine, creamy carbonation. Sugary finish with faint caramel, some berries. Nothing special.

My bottled review of this beer (Nov 2008) reads a lot differently to this: with one or two trends common! Hand pulled pint in some random pub (The Anchor), Cambridge, England in late Nov 2011. ‘Late hopped for a mellow fruity flavour’ according to the brewery: let’s see if I agree. Dark Chestnut brown/red with a cream coloured crown of foam; looked OK. Malts in the aroma, roasted ones, add some candied fruit and nuts for good measure. The flavours also on the malty side, again with some hints of dried fruits and nuts: on the sweeter side more than dry or citrusy in taste. The body was thinner than it looked, no true depth at all considering the brewery claim it is a ‘Winter Warmer’. Nothing wrong with it, a dark coloured bitter with a pleasant enough blend of ingredients, easy to drink and inoffensive: however I couldn’t find any evidence of that ‘Late hopped for a mellow fruity flavour’ stuff. As an overview: just another Greene King beer to flood the market with, most likely made from a regular base brew and tinkered with.

Cask. Very nice fruit aroma. Cherry maybe. Semidark ruby colour. Med sweet light bitter. Medium body good beer

A - some dried fruit and roasted aroma A - dark amber with thick head T - light sour with tinny bitter P - mid and soft O - ehhh...

Pleasant enough on the palatte. Darkish with some caramel notes but no distinctive hop flavours. It’s okay, far from the worst beer I’ve ever tried but not in any way distinctive. ’Average’ pretty much sums it up.

Cask at The Pig. Chestnut with a beige collar. Just a hint of lemon zest in the aroma, amidst the usual watery GK stuff; cake, almond, oak. Soft and flabby with negligible Battenberg and cherry notes. Dismal.