Black Country Special Bitter
Holdens Brewery Limited

L- Very dark amber, clear,2mm white cap of bubbles.
S- Toasty though quite light.
T- Toasty malts right inot bright trad hops and a bitter-dry lick in the finish.
F- Quite hoppy-dry with good balancing malts. Feels a bit lighter than it's 5.1%. Good gentle carbonation.
O- Old school/trad, well brewed, very polished. Not a single facet is out of place here. It's a case of the whole is bigger than the sum of it's parts. I'd happily drink it again.
Bought from Asda. 500ml bottle BBE: 09/24. £1.80

 

A bottle bought at Artisan Ales Ludlow.
Clear pale amber with a thick head. Large bubbles.
Honey and autumn fruit intermingle with the malt and hops. A bit metallic.
Rather sweet with some cereal taste. Toffee notes.
Decent body.

Hand pulled in my new local Wetherspoons pub, a pint in a sleeve. I’ve had this lovely beer many times, but never reviewed it before for some reason.

All Holdens beers look good and this one is ‘really good looking’; great amber body, clear and rich, the creamy off-white head sticking to the glass like a wet net curtain.

No huge aroma, a mix of malt molasses and yeasts, with hints of hops as the beer warms.

Malts rule the flavours as well as the smell, this is a semi-sweet Premium Bitter, the type I prefer, the malts allude to a toffee liking feel. Almost creamy in texture, but remaining true to its roots, this is a classic West Midlands (Black Country) Bitter and long may it be so.

Pint served from cask into imperial pint glass at the Muckle Cross Wetherspoons in Elgin.

A- Light copper body with excellent clarity. 1/2 finger head with excellent retention and lacing.

S- Cloves are apparent among some light floral hop

T- Cloves come through on the tongue aswell. Light toasted malt with a hint of toffee. Solid bittering hop semi dry finish lingering well. Flavour domination is slightly toward the malt.

M- Low carbonation, creamy mouthfeel.

D- Excellent balance in flavours with a solid mouthfeel and appearance make this a moreish sessionable ale!

This is a very slightly sweet full bodied beer in a malty but well balanced way, and the bitter hops flavours come through later.

Has a rich amber colour, and a fairly thick rich creamy head that lasts well down the glass.

It's an easy to drink beer that calls for more, and easy to forget it is 5.1% and end up treating it as a lighter session beer! Especially good and warming in winter....but good anytime. Only available in the few Holdens pubs and sometimes as a guest beer in the free houses in the West Midlands, Wolverhampton and Walsall area's. A 'must try' when in this area of UK known as "The Black Country" (Because of the ancient industrial smoke blackened heritage)

It is available in bottle form in some Waitrose Supermarket stores in the West Midlands area, though feel it's better on hand pull in a Holdens pub!

JohnW
B'ham UK