Tetley's Original Bitter
Carlsberg-Tetley Brewing Ltd

Poured from a tap at the Charles Dickens Tavern in Melbournev in December 2022. The tap was rigged to look like a hand-pull, but which was just a regular carbonated keg. I know this because I asked!

L: Creamy gold colour, with a thick, creamy head that eventually left a covering of foam down the sides of the glass. No carbonation evident in the glass.

S: Creamy, smooth malt; weak tea; otherwise fairly neutral.

T:. Taste is dried tobacco leaves; tea leaves; and a very mild, earthy, woody bitterness. Hints of red, metallic berry. Extremely sessionable. This last point leads the score here to be higher than would otherwise be the case.

M:. Very smooth, very silky. Carbonation and carbonic prickle are barely there. Mouthfeel perfectly matches the sessionability of the beer.

O: Maybe I'm thirsty, maybe seeing this, Old Peculier and London Pride on tap has me in the mood, but this went down really well.

Cheers!
#168

Canned and relaunched, brewed from Northampton but it was being brewed there under the Huntsman logo.
Pours a crystal clear bronze coloured body with decent enough white head.
Aroma is caramel, sweet malt
Malt and tinny flavour, it’s more Tetley tea than Tetley bitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hand-pulled pints in the Nottingham: a pub in Cleethorpes well known for the quality of their Tetley's. The three I had on 9th Nov 2012 were in fine form as they always been on my many visits to this lovely old basic boozer.

Good looking beer: deep golden colour with a full head of off-white sat proudly on top.

This has never been full of aromas and taste: just an honest session ale that has more malts than hops in both the smell and flavour. Biscuity malts and floral hops to exact: satisfying and refreshing. Not as good as it was years ago , but still an easy drinking brew.

A 440ml can with a BB of July 2012. Picked up cheap from Morrisons (a single can that was presumably once part of a multipack).

Poured into a tulip pint glass. A hazy orange-amber colour with decent carbonation and tons of chunky floating sediment. Not sure what the sediment is, as I don't think commercial beers are conditioned with live yeast. Forms a large head of creamy off-white foam that lasts for a couple of minutes before subsiding. Aroma of subtle caramel malt with a hint of sweetness and a faint whiff of fruity ale yeast. Not much going on.

Tastes of sweetish caramel malt with a dry finish. Hints of ale yeast and stewed hops, but little bitterness. Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and dry. Somewhat astringent. Aftertaste of faint caramel malt and stewed hops.

Deeply dull. Weak flavour and aroma with nothing to grab your attention. The are no fundamental flaws to it, but incredibly mediocre. Give it a miss.

 

 

On nitro-tap at The World's End into a pint glass.

A: Hugely cascading nitro pour - seriously, the whole glass is naught but falling bubbles at first. It finally settles into a clear, medium-amber body under a finger of characteristically dense, creamy, off-white nitro head. I know it's cheating, but it's pretty.

S: Clean herbal hoppiness and bracing minerality. Cold and dumbed down, but not offensive.

T: Nutty, biscuity malts, and that's about it. Slight bitterness on the finish. Ok.

M: Rich, smooth flow of solid carbonation. Thank you, nitro.

O: Boring beer, made palatable only via its serving method. It was either this or Foster's, so I'm glad it was available, but it certainly doesn't compare well to a well-kept real ale.

Cheers!

I had this on draft at Finnegan's, an Irish style bar in Key West Florida. It was pretty much exactly what I expected. Very creamy flavor and mouthfeel, low in carbonation and low in alcohol.

In general a very unique flavor that reminded me of being in england. I think this is better on draft than in bottles. Not