Lord Marples
Thornbridge Brewery

 

Pours clear, brown, plenty of fizz, with thick off-white head. Taste is roasted malts, caramel, liquorice. Quite bitter. Thin mouthfeel.
Strongly flavoured for a 4%.
Bottle-conditioned.

Bought a bottle from Sterk Amsterdam. A good UK bitter, with balance between hoppiness and maltiness.

First pint out the new barrel, after pulling through the sediment. A loose but lingering whitish head, on a dark bronze body. Malt, caramel and very slight hints of citrus on the nose. Tastes like the 70s, beautiful and beery, with hops that have a shadow of chocolate and a slightly lemony hint of dishwater. Not much of an aftertaste. A refreshing, classic bitter.

It was a surprise finding this in the local Waitrose. For two reasons, a trad looking beer from Thornbridge and the shop stocking a new trad looking line vs a new hipster brew.
Blind-tasted apart from Name/ABV%/Style
L- Deep chestnut, pours clear with a very eager to form pale-cream head.
S- Mild, but I get a pleasant toasty note.
T- Good trad roast malts with a distinct trad clean and bright hoppy aspect. It balances well and the 4% is sufficient to carry it along.
F- Bright, to the lighter side but as^ it works. Very good CO2 in the mouth (and glass still).
O- Old-school style bitter, nicely done. Zero drama and sessionable. Thornbridge have bowled me a few disappointments recently. I'd pretty much written off buying their beers, since they can tend to occupy the over-complex hipster-end of things. Fair enough of course but it doesn't suit me. Hence the suprise here, given how trad it seems. What to make of it? Hard to believe the brewer is shifting to the older/trad market; so are tastes changing back to the trad? Hmm, I'm intrigued to see if more trads from the likes of this brewer start appearing.
500ml bottle £2.25 Waitrose BB: 25/03/2025
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Rated/reviewed, now to read the lable for any other clues before clicking submit.
Bottle conditioned/live yeast, though there is only minor residue left in the bottle, and none in my glass.

Bottle conditioned. Light chestnut with a thick frothy head. Spotty lacing present.
Sweet toffee aroma with some unassuming earthy hops.
Classic dark bitter ale flavour reflecting the smell. Extremely well balanced.
Light to medium body with a mild carbonation.
Glad to try this bottle conditioned. An old fashioned EB.

Draft at Euston Tap. Fark, rich amber with thick fluffy head. Ight malty aroma, taste follows with soft malt and light caramel flavors. Lighter in flavor and aroma, but had an overall lovely feel.

Bottle conditioned from Bakewell. Dark golden copper. Medium airy off white head soon shrinks to thin frothy and some lace. Aroma caramelized raisins and wet fermenting bread. Hint of fruit. Taste lightly sweet with hint of soured fruits just turning. Faint leafy bitterness. Ends faintly dry. Feel a bit thin and flat. no oiliness and not lively. Enjoyable and Good. Not
excellent.

 

 

Had on cask. Clear brown body, finger of white foam. Smell and taste are clones: toffee malt, lesser so toasted caramel, dark bread, dry earth, and a hint of leafy hops on the finish. A bit thin but malty the whole way, decently warming and smooth.

 

Cask (hooray!), gravity dispense, at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Brown colour, slightly hazy, small head. Decent natural carbonation. Malty aroma, a little fruit and yeast. The flavour is also malty but fairly dry, notes of yeast and earthy hops. Will probably be in even better nick a day later.

330ml bottle conditioned.
L: Mahogany colour with a large, fluffy white head and lacing. Beautiful looking beer.
S: Smoky, sweet toffee.
T: Toffee with a charred, caramel edge. Bitterness is light but builds over time.
F: Medium body, soft mouthfeel and a dry finish.
O: A lovely English Bitter in the traditional style. Looks fabulous, balances malt sweetness and hop bitterness very nicely, and delivers a refreshingly gentle mouthfeel. Good from the bottle and certainly even better on cask.

pint on cask at Craft Beer Co. in Covent Garden, London on April 18, 2018

L: classic brown-amber/copper with short but milky thick beige head of foam that sticks at the top; mostly clear

S: fruity, peach, bread malt forward

T: mix of classic bitter notes, bread malt, peach, solid hop bite that's mostly earthy but with a hint of lemon peel

F: lightly prickly, very good condition

O: nice bitter, a bit more raw than some of the classics but not overly so

Bottled and sadly missing bottle conditioning
decent enough looking ale though little aroma & flavour is Okay though I cannot help but be a little disappointed, especially as sampled on cask where TB really excel