Burton Best Bitter
Marston's Plc.

review from discovered notes unearthed due to emptying kitchen for a refit
Cask conditioned and poured via classic Angram handpump
pours a bright clear golden body with perfect off white head
aroma is apple and grass
taste is slight biscuit with a little bitter finish

 

 

 

 

Hand-pulled pint in The Albion, a Marston's owned pub in St Georges's, Telford on 8th Sep 2013.

Poured a good mid-amber colour with full white crown which lasted and gave some impressive lacing on the UK pint sleeve glass.

Malty and fruity nose, with the same feel in the taste: a fine example of a UK basic Bitter, flavoursome and easy to drink with enough alcohol to allow a few pints to be supped without too much worry.

Good session beer.

 

 

Picked this up at the biggest beer store in the UK, Beers of Europe Ltd. Beautiful clear copper-amber pour with two finger head with decent retention and lacing. Very malty nose with tons of caramel and butterscotch and a hint of tea. The taste follows suit, dominated by the sweet caramel malt. Loads of butterscotch and vanilla with just a touch of hop bitterness and biscuits. The hops emerge a little more as it warms, but not enough to overcome the malty sweetness. Mouthfeel is slightly thick and chewy. Not a bad beer, but nothing really jumps out to make it all that memorable either.

A 500ml clear glass bottle with a BB of Feb 2012.

Poured into a Sam Smith's pint glass. A clear coppery-amber colour with medium carbonation. Produces a thick off-white head of foam that lasts for several minutes before subsiding. Aroma of lightly roasted malt with notes of caramel. Also has overtones of diacetyl butteriness.

Tastes of slightly sweet roasted malt with a dry finish. Caramel and faint burnt notes are present, as well as a touch of butter and stewed foliage. Mild bitterness upon swallowing, but no overt hoppy flavours. Mouthfeel is smooth and slick, but rather insubstantial. Aftertaste of bitter roasted notes and leaves.

Not a brilliant beer. The flavour is uninspired and tainted by diacetyl, while the body is watery. Pass...

A - Reddish copper with small, short lived & off white head.

S - Biscuit like aroma dominating with some caramel detected. Mild but pleasant.

T - Quite plain and more watery than I would have expected. Has a very light bitter finish.

M - Light bodied & quite watery yet smooth & drinkable with a very slight tang.

D - Drinkable with a few positive aspects although very ordinary for the most part & doesn't stand out.

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The beer is orange to brown, clear, with an off-white head leaving little lacing and curtains.

The smell is faintly sweet and has bread notes. Some orange notes. A weak tea nuance.

Tasting of hops mainly, not very bitter though, brown bread, bitter oranges.

Medium low carbonation, refreshing and a nice dry feeling.

This is my kind of beer when it comes to lower ABV. A lot of value.

500ml clear glass bottle poured into a Pedigree branded pint pot.

A. Red looking coloured beer topped by an off-white foam looking head.

S. Citrusy, fruity malt, hoppy.

T. Biscuity malt, traces of caramel and the faintest touch of hoppiness at the finish.

M. Medium and slightly chewy which I find rather surprising for a beer of relatively low strength.

D. An excellent quaffing English session bitter. I am not a huge fan of Marston's beers but this is my favourite Marston's ale when served in cask.

500 ml bottle 3.8% abv

Appearance: Lovely copper colour, large cream coloured head, good lace.

Smell: Biscuity malts, spicy hops and metallic hints (surprisingly it's not an unpleasant metallic note...).

Taste: Similar to the smell, just lighter. Again biscuity, followed by spicy hops. Too little flavour in my opinion, I would really prefer a stronger hop presence.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, but a tad too light.

Drinkability: This is where this beer shines. Very drinkable and perfect for a night at the pub with friends.

Not the best English bitter out there, but worth a try.

Pleasant dark amber coloured beer with a generous white head. The nose is creamy with a hint of raisin.

A gentle, rather savoury hoppiness is in charge here along with a little residual creaminess. It is passable but there is nothing here to write home about. Given its offensiveness it would be easy to quaff plenty of this brew but I don't see why one would choose to do so.

a) Glowing amber, 1" off-white, pillowy head. Slight bubbling, appealing with hepas of random lace left on the glass as it descends.
s) Marmalade toast, some fleshy deli meat, white bread. Warms to some spice... dill, caraway.
t) Fairly restrained version of the nose.
m) Quit elight bodied, finishes short.
d) Very drinkable, thirst quenchable.

Pours a reddish brown with a moderate haze in the glass, slowly forming beige head that retains quite well, thanks in no small part to a healthy bead which feeds from the bottom of the glass. Very English colour, good elsewhere as well.

Nose is actually quite lagery in a sense, just very bitter with little malt character. I think it's just that there's a slightly German hop character to it, bitter and slightly spicy, with a hint of pepper and green tea on there. Slight caramelly malt lingers at the back, smells good, yeah smells bitter.

Taste is again very bitter. Slight hint of biscuity malt at the front but otherwise a mostly tasteless, watery introduction. Hops come on gradually but with crescendo force to create a herbal and phenolic, slightly spicy bitterness towards the finish, hint of vanilla on there and some woody character, maybe some eucalyptus as well. Slight breadiness on the very back is a disappointment, because it feels like an accident, just happening to emerge from the murkiness of the pleasant hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel is slick, with a sharpness around the bitter finish probably not to everyone's taste but I quite enjoy it. Quite thin but with a fair punch to it. At 3.8% I would hardly expect a syrupy brew.

My first taste of any Burtonised brew - or at least, a Burtonised brew that makes a big deal about being Burtonised, and I have to say pretty decent. A well-constructed, hop-heavy bitter, clean and crisp and well worth a drink. A few niggles render it a little bit unsessionable, but overall a very decent drop.

Brick orange-brown with a smooth, fairy ivory-cream head. Massive caramel aroma, with just a tinge of whole wheat and a bit of pear-like fruitiness. Solidly bitter and fairly bold, but too terse - the up-front citric hops are great while they last, but they fade quickly, leaving behind a weak, popcorny malt base and an empty, unsatisfying finish. Lovely, lush carbonation fills the mouth with a soft, misty creaminess. Overall it's a pretty good bitter, but it doesn't have the lingering, moreish quality of better brews.

Pours a light copper with a decent amount of head for a UK bottled ale. The first thing of note is the strong hop aroma, backed by some caramel notes. The flavor carries along some of the hoppiness, with a decent does of UK biscuit flavors and some more caramel. The finish is dry and the body is light, leaving this a more 'lawnmower' style of bitter than its darker brethren.