Sussex Best Bitter | Harvey & Son Ltd.
Brewed by:
Harvey & Son Ltd.
England, United Kingdom
harveys.org.uk
Style: English Bitter
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 4.00%
Availability: Year-round
Notes / Commercial Description:
None provided.
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers
Ratings: 36 | Reviews: 13
Reviews by TeeCee:
4.75/5 rDev +23.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
More User Reviews:
4.25/5 rDev +10.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.15/5 rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Had a half pint on cask at The Harp near Trafalgar Square. This was one of my favorite real ales while in London for a week. It was a mixture of floral hops and oak with a fruit punch aroma at first. Then I started to pull cherry juice flavor with dry wheat cracker in the background and a note of blueberry in the aroma. Delicious.
332 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Had a half pint on cask at The Harp near Trafalgar Square. This was one of my favorite real ales while in London for a week. It was a mixture of floral hops and oak with a fruit punch aroma at first. Then I started to pull cherry juice flavor with dry wheat cracker in the background and a note of blueberry in the aroma. Delicious.
332 characters
2.86/5 rDev -25.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
Cask pour at the Madison Pourhouse in Albany, NY.
This one pours a cloudy-ish amber color, with no head, or lacing.
Smells like not much at all- I'm not sure of the age of this cask, unfortunately. I pull a little bit of floral hops but not much else.
I think this cask may have beyond it's lifetime, unfortunately. This is super watery and incredibly bland. There's just a little bit floral hops, and *maybe* just a smidge of biscuity malt, but there's just basically nothing here. Completely forgettable. I really enjoy a good bitter but I couldn't recommend this one, at least at Madison Pourhouse.
This has a very light and thin body, with a very low level of carbonation, even for a cask pour.
Not good at all.
720 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
Cask pour at the Madison Pourhouse in Albany, NY.
This one pours a cloudy-ish amber color, with no head, or lacing.
Smells like not much at all- I'm not sure of the age of this cask, unfortunately. I pull a little bit of floral hops but not much else.
I think this cask may have beyond it's lifetime, unfortunately. This is super watery and incredibly bland. There's just a little bit floral hops, and *maybe* just a smidge of biscuity malt, but there's just basically nothing here. Completely forgettable. I really enjoy a good bitter but I couldn't recommend this one, at least at Madison Pourhouse.
This has a very light and thin body, with a very low level of carbonation, even for a cask pour.
Not good at all.
720 characters
3.84/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.82/5 rDev -0.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Hand pumped at the Royal Oak, Harveys' tied house in Southwark. Imperial pint.
Copper body, white head. Decent-poor retention.
Bit of funkiness in the nose like the Knots of May pale mild, substantial farmy grassy hop notes, a bit of maltiness.
Citrus comes out in the palate, which is interesting for the style, grassy, light flavour, low carbonation to be expected but reasonably full feel.
Good stuff.
408 characters
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Hand pumped at the Royal Oak, Harveys' tied house in Southwark. Imperial pint.
Copper body, white head. Decent-poor retention.
Bit of funkiness in the nose like the Knots of May pale mild, substantial farmy grassy hop notes, a bit of maltiness.
Citrus comes out in the palate, which is interesting for the style, grassy, light flavour, low carbonation to be expected but reasonably full feel.
Good stuff.
408 characters
4/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Cask. Sparkling clear amber. Thin head. Good lacing.
Aroma of English hops and malt. Butter.
Tastes as it smells.
Smooth with a gentle carbonation.
Excellent example of a true English bitter.
191 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Cask. Sparkling clear amber. Thin head. Good lacing.
Aroma of English hops and malt. Butter.
Tastes as it smells.
Smooth with a gentle carbonation.
Excellent example of a true English bitter.
191 characters
4.1/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Drinkable. Could be stronger taste
34 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Drinkable. Could be stronger taste
34 characters
4/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
On cask at the White Horse Pub, Parsons Green, London. Wanted something the locals would try, and a couple people ahead of me ordered it.
Glad I took a chance. Poured a great pint with a decent head, good lacing. Nice malty smell with some floral hops lingering in there, too.
And the taste was excellent. I don't think I've had any beer that so perfectly matched the hops-to-malt ratio one would expect for the style. Yeah, it's a bitter, so the hops aren't overpowering in the least, but they're noticeable and they mesh very well.
Mouthfeel was good, not as flat as I was expecting. And drinkability? With a relatively low ABV and a quenching taste, I could go all night with this one.
Just a very well put-together brew. My hat is off to the brewmaster.
763 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
On cask at the White Horse Pub, Parsons Green, London. Wanted something the locals would try, and a couple people ahead of me ordered it.
Glad I took a chance. Poured a great pint with a decent head, good lacing. Nice malty smell with some floral hops lingering in there, too.
And the taste was excellent. I don't think I've had any beer that so perfectly matched the hops-to-malt ratio one would expect for the style. Yeah, it's a bitter, so the hops aren't overpowering in the least, but they're noticeable and they mesh very well.
Mouthfeel was good, not as flat as I was expecting. And drinkability? With a relatively low ABV and a quenching taste, I could go all night with this one.
Just a very well put-together brew. My hat is off to the brewmaster.
763 characters
4.97/5 rDev +29.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
At it's best a fabulous easy drinking session beer. Head sometimes thin, but usually leaves good lacing on the glass. The aroma is complex, nutty and floral and the taste well balanced with a decent finish.
206 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
At it's best a fabulous easy drinking session beer. Head sometimes thin, but usually leaves good lacing on the glass. The aroma is complex, nutty and floral and the taste well balanced with a decent finish.
206 characters
3.16/5 rDev -17.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Pours a cloudy dark amber/ orange color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of a floral hop and malty balance, nothing special. This is a very quaffable and smooth, yet not watered down, ale. The malt presence balances out the delicate floral hoppiness quite nicely.
274 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Pours a cloudy dark amber/ orange color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of a floral hop and malty balance, nothing special. This is a very quaffable and smooth, yet not watered down, ale. The malt presence balances out the delicate floral hoppiness quite nicely.
274 characters
3.39/5 rDev -11.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Sussex Best Bitter from Harvey & Son Ltd.
Beer rating:
3.85 out of
5 with
36 ratings
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