John Smith’s Cask

Brewed by John Smiths (Heineken UK)
Style: Bitter
Tadcaster, England

Serve in English pint

Cask, Toby, Carlisle. Another one of those beers that you would normally pass up. I was pleasantly surprised to find this had a good sweet caramel flavour, offset by a decent bitterness. Solid, mid-brown appearance, as long as other examples are kept in this condition, it’s a reasonable session bitter.

Cask - The Black Bull, Kirton. Chestnut brown with a dense, medium size off-white head. Moderate fruity malt aromas, quite light in all. Some fruit flavours, some nuttiness but predominantly sweet, though nondescript with a shortish bitter finish. Quite light in body, easily drinkable, almost no carbonation. Didn’t expect much, but there’s nothing wrong here - it’s just John Smiths...

Pub in London. Somewhat malty aroma. Mahogany the off-white head. Flavour is malty with some hoppy bitterness. Finishes rather unpleasantly chemical metal. Very watery and flat with no character. Not the best.

Cask (handpump) @ Harlequin, 108 Nursery Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England S3 8GG.
Clear medium to dark amber color with a average, creamy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to white head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, sugar, sweet malt notes. Flavor is moderate sweet and bitter with a average duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is flat. Borring and very indusrial. [20090417]

Cask in the alfread herring. Alround rating: Malty sweet, nutty, thin, hop character is low but its still balanced and quite tasty.

Cask at a pub in London. Nutbrown color with a small head. Sweet malty tast and aroma with a slight bitterness. Uninspiring

Cask at the Lord Roberts, Nottingham. I was disappointed to find that this pub’s former cask offerings, Flowers Original and Tetley’s, had been replaced by Pedigree and John Smith’s. However, I hadn’t sampled Smith’s on cask before. It’s marginally better than it is from the keg, although I’m not sure that this sample was in the best possible condition. It’s dark amber with malty sweetness and nuttiness, but one-dimensional and watery.

UPDATED: APR 17, 2009 Had the odd good and odd slightly nutty disappointing pint on Cask, it varies, I generally like the creamyness to start with, and its good when I get a smooth pint.