Great Bustard
Stonehenge Ales Limited [Bunces Brewery]
- From:
- Stonehenge Ales Limited [Bunces Brewery]
- England, United Kingdom
- Style:
- Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)
Ranked #140 - ABV:
- 4.8%
- Score:
- 83
Ranked #32,561 - Avg:
- 3.54 | pDev: 7.91%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 5
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Mar 12, 2026
- Added:
- Feb 08, 2011
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 1
SCORE
83
Good
83
Good
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by vinicole from England
3.62/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.62/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
I saw a Great Bustard the last time visiting Stonehenge!
Cask. Hand pulled. Darkish amber with a medium thick, dense head. Sparkler used. Thick sudsy lacing.
Smells of malt with a light hop presence.
The hops struggle to balance the malt upon tasting. Quite fruity. Light bitter finish.
Great cask feel at the perfect temperature.
The cask serving does this one a favour.
Apr 19, 2024Cask. Hand pulled. Darkish amber with a medium thick, dense head. Sparkler used. Thick sudsy lacing.
Smells of malt with a light hop presence.
The hops struggle to balance the malt upon tasting. Quite fruity. Light bitter finish.
Great cask feel at the perfect temperature.
The cask serving does this one a favour.
Reviewed by charlatan from Scotland
3.75/5 rDev +5.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev +5.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
On cask at Cove & Kilcreggan Real Ale Festival. Copper coloured ale; sweet nose tending to pear; rich and fruity with a bit of tobacco; very nice indeed.
May 06, 2019
Reviewed by MutualAid from Texas
3.8/5 rDev +7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
3.8/5 rDev +7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Brought back from the UK by a friend:
Appearance - Pours light reddish-brown with a white, one-finger head. Nice lacing and decent retention.
Smell - Big, bready malt aromas here with light, floral hops wafting in and out.
Taste - Malt is more assertive up front than the hop or yeast flavors, but by no means overwhelming. The middle and finish is characterized by a yeast-derived fruitiness and followed swiftly by a refreshing piney hop flavor. Good bitterness for the style.
Mouthfeel - Definitely geared towards session drinking; a bit thinner than we usually drink in the US. Of course, this makes for a good hot weather beer whereas an ESB like Fuller's is my go to in Autumn.
Overall - I wish I had a couple of six-packs of this. A good, balanced ESB that hits the style and is highly sessionable.
Jun 28, 2011Appearance - Pours light reddish-brown with a white, one-finger head. Nice lacing and decent retention.
Smell - Big, bready malt aromas here with light, floral hops wafting in and out.
Taste - Malt is more assertive up front than the hop or yeast flavors, but by no means overwhelming. The middle and finish is characterized by a yeast-derived fruitiness and followed swiftly by a refreshing piney hop flavor. Good bitterness for the style.
Mouthfeel - Definitely geared towards session drinking; a bit thinner than we usually drink in the US. Of course, this makes for a good hot weather beer whereas an ESB like Fuller's is my go to in Autumn.
Overall - I wish I had a couple of six-packs of this. A good, balanced ESB that hits the style and is highly sessionable.
Reviewed by woosterbill from Kentucky
3.58/5 rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
3.58/5 rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Handpump halfpint at The Market Porter.
A: Clear copper body with a thin but sticky tan head. Nice lacing.
S: Grassy, herbal, earthy hops dominate, giving the beer a distinctly dry, leafy aroma. A bit of biscuity, crusty malt accentuates the dryness and adds some depth. Not bad at all.
T: More malt-driven than the aroma indicated, with delicate bread, biscuit, and fruity notes starting things off. The herbal hops show up to close things out with a bitter, sticky finish. Tasty, refreshing, but not quite as well-integrated as could be hoped. THe maltiness reminds me a bit of a Scotch whisky, which is a bid odd, but intriguing.
M: Soft and substantial; low carbonation.
O: Interesting beer, and one that I would recommend anyone try a half-pint of. Not my favorite ESB ever, but a fun one all the same.
Cheers!
Jun 15, 2011A: Clear copper body with a thin but sticky tan head. Nice lacing.
S: Grassy, herbal, earthy hops dominate, giving the beer a distinctly dry, leafy aroma. A bit of biscuity, crusty malt accentuates the dryness and adds some depth. Not bad at all.
T: More malt-driven than the aroma indicated, with delicate bread, biscuit, and fruity notes starting things off. The herbal hops show up to close things out with a bitter, sticky finish. Tasty, refreshing, but not quite as well-integrated as could be hoped. THe maltiness reminds me a bit of a Scotch whisky, which is a bid odd, but intriguing.
M: Soft and substantial; low carbonation.
O: Interesting beer, and one that I would recommend anyone try a half-pint of. Not my favorite ESB ever, but a fun one all the same.
Cheers!
Reviewed by wl0307 from England
3.73/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.73/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Coming in a 500ml brown bottle, BB date unknown; served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.
A: pours a copper hue, coming with a thin layer of off-white froth and light carbonation
S: rather sweet and sour-fruity with hints of dried berries and ripe plums, featuring mainly caramely malts. Not complex at all but still pleasant.
T: the foretaste comes rather aromatic and fruity (burned plums, dried berries, dates and even sour-sweet muskat grapes) on top of very good and rich malty backbone and nicely lingering herbal bitterness, plus a touch of Styrian Golding like hop aroma. The finish is moderately zesty bitter and yet full of quality malt aftertaste.
M&D: albeit not bottle-conditioned, the carbonation is rather smooth and even natural, not at all fizzy, while the body remains medium vis-à-vis the moderate flavour profile. All in all this is a good product with a nice flavour structure, although the aroma perhaps could be tuned much more pronounced and complex to make it even more attractive from an earlier stage of tasting.
Feb 08, 2011A: pours a copper hue, coming with a thin layer of off-white froth and light carbonation
S: rather sweet and sour-fruity with hints of dried berries and ripe plums, featuring mainly caramely malts. Not complex at all but still pleasant.
T: the foretaste comes rather aromatic and fruity (burned plums, dried berries, dates and even sour-sweet muskat grapes) on top of very good and rich malty backbone and nicely lingering herbal bitterness, plus a touch of Styrian Golding like hop aroma. The finish is moderately zesty bitter and yet full of quality malt aftertaste.
M&D: albeit not bottle-conditioned, the carbonation is rather smooth and even natural, not at all fizzy, while the body remains medium vis-à-vis the moderate flavour profile. All in all this is a good product with a nice flavour structure, although the aroma perhaps could be tuned much more pronounced and complex to make it even more attractive from an earlier stage of tasting.
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