Bitter
Mash Brewery

Purchased in Winchester, coming in a 500ml brown bottle, bottle-conditioned; BB 03/2014, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass. Notes: the beer label specifies English Goldings and Australian Galaxy hops are used in this brew.

A: pours a murky dark amber colour, coming with a rim of loose bubbles and very restrained level of carbonation.
S: the nose is as earthy as fruity hoppy, hinting at orange-zesty citrus notes, tannins, and earthy notes of dried leafy Goldings, as well as sweet herbs, juicy pale malts, but all in all the aroma comes somewhat… thin-ish, albeit hoppy at the same time.
T: faintly effervescent, the foretaste delivers plentiful biscuity pale malts (with a lightly “stinky” quality true to the tradition of English pale Bitters), edged by a lightly spicy and earthy mouthfeel of dried leafy hops, leading towards a moderately bitter, somewhat acidic estery finish with residual tang and a clean-ish palate. Fairly simple on the flavour profile.
M&O: the mouthfeel is a bit flat to be honest, again due to the insufficient bottle-conditioning in this bottle; the body remains thin but altogether the beer doesn’t taste as dead and boring as the same brewery’s Amber which I had two days ago. Because of the highlight on the hops in this brew, there’s more to the palates than meets the eyes, while the pale malt also makes a fair contribution to the overall flavour profile. I suspect this can be a thirst quenching Bitter while served freshly on cask.