Holdens Black Country Special Bitter

Brewed by Holdens
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Dudley, England

Serve in English pint

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A Mes rate. Cask handpull at Baker Street ‘Sporks.
Clean gold with a lasting creamy white head and good condition. Good fruity malt and some faint citric hoppage on the nose. Nicely balanced. The flavour follows on well from the aroma. Fruity and innocent with some very late earthy dryness. Faintly bitter in the finish. Straight forward but well made and very drinkable.

From the description I expected this to be sweet and malty. It is... but there's a big hop hit at the end as well. You can taste the alcohol too. Not bad at all. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Sep 2011: Hand pulled in my new local Wetherspoons pub, a pint in a sleeve. I’ve had this lovely beer many times, but never reviewed it before for some reason. All Holdens beers look good and this one is ‘really good looking’; great amber body, clear and rich, the creamy off-white head sticking to the glass like a wet net curtain. No huge aroma, a mix of malt molasses and yeasts, with hints of hops as the beer warms. Malts rule the flavours as well as the smell, this is a semi-sweet Premium Bitter, the type I prefer, the malts allude to a toffee liking feel. Almost creamy in texture, but remaining true to its roots, this is a classic West Midlands (Black Country) Bitter and long may it be so.

Mid amber brown with a weak head. Distinctly nutty malt aroma with a faint hint of hops. Bitter taste, again nutty malt, coffee and caramel, plus a fruity hop flavour. Bitter finish.

Hand pulled at the Park Inn, Dudley. Sweet bitter, which only really asserts it’s bitterness way into the finish. Feels like a mix of sweat and paper. Average.

Thanks to Robson for bringing this. Very clear yellow, golden color, nice white head that’s quickly gone. Slight fruity, malty and bitter smell. Taste slight fruity, mainly bitter. Pretty good ESB. Nice carbo, medium body.

500ml bottle. Pours a dark golden with a large, lasting head. Aroma is floral, some grass and bready malt. Bready start. Strong bitter finish.

Cask at the Old Manor (JDW), Bracknell. An attractive amber with a loose white head; aromas of tropical fruits and butterscotch; think in the mouth with the same tropical fruit flavour followed by a good blast of English hops. I rather liked this.

Cask at the Wharf, Aalborog. Golden colour with nearly no off-white head. Aroma is malt, butterscotsch, yeast. Flavour is malt, butterscotsch, yeast, caramel, herbs. Ordinary beer.

Cask, at The Wharf, Aalborg. As Holden’s Black Special. A golden beer topped by a cask-style off-white head. Yeasty, citrusy nose with caramel malts and a touch of dms. Some catpee like hops aren’t disturbing the experience. The flavor has some caramel and yeast, with grassy, almost lime-like hops. Quite low on initial bitterness, but decent in the end. Some fruityness too in the finish. A very easy drinkable beer, but nothing impressive about it. 091025

’Golden Special Bitter’, to be precise- pasteurised from the Leicestershire section of Lutterworth Waitrose (WTF?!). Golden indeed with a thin white film and crystallised lace like sun-cooked Spanish lager; aroma coins, honey and pine cone; flavour vaguely resiny pine buttered with cake mix and honey; rock candy, lemon, flinty bitterness, shaving of metal right through it. Pretty pleasant actually like a ’premium’ lager with added hops and sugar. Better than the bottled Holdens beer I had last night, which isn’t saying much- but the sink didn’t get a drop of this.