M&S Yorkshire Bitter
The Great Yorkshire Brewery

Not a bad bitter, but I was hoping for something a little better. Quite dark - a brown/copper colour that looks almost more like a brown ale or strong ale.

Not enough hops in the scent - this is almost too malty, and the smell is mostly caramel or toffee. There is a faint metallic scent, and even a bit of alcohol - which is surprising for the ABV.

The taste is fairly one-dimensional and almost bland - a presence of alcohol and almost a copper taste. It taste overdone and almost like a brown ale.

Not the best, but as this is bottle conditioned, I suppose it could be better depending on the batch.

The colour is deep amber-red; the high beige head slowly sinks down to a two finger head while making a fizzing sound (usually a sign of strong carbonation). There is some lacing. The liquid is almost clear – it is bottle conditioned.

The smell is sweet, malty and a bit bitter. I found notes of yeast, apricots and some hints of wax and paraffin.

The taste is bittersweet. It is rather strong, but it totally lacks any depth and body. Sour yeasty notes blends with some metallic bitterness, fruity notes of apricots, mandarins and some yeast. The aftertaste is a bit malty with some yeast and a sharp medium strong bitterness.

The carbonation is sharp; medium sized bubbles. The liquid is somewhat watery.

This is an example of when bottle conditioning could be a risky business – sometimes it develops the beer in an unpredicted way.

Appearance: light mahogany brown, OK clarity, thin layer of sudsy foam that quickly dissipates

Aroma: nutty malt scent with toffee, chocolate cake, and herbally hops

Flavor: bready maltiness with a slight acidity; rusty, rooty hop flavor with a vegetal bitterness; finishes dry with a tart, roasty aftertaste

Mouthfeel: medium body, soft carbonation, mineral astringency

This is a contract brew for Marks and Spencer (M&S) chain, and is amongst a range of four bottle-conditioned ales selected by M&S. M&S is also the first British supermarket to highlight RAIB (Real Ale In a Bottle) as an exclusive line of product. The intention is really good and deserves high compliment, at least from the point of view of a real ale lover. BB 04/2008, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: a translucent, lovely reddish-brown colour, topped with a loosely formed and slightly dirty beige head; carbonation comes rather high, but not fierce. All’s well for a bottle-conditioned ale.
S: lightly caramelised sugar, roasted maltiness and nuttiness come together with hop resins and a quiet but sharply sour edge of lemons; as it warms the sour edge turns up slowly but not dominating. Overall, the aroma is nicely-balanced for a Best Bitter, and the bottle-conditioning seems to bestow the beer with a slightly more yeasty edge.
T: the first sip takes me aback, for it's too sour and semi-"green"... an astringent flow of bitter-sourness as of yeast sediments, sour pears and sour grapes leads towards a slightly more pleasant aftertaste full of bitterness of nuts, licorice, and chewy tannins as of roast tea-leaves; the palate is pleasantly tangy (mixture of citrus zests and roast tea leaves) and dry in the finish, thus compensating for the spritzy and lacklustre foretaste.
M&D: the carbonation is slightly OTT and not fine or soothing at all at first, then softening bit by bit as it goes, while the medium body holds up quite well in general. Overall, this beer is not as successful in bottle-conditioning as M&S would like it to be, for the sour edge comes slightly too much – for my preference, anyway.