Ridgeway Bitter
Ridgeway Brewing

 

Bottle. White head with lace. Clear dark golden color.

Earthy, floral, grassy. Biscuit malts. Toffee. Orange citrus (orange marmalade). Bitter, but smooth. So easy drinking.

 

 

 

 

 

In Roger Protz' "300 More Beers To Try Before You Die", sequel to his CAMRA classic.
Had in my pre-BA career. If I find it again, I'll review it.

This English Bitter pours to a creamy, medium ivory-colored head on a deep gold, effervescent body that exhibits a very slight haze; head retention is brief and lacing is sparse and short-lived, consisting of fast-retreating blotches. The nose is light-medium in intensity: zwieback-like toasted malt over a rich, deep blend of boozy, sweet Concord grapes and earthy pipe tobacco. The palate is more assertive than the nose: bitter, earthy hops ride atop a toasty malt foundation that shows hints of dark fruit, caramel and alcohol. The finish is clean and has a nice, crisp carbonation bite, followed by the onset of a modest earthy bitterness that lingers for a few minutes. While the bitterness outweighs the malt character, the malt is well-represented and the bitterness is not overbearing; I'd say this beer is properly balanced for the style. The mouthfeel is on-point for the light body and a bit astringent; the texture is medium-creamy and slightly peppery from the restrained carbonation. (16.9 oz bottle, 363 days after pkg)

L: Pours hazy gold under a ½” white foam collar S: fruit and earthy hops.T: Pale malt flavors, some light biscuit, some fruit, earthy English hops F: medium low carbonation, medium light body O: very refreshing and drinkable

Golden orange body with a half inch of soapy, off-white head. Fruity, malty, bready aroma. A tad sweet. Thin body with low carbonation. Odd fruity notes in the finish. Lacking body and malt presence. Needs help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

500ml bottle poured into a straight sided pint.

A: Super light golden and very clear. A one finger white head settles to a nice cap throughout.

S: Light lemon and perfumy hops. Some grassiness and grain. It smells “pretty.”

T: Identical to the nose but not as full flavored as I hoped. I don’t know if that is intended or if hops have fallen off.

M: Very watery but refreshing. Super easy to drink. Body is medium, somewhat fizzy carb. Finishes with a slight dryness that is pleasing.

O: This would be an ideal beer to drink on a deck under the hot sun. I enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a hazy golden with a good bit of thick, off-white head that falls and leaves a solid cap on top of the beer. The aroma is faint, led by a sweet, toasted biscuit malt character. Hop aroma comes through as slightly lemon. The taste follows suit, with a dry, cracker malt taste and a grass and lemon hop profile. It has a light to medium body and rounds out with a clean dryness, aided with a touch of bitterness. A very delicately balanced beer with nothing standing out or seeming to compete with any of it's other flavors. Nothing spectacular, but refreshingly clean and a well made example of the style.

A: The beer is slightly hazy light yellowish-amber in color and has a slight amount of visible carbonation.. It poured with a finger high off white head that quickly died down and left lacy patterns of bubbles on the surface and a thick ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass.
S: There are light aromas of fruity yeast in the nose along with some hints of oranges.
T: Similar to the smell, the taste has fruity flavors from the yeast and is accompanied by a light amount of bitterness from the hops. There are some notes of bready malts and sweetness.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is quite easy to drink and its low alcohol content makes it very sessionable. The bitterness is nicely balanced by the underlying malts.

 

Poured from a 500ml bottle into a British Pint glass.

A murky shade of amber like the color of clover honey with a 1 finger shortbread head that leaves modest lacing.

aroma of bready malt with a mix of musty and funky hops with just a kiss of honey like sweetness.

Mouthfeel: a little more solid than the typical bitter.

Taste: biscuity malt followed by an earthy, funky hoppiness that leaves a faint herbal bitterness.

Notes: A great Bitter, lots of funkiness and character. Good stuff.

Thanks Jon for letting me know this was in the shop and that is was fresh.

A- Hazy golden orange with a nice head, lacing was ok.

S- Citrus tangs and some pepper notes, with a nice malt aroma.

T- Nuanced hops, orange citrus tones, nice bitterness, very balanced with a nice malt profile, tastes grainy and has a very smooth finish. A very clean beer.

M- light body, easy to drink, low carbonation, very smooth

O- I am beginning to love these English Style lower abv. with subtle hop flavors playing off the subtle malt flavors. At times these beers become less is more. This beer was awesome, very nuanced and complex in it's own way. I truly enjoyed it and wish that I could get it on cask or in a 6 or 12 pack, I just want to have bunch of pints.

The ale is clear amber with orange hints, an off-white small head, little lacing and small curtains. Much as expected.

Smelling subtly of nuts, grain and ripe apples.

