John Smith’s Cask

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

Serve in English pint

Handpump @ the Olde Starre Inn, York, Nth Yorkshire.
Poured a ruddy, dull copper with an oily, bubbly, misfitted head that didn’t last - though it wasn’t there in the first place!. Aroma of dank wood and tar, one whiff was all I got. Taste is gritty, watery and overly subtle. Top-soil, engine oil and just a little wood. The liquor used seems like it ran through the drainpipes and into the tun. This wasn’t too good at all (bad sample?), in fact I’d prefer a pint of kegged, nitro-charged Smith’s over this.

This was a mild bitter that poured OK and wasn’t bad. It was judst to bland for me.The group of guys that I was with prefered this because it was closer to what they drink in the US.

Brown-ruby colour, creamy head, laced very well. Aroma of malts, and some caramel, lacking in aroma though. Tastes bitter and smooth, easy drinkiing, session. Not the tinniness you get from a can of this stuff.

Cask at Cock and Bottle York 3 May 06. Brown colour. Creamy head. Difficult to spot any identity at all. Dull.

Cask handpump at the Royal, Bingley, West Yorks, 20-05-06 served to cold which seemed to remove what little taste that there probably was to start with, amber, dull and unexciting.

UPDATED: NOV 2, 2009 1. Cask Handpump at the Pig & Whistle, Liverpool 22/11/2001 Amber mid brown coloured and malty. Dry hop finish. 2. Cask Handpump at the Railway Hotel, Ramsbottom 06/07/2003 Amber slightly fruity and smooth on the palate. Some dryness in a malt finish. 3. Cask Handpump at the Beehive, Northwich 24/12/2005 Mid brown amber coloured and very smooth on the palate. Crisp slightly dry malt finish with some bitterness. 4. Cask Handpump at the Roebuck, Northwich 10/07/2008 Some malt aroma. Mid brown coloured and smooth on the palate with a crisp and slightly creamy malt finish. 5. Cask Handpump at the Coach & Horses, Tadcaster 06/02/2009 Floral aroma. Amber coloured and smooth on the palate with a crisp slightly bitter and creamy malt finish. 6. Cask Handpump at the Victoria Vaults, York 09/05/2009 Floral and slightly spicy aromas. Bronze coloured smooth on the palate and a little fruity with a hint of bitterness in a crisp malt finish.

Had this at the Brown Cow pub in Bolton. Coppery brown, clear, thin dense head leaving lace. Low aroma, faintly of caramel, but generally bland in comparison to the J.W.Lees I had before it. Interestingly, I found the canned version to be better (heresy!), maybe because of temperature.

[draft: stables] this was served far too cold, odd because they serve all the other correctly, perhaps john smiths ask for this to be served too cold? doesnt smell of much, a little malty, some weird chemically smell. tastes like cardboard, thin body.