Master Brew
Shepherd Neame Ltd

Master BrewMaster Brew
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From:
Shepherd Neame Ltd
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English Bitter
Ranked #130
ABV:
4%
Score:
78
Ranked #26,859
Avg:
3.35 | pDev: 14.63%
Reviews:
32
Ratings:
56
Status:
Active
Rated:
Oct 05, 2023
Added:
Nov 07, 2003
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  8
Delicate and devilishly drinkable, this quintessentially Kentish ale lays the county's hallowed, herbaceous hops on a firm, biscuity bed of pale and crystal malt. Endowed with an inviting auburn-amber hue and a tantalising toffee-ish aroma, it's an enlivening English ale that, given its unassuming ABV, pleasures the palate with a remarkable fullness of flavour.

Bottles: 4% ABV, Cask: 3.7% ABV
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Rated: 3.47 by Dethark from England

Oct 05, 2023
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Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

3.7/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
i could see this being somewhat bad in a bottle, especially a clear one as pictured, but its not bad beer on the engine, in fact its lovely, a simple but flavorful bitter, love how low alcohol it is, how malty still, but not sugary, and how seemingly fresh and hearty it is, the ratings here do it no justice if you catch it right i reckon, and it inspired my wife to comment how cask beer just drinks and drinks without getting you drink on account of the low abv and the lack of carbonation in the belly, but she then proceeded, as did i, to get semi wasted, buy an expensive sex toy, eat only cheese for dinner, and get kind of sick in our hotel room, so, you be the judge. this has biscuit and honey layers, some hop bite especially on the back end, and a super familiar english ale yeast profile that makes it seem like a known entity even though ive never had this before. the name master brew leads one to believe they are mighty proud of this, and maybe i cant quite catch the reason why, it seems like a lot of others, a little fuller feeling and flavored too, but they have succeeded in little more than producing a serviceable and repeatable cask pull, a feat i am certainly thankful for, but not one im sure warrants a ton of praise. good not great, context was everything with this, but better than its scores here on BA...
May 24, 2022
 
Rated: 3.34 by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota

Nov 10, 2021
 
Rated: 3.5 by bad_poetry from England

Aug 16, 2021
 
Rated: 4.03 by Daneve76 from Australia

Jun 07, 2021
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Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.79/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Cask half pint at the Cask and Glass, London Victoria. Deep amber to brown colour, moderate white head. Moderate malts and hops in the aroma. Tingling hops in the flavour, very good.
Mar 23, 2021
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Reviewed by Snowcrash000 from Germany

3.59/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Pours a clear, deep amber coloration with a small, creamy head and slightly visible carbonation. Smells of grainy, slightly toasted and caramelly malt and some earthy/herbal hops. Taste is a good balance of grainy, slightly toasted and caramelly malt and earthy, herbal hops, with hints of toffee and fruity accents of citrus and berries. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some grainy malt, toffee and herbal hops lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

This is a nice enough Bitter with a good balance of sweet, bitter and slightly fruity elements, as well as good overall malt/hop balance and a good bitterness, with the grainy, toasted malt and earthy, hops dominating here, rounded out by some toffee and fruity accents.
Jun 12, 2020
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Reviewed by vinicole from England

3.39/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Cask. Amber with a frothy head which generates lacing.
English hop aroma. Toffee malt.
Caramel flavour which is nicely balanced by the hops.
Cask conditioned feel. Thinnish.
Had this many times over 45 years of drinking.
May 30, 2019
 
Rated: 3.14 by rangerred from Tennessee

Sep 29, 2018
 
Rated: 3.55 by Momon from Philippines

Nov 17, 2017
 
Rated: 4.43 by Macamah from England

Nov 05, 2017
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Reviewed by rocketcat from Finland

4.18/5  rDev +24.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Right amount of sweetness, tastefullness and abit bubbling feel. Right choice for sweet beer moments.
///////
Makea, mutta sopivasti. Sopivan aromikas ja hieman kupliva tuntuma. Makean oluen hetkiin oiva valinta.
Jul 10, 2017
Photo of josanguapo
Reviewed by josanguapo from Spain

2.03/5  rDev -39.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 1.75 | overall: 2
From Lidl. In Ikea's pint glass. Watching Narcos 2x08. Very watery with a tasteless bitterness. It could be very drinkable if its flatness didnt bore so much. Just some lemon notes, not much else
May 29, 2017
 
Rated: 3.22 by kjkinsey from Texas

Dec 28, 2016
 
Rated: 3.27 by jeschaefer from Texas

Jul 13, 2016
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Reviewed by captaincoffee from Virginia

3.71/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured pint from the Royal Air Force Club on Piccadilly by Hyde Park. No, you can't get in, but feel free to live vicariously through me if you must.
Clear amber with larber than usual head for cask (this was a first pour off a new cask).
Nose is light, but definitely towards the floral end of the hop spectrum.
Taste was particularly fruity in the malts. Not much depth, but reasonable for the brand. Underwhelming, but typical English pub beer for downing a few. Good but not great. Better than Spitfire at least. In the bottle it is probably not worth trying at all.
Feb 11, 2016
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.53/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Dark amber with one finger airy head. Nice aroma of hops, taste is also mostly hops. This is what I think of when i think of Bitters. well done, and very good.
Jan 19, 2016
 
Rated: 3 by nathanmiller from New York

Nov 21, 2015
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Reviewed by PlutonowyManiek from Belgium

2.8/5  rDev -16.4%
look: 4 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Color: amber, clear.
Head: white, fine-bubble, unfortunately, very quickly reduced to a thin film.
The delicate aroma notes of lemons, plums and next bit of caramel and toffee.
Taste: Very poorly, only butterscotch, and maybe somewhere at the bottom, very gentle lemon.
Gentian: slight, soft, but at the finish.
Saturation: high tweaks in the language.
Alcohol: retracted.
Oct 07, 2015
 
Rated: 3.07 by emmbrook from England

Oct 04, 2015
Master Brew from Shepherd Neame Ltd
Beer rating: 78 out of 100 with 56 ratings