Ballards Best Bitter
Ballard's Brewery Limited
- From:
- Ballard's Brewery Limited
- England, United Kingdom
- Style:
- English Bitter
- ABV:
- 4.2%
- Score:
- +7 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.13 | pDev: 16.93%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 2
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Feb 04, 2015
- Added:
- Sep 27, 2003
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by wl0307 from England
3.5/5 rDev +11.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.5/5 rDev +11.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A little gift from my Secret Santa for X’mas 2012, this ale is tasted for the second time in… 7-8 years! Also the First Bottle-Conditioned Beer I’ve had in this new year of 2013. Bottle-conditioned in a 500ml brown bottle, printed with a bottling date of NOV 2012 , served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.
A: lightly hazy, due to the yeast sediments disturbed by the action of cap-opening; topped with a well-lasting and thick beige frothy head, the colour is light copper-ish, coming with healthy streams of fine carbonation.
S: the nose is mixed of overripe plummy fruit-esters, brown sugar, crystal malts, blackcurrants, dried citrus peels, etc.; a swirl brings up the exotic yeastiness not unlike one would find in an ordinary Belgian Amber or Farmhouse ale, in the form of the slightly funky sourness to it.
T: effervescent on the palate, the taste comes initially quite fruit-estery, then amber malts, burned brown sugar, and earthy hop bitterness catch up and ensued by a woody, chewy, even tannic bitter aftertaste. The sour and woody hints as described as “funky” above lend this impact at the very end of each sip, somewhat keeping the palate… wanting for more.
M&D: refreshingly carbonated, medium-bodied especially as the yeasty elements add to the weight, not unlike my last encounter with this bottle-conditioned version of Ballar’s Best Bitter, and definitely not a bad, first, Best Bitter to have in 2013!
* Tasting Date: 03/10/2005
Bottle-conditioned beer, coming in a brown 500ml bottle, with a BB date of 31 Aug. 06.
3.5 A: clear orangey-amber hue, with a fluffy but thin off-white head full of big bubbles; medium to low carbonation for a bottle-conditioned British beer.
3.5 S: lightly stinky kind of wild-flower aroma with a touch of hayish note, and a bit of sweet-citrusy+pineapple-ish Fuggle-hops goes underneath, plus very mild nuts (can't specify which kind) and a smooth note of crystal malts.
3.5 T: ...a harsh, astringent texture of hoppy bitterness with slightly sour-malts(?) hits the palate hard, followed immediately by an earthy+Chinese herb-medicine like bitterness prevailing in the mouth, with a tinge of sour-edge of raw nuts and root-herb kind of dryish-hoppiness felt at the back of the tongue; not leaving much space for second-layer taste, but the bitterness not just lingers well but gradually surround the whole mouth, leading to a long, dry-ish finish.
3.5 M&4 D: a bit sharp mouthfeel initially for a bitter but stays lively, gradually going smooth as the bitterness gathers steam... Overall I'd say this beer is balanced in body, with malts melted in hops and vice-versa, but the theme is simple with a distinctively bitter flavour, perhaps harsh by the usual standard of English Best Bitter as far as I'm concerned--very different and intensely bitter, this beer certainly cannot be everyone's cup of tea. I like it though.
Jan 01, 2013A: lightly hazy, due to the yeast sediments disturbed by the action of cap-opening; topped with a well-lasting and thick beige frothy head, the colour is light copper-ish, coming with healthy streams of fine carbonation.
S: the nose is mixed of overripe plummy fruit-esters, brown sugar, crystal malts, blackcurrants, dried citrus peels, etc.; a swirl brings up the exotic yeastiness not unlike one would find in an ordinary Belgian Amber or Farmhouse ale, in the form of the slightly funky sourness to it.
T: effervescent on the palate, the taste comes initially quite fruit-estery, then amber malts, burned brown sugar, and earthy hop bitterness catch up and ensued by a woody, chewy, even tannic bitter aftertaste. The sour and woody hints as described as “funky” above lend this impact at the very end of each sip, somewhat keeping the palate… wanting for more.
M&D: refreshingly carbonated, medium-bodied especially as the yeasty elements add to the weight, not unlike my last encounter with this bottle-conditioned version of Ballar’s Best Bitter, and definitely not a bad, first, Best Bitter to have in 2013!
* Tasting Date: 03/10/2005
Bottle-conditioned beer, coming in a brown 500ml bottle, with a BB date of 31 Aug. 06.
3.5 A: clear orangey-amber hue, with a fluffy but thin off-white head full of big bubbles; medium to low carbonation for a bottle-conditioned British beer.
3.5 S: lightly stinky kind of wild-flower aroma with a touch of hayish note, and a bit of sweet-citrusy+pineapple-ish Fuggle-hops goes underneath, plus very mild nuts (can't specify which kind) and a smooth note of crystal malts.
3.5 T: ...a harsh, astringent texture of hoppy bitterness with slightly sour-malts(?) hits the palate hard, followed immediately by an earthy+Chinese herb-medicine like bitterness prevailing in the mouth, with a tinge of sour-edge of raw nuts and root-herb kind of dryish-hoppiness felt at the back of the tongue; not leaving much space for second-layer taste, but the bitterness not just lingers well but gradually surround the whole mouth, leading to a long, dry-ish finish.
3.5 M&4 D: a bit sharp mouthfeel initially for a bitter but stays lively, gradually going smooth as the bitterness gathers steam... Overall I'd say this beer is balanced in body, with malts melted in hops and vice-versa, but the theme is simple with a distinctively bitter flavour, perhaps harsh by the usual standard of English Best Bitter as far as I'm concerned--very different and intensely bitter, this beer certainly cannot be everyone's cup of tea. I like it though.
Reviewed by rastaman from England
2.38/5 rDev -24%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
2.38/5 rDev -24%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Bottle: Not the best, but there are far worse. This is fairly tame and bland, but its drinkable, typical caramelly malt with citrusy fuggles, only in smaller doses in this beers case. Probably better on cask, but i won't be searching it out any time soon.
Sep 27, 2003
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