Dark Streets of London
Clifford Brewing Co.

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a pint glass. From the University Ave. West LCBO in nearby downtown Windsor. Canned August 15/25. My third beer from the Hamilton, Ontario brewery, and second for 2025. Heartily endorsed by Gracie the cat...

Pours a dark, cloudy amber, with a puffy off-white head that lingers. Smells of dark bread crust, indistinct fruits, a bit musty, and some alcohol on the nose. The taste is a mixed bag. Quite a bit darker, almost stout-like flavor profile compared to the traditional style, but other elements are enjoyable, like the dark bread crust, and the fruit. The hops are so-so. There is a sort of stewed tea note that does provide some bitterness, but it's not the most pleasant, and there's something in it that gets a bit sickly towards the end of the pint. Still, it's a pretty decent sip overall.

Pours murky mahogany with a smallish tan head that musters a bit of lace. The aroma is of toffee and stewed fruit with some spicy, herbal hops for balance. Crystal malt sweetness, fruity yeast esters and more floral hops add to the mix in the taste. Medium body with light carbonation in the mouthfeel. The finish is lightly bitter with an abundance of dark malts.

A nice ESB but the hop department could be more prominent.

 

 

I have to say i really, really like Clifford Porter, so i had to try Dark Streets of London that i newly found today for the first time at my lcbo. Bought 2 cans and gave them a try.

so.. just from the name of the beer i thought this was going to be another porter or stout. Instead its an English Super Bitter Ale....and not my go to for beers. Color is copper brown. Taste is hoppy with bitterness. I don't mind these that much....but don't go out of my way for bitter and hoppy beers in general.
I already drank 2 of these cans and they were canned literally 3 days ago from the dates on the can, so as fresh as it gets when it comes to a canned product.

IBU is 35 ( bitterness) which i thought is pretty low. It tastes higher than 35 for sure...at least for me it does.
Would i buy this beer again? Probably not....unless i really want one of these bitter hoppy beers i tend to buy once in a while.
I will buy their others beers though, for sure.

Tastes kind of like an IPA...but take away the citrous orange peel taste and keep the bitterness.
Maximum 3/5 for me on this one. If you like English Bitters then you may like this one.

Look: Pours a semi-transparent amber and brown colour, like well steeped orange pekoe tea. Pours with a one finger tightly bubbled off white head. The head pulls back quickly leaving a slight ring of head around the side of the glass with the fully exposed liquid middle.

Smell: Toffee, caramel, dark fruits, whole wheat bread and dark tea.

Taste: Starts off pretty watery and non-descript. By the middle of the sip tastes strongly of dark fruits (prunes and raisins and dark bitter tea leaves. Some intermittent caramel notes on the back end, but they mostly overcome by a slight bitter astringent aftertaste.

Feel: The beer opens big and wide at first sip, but as it grows bitter in the mid to end the feeling is more claustrophobic.
Light carbonation bordering on being flat.

A decent take on an ESB, but lacking anything special. This might be a perfectly good beer to drink after racking leaves on a autumn Sunday, but not something I would be excited to drink again. It earns a B.

 

 

Dec 7 2023

I bought a can today at the LCBO in Ontario 473ml at 5.2%.
Poured a 1 finger head into glass leaving a lace as you drink it all the way to the end .
Well balanced flavors hints of fruit and caramel.
Smooth and easy to drink.with a low bitterness level
Overall it's good beer .
Cheers

473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. Canned January 4, 2023.

Appearance - Semi-hazy, dark reddish/ brown, a thin auburn colour. Two fingers of loose white head are poured and not much in the way of lacing. The completely fizzles away after a couple of minutes.

Smell - Earthy hops, a sense of herbal notes and slight floral aromas too. Maybe a trace of black tea. Not the biggest aromas.

Taste - Some earthy hops, fairly bitter. Leafy flavors and again something akin to Earl Grey tea in there. The usual grainy slightly caramel and roasted but not burnt malts surround this beer as well.

Mouthfeel - Dry finish, medium bodied, a bit clunky with the execution. Carbonation is middle of the pack.

Overall - Decent enough ESB / English pale ale, just... there's something missing and it's hard to nail down, Dark Streets of London just isn't quite as enjoyable as some of the British offerings. Worth a try and nice to see Clifford expanding into new and less commonly seen styles, but this is a slight miss for me. I wanted to like this beer more than I actually liked it.

 

473 mL can from the Toronto Brewing 2021 advent calendar; dated Sep 14 2021 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a lightly fogged copper amber colour, with a half-inch cap of loose, bubbly white foam situated atop. It's mostly gone within a minute or two, reduced to a thin collar and a few wisps on the surface; minimal lacing. The nose is muted, offering up hints of caramelized malts, faint nuttiness and leafy, floral hops - nothing exciting, but suitable for a bitter.

A decent take on an ESB - I'm getting bready malts, toffee and toasted nuts, backed by potent hop flavours later on. A bit leafy, with grassy, floral characteristics and an earthy bitterness that persists into a mildly malty, bittersweet aftertaste. Light-medium in body, with assertive carbonation that does not suit this style all that well IMO. Quaffable enough; I could drink a few of these without complaint, but I'd prefer to move on to something else.

[Updated Feb 7 2023]

Another tallboy, this time from the LCBO, dated Jan 4 2023. No grade alterations necessary - Clifford's Dark Streets of London remains a passable knock-off of an authentic English bitter. The flavours are close enough, but it's the other categories (e.g. aroma, texture & visuals) where the 'knock-off' aspect comes in to play. I enjoyed this revisit, and will continue to give it a half-hearted recommendation: worth a try if you enjoy malt-forward beers, or English-style pub ales in general.

Final Grade: 3.61, a B grade