Bathams Best Bitter
Daniel Batham & Son Ltd

Look: Golden amber colour.
Smell: Gently hoppy aroma.
Taste: Bright, hoppy bitter flavours.
Feel: Gently bitter hoppy taste, gentle on the tongue.
Overall: A acceptable light ale.

 

Bottled and presumably not bottle conditioned considering the pour
Presented with a clear straw coloured body with good white head
Aroma is malty and yeasty
Some syrup sweet grain thin a slight lemon bitter finish

 

 

This is one of the best keep secret drink from England. Just only a few pubs at midland do carry this special beer. I was so lucky my friend Collin bought a case to me when he was visit me. Judge from the package and bottle you won't even consider to have a second look.

Poured the beer in my small Westvleteren tasting glass. Copper color fluid with a little head. Only little carbonation visible in the fluid.

But once you have a little sip, then magical did happened. There is not bitter at all. The flavor is quite sweet with sugary malt and hop fruitiness. Bathams achieves the balance really well. The more you drink it. The more you like it.

My first pint of Bathams was drunk at The Bull & Bladder during the long hot summer of '76. My first rating is based on that unforgettable experience.
My second pint was drunk 40 years later at the Hook Norton Beer Festival 2016. It tasted exactly as I remembered (and often dreamt about).
Straw coloured. Little to no head yet still with a soft carbonation. Floral and hoppy with an initial sweetness that draws to a light bitter finish. Hints of caramel emerge gradually and are balanced by the unassuming hop profile.
Must be drunk from a cask via a hand pulled beer engine and as close to the brewery as possible.
A session ale without peers.
"Good 'Delph to you".

500ml bottle bought online from Tuckers Maltings

Poured a lovely clear golden colour. White head poured pretty thick and foamy then faded to good covering... lots of carbonation bubbles drift slowly to the surface... light sticky lacing...

Aroma - Quite peppery and grassy, salty notes, light toasted bready malts, butter hints, bitter oranges, hints of almond, coppery metallic traces, citric hops, light herbal notes, some graininess, faint caramel...

Taste is almost perfect... lovely, quite sweet bready malts mixed with some bitter orange marmalade, peppery and grassy hops, floral honey, some biscuity notes, pear and grapefruit fruitiness, slight hint of sulphur

Feel - Smooth and creamy with just a slight sharpness coming through... light bodied... this is the perfect example of a session beer - extremely quaffable at only 4.3%...

Overall - As good an example of a sessionable English bitter as you'll find... outstanding...

At last I can review this beer in its best (cask) version.

Drank at The Railway, Bridgnorth Shropshire, during the CAMRA beerfest.

A straw blonde colour with a firm, white foam head, very light for an English bitter. Light coloured bitters have been around the Black Country for a long time, this is the best.

No huge aroma, just a few hoppy smells and some malt maybe, but it also has a floral fragrance too, almost perfumed. You have to search for the scent though.

For so light a bitter, the flavours are tremendous, a true Great British Bitter.

The beer is just a joy to drink, I love it.

Had this also on cask at the Unicorn along with their mild. Lovely golden color with creamy head. Sweet smells, nice malty flavor, and moderate hoppiness makes this brew very easy to put down and get another one! Wish I could have some more of this brew. Hopefully someday I can return to the west midlands.

A very drinkable Black Country Best Bitter from Daniel Batham & Co from Brierley Hill in the West Midlands. The Best Bitter is a light yellow beer almost lagerish in appearance, the finish is dry and hoppy. Batham's Best Bitter is one of the Midlands finest, A very smooth refreshing drink worth seeking out.

This pale yellow beer is always a pleasure. Slightly sweet, with a dry hoppy after taste makes it very refreshing.
Good sweetish nose, nice head that settles well, and very easy to drink.

One of my favourite session beers !

Only available at the few Bathams pubs, and a few free houses in the West Midlands Wolverhampton/Walsall area.