The taste has a toffee and loaf of bread sweetness, then a fruity acidity, pears and apples, finishing of with a balanced grass and lemon zest bitterness.

A small carbonation, a rewarding fresh texture, a dry long ending.

A very good session beer. Sometime this is all you need in a beer!

A 500ml bottle with a BB of May 2011, so it's a little out of date. Purchased cheaply from my local beer specialist. The labels indicate that this was originally intended for the US market, and that it is bottle conditioned.

Poured into a Stella chalice (don't judge). A hazy golden-amber colour with visible sediment and good carbonation. Forms a large head of creamy white foam that lasts for a few minutes before subsiding to a thin surface layer. Aroma of sharp citrus hops with a hint of grass and undertones of light grainy malt. Nice for an English bitter.

Tastes of light malt with a pleasantly dry bitter finish. Notes of grain, earthy yeast, citrus, and grass. Mild bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and quite dry. Aftertaste of bitter malt.

A decent bitter with a great aroma. Nice use of aromatic hops, while the malt and bitterness are well balanced. Live yeast adds depth to the flavour. Drinkable and worth sampling.

This beer was pumped out of a cask, the color was a golden yellow and it had a thin white head on it. There wasn't much lacing at all. The smell was grainy and had a subtle hop aroma. The taste was mild upfront and finished with a nice dry bitterness. The mouthfeel was a bit watery. Overall it's a decent bitter but nothing too great.

a - golden with a nice 2 finger layer of white head. lacing stays around the glass the whole time

s - mildy spicy from the english hops, and hints of caramel malts

t - weedy herbal hops are upfront followed by hints of floral hops in the back. a firm bitterness dominates with enough sweetness and maltiness to cover it

m - mouthfeel is medium and carbonation is low

d - really drinkable. I wish this was more widely available and on tap...

A: cloudy clay orange body, 2 finger fluffy head, nice lacing.

S: grain, hint of citrus, mild grass/pine

T: malt, barley, slight bitter finish

M: med/light body, low carbonation, dry + crisp, goes down smoothly.

D: nice English session brew. worth trying, but not world class. Could easily down a few.

A - Poured out a copper/golden color with with a one-finger, white head of foam. It had okay retention and left minimal lacing.

S - It smelled herbal and floral with a sweet caramel nose.

T - It tasted of sweet caramel with a bready malt backbone. It had an earthy/grassy hop bitterness.

M - It was crisp, sharp and smooth. A light bodied ale with a dry finish.

D - This is a highly drinkable beer in a highly drinkable style.

Poured into a pint glass.

A - Gorgeous copper color with a nice off-shite head that is about 1 inch and has some nice chunky bubbles peppered in with some nice dense bubbles. The head recedes at a normal pace and leaves some nice sticky lacing.

S - Very familiar malty aroma from the English pale malts. There is a very nice hopy and flowery aroma as well. Some mild yeast and spice as well.

T - Flavor is very malty up front with some spices as well. There is a nice light hop character and bitterness as the beer finishes dry. There are some nice vinous notes to this beer as well.

M & D - Very light and drinkable. Nice malt backbone and good hop finish.

Color is clear copper with a nice white head

Aroma is slightly yeasty but it's bottle conditioned, with light spiciness.

Nice flavor. I bit more hop than I was expecting but that's never a disappointment. Good malt backbone and excellent bitter.

I should have bought two, this goes down easy.

A Fin Du Monde tulip serves as the recepticle for this English bitter. The label states this is real ale, meaning as I understand it that it is live beer and unfiltered.

The pour reveals a bone white head atop a deep honey colored beer that is just a bit hazy. Lacing is good and retention is not too long.

The nose is citrusy and not too pronounced. Malt is present in light sweetness but this is a clean smelling beer.

Taste is bitter, as promised, but not out of balance. There is a good malt flavor of sweet biscuit and a medium-light body that carries the flavors well. The carbonation is light and the aftertaste lasts with the malty flavors.

This is a great example of what a session beer can and, in my opinion, should be. It is full of flavor and refreshing, lightly carbonated, and still living and containing all of its richness as opposed to having that all stripped out of it by filtering and pasteurization. Very drinkable, if a bit more expensive than I would like.

Come on America, make me a beer like this one so I can enjoy it without paying for the shipping from Britain.

Slainte.

Bright orange and a bit hazy with a short, lasting head. Some short-lived lacing too. Malty and biscuity aroma, hops were grassy and a bit citrusy, a bit floral. Bitterness was solid throughout, more biscuity malt, citrus and floral hop flavours lingered. It was perhaps a bit too dry. Light bodied with average carbonation. I quite liked the flavour profile of this beer. Slightly less attenuation would help make it more drinkable and well rounded.