Wellington Arkell Best Bitter

On tap at The Rhino - came with a smallish head and the beer itself was a transparent light orange, like a weak tea. Not much aroma to speak of, some malt, a bit of grassiness. Mild nutty flavours with a hint of bitterness that didn’t really last. Aggressively carbonated - my girlfriend said it tasted like Dr. Pepper, and she’s not completely off - there is a slightly medicinal sharpness to the beer. For my money, the least interesting of the Welly ales - the County Dark makes a far superior session. Not particularly bad, just not all that great either. Cask version might be nicer.

Aroma and flavor of caramel and mild floral hops. The body is light to medium with a creamy texture and soft carbonation.

A nice clear amber color, short lasting white head. The aroma was fruity and the taste of caramel and malt. Just the right amount of bitterness. It lives a good taste in your mouth.

341 ml bottle sampled at Pub Italia accompanied by CapFlu. Luminous golden hue topped by a slow-receding thick white frothy head....faint cidery nose with some nice pale malt wafts but really pretty weak overall....thankfully there is more on offer for the tongue, a very juicy initial character, fruity and lively with light bitterness increasing somewhat, accompanied by lemon and sour apple, good malt background.....carbonation reminds me a bit too much of 7Up and is a bit high for a body that is on the thin side, but all in all this does work; just needs more in the aroma department.

341 mL bottle: Now this is better than their SPA for sure! Has that great lasting bitter finish. Some fruity & hoppy taste but wish there was more for sure! Not bad: has the starts of a really full-bodied, full flavoured bitter but never quite gets there. It is nice and smooth & gets tastier as it warms, sweetness & caramel coming out maybe. Sadly, might be the best better around these parts.

Chestnut-brown appearance with fair translucency. Pleasant aromas of caramel, malt, wet gravel and an enticing cherry fruitiness. Lightly flavoured, featuring some berry fruit, round malt, and a medium-length bitter finish. Quite nice.

Tried from hand-pulled cask.....Poured a crystal clear amber with a decent frothy head that lasted out the drink...laced the glass well. Has some nice understated aromas of fresh fruit mingled with caramel or toffee as a more distinct malty sweetness is imparted to the nose..... medium body, good malt spine, round mellow character and a creamy silken mouth feel.... Starts with a nice wallop of malts then light and tangy fruityness to the tongue then builds to a pleasingly balanced hop and malt creamy mouth feel... finishes with a twang of citrus bitter with a lovely malty-bready after taste.... I LIKE this Ale from cask ! Beats the hell out of the rather subdued and overly carbonated and pasturized bottle version

(341 ml bottle: Obtained 24-Mar-06 in trade with blankboy, thanks Paul!) Clear amber color shows off the small, but few carbonation bubbles as they rise slowly toward the surface. Once there, they join the thin, filmy, unimpressive head that partially covers the beer. The nose of moderately sweet caramel and slight woodiness doesn’t speak "Best Bitter" to me, but it’s still pleasant in its own right. Sipping the beer, that aroma was in fact an excellent predictor of the flavor. This beer tastes caramely and mildly sweet, a bit husky, slightly woody, and very gently bitter. Hints of smoke peak out from time to time. The sweet caramel is dominant though, so this isn’t much of a bitter to me. Carbonation is about average and the body is medium "minus", thinning out even further in the finish as well. Not a bad beer in general, but it’s awfully one-dimensional and reminds me too much of just your basic amber.