Bays Breaker
Bays Brewery Ltd.

Brown 500ml bottle, best before 23 June 2010, drank and reviewed 27 Mar 2010. Poured into a vase shaped pint glass.

Semi dark, reddy, amber in colour, no head, just a mini wisp of white bubbles with a thin collar.

Malted biscuits came to mind as I stuck my nose into the glass, some aromatic hop hints too.

The taste was malty, pleasant and sweet for an English Bitter. The alcohol hides behind the sweetness, but sneaks up on you as the beer is consummed.

Very drinkable, never heard of the brewery before, I hope I meet them again. Pity the beer didn't manage to produce a head.

Appearance: Deep amber colour, with a foamy head that is made up of large bubbles. Decent amount of lacing, and only a very slight amount of carbonation.

Aroma: Quite a hoppy profile on the nose, which I wasn't expecting; slightly citric fruitiness, touch of lemon. The malts are undoubtedly there, just behind the hops, offering up rich caramels, and baked cookies.

Taste: The malts come through more in the taste, lots of bread, slightly sweet biscuits, sponge cake, and shortbread...you get the picture. There is also a sweet nuttiness about it, possibly cashews, and honey roasted peanuts. Hops kick a bit of bitterness in around the middle but it is minimal, the flavours are definite supplied by the malts here.

Mouthfeel: Medium in the body, smooth, and soft on the palete.

Drinkability: Very drinkable bitter, goes down smooth and has a very moreish quality. Hope I can can my hands on it again.

Purchased at the Sainsbury's supermarket, coming in a 500ml brown bottle, not bottle-conditioned; BB 23/06/2010, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: dark reddish amber, 100% clarity, very restrained carbonation, plus a beige frothy head with decent retention.
S: like a well-hopped yet still malty bitter, the nose is full of semi-citric hop fruitiness (with a faint touch of resins) on a par with a thick body of caramel and toffee-ish malts, laced with less pronounced notes as of sweet tea, black current, and ground nuts. For a Best Bitter type of ale, the aroma shown in this glass is very well balanced and enticing.
T: lightly sour-fruity and bittersweet from the beginning, full of aromatic maltiness not unlike raisins- & pecan-nuts-flavoured biscuits, while an intriguing touch of Chinese herb jelly plus burned sugar develops in the slightly dry-ish aftertaste, where neither is hop bitterness pronounced nor is hop aroma developing like a well-hopped ale. Instead, the finish provides a mixed nutty, herbal and burned-malt aroma as compensation.
M&D: as a bottled ale, the carbonation comes rather light and soft, not at all fizzy, while the overall body, just like the flavour, is moderate and easy to manage. While being a balanced Best Bitter, I personally find the lack of bitterness a slight shame to the overall drinkability. Maybe the cask version might tell a different story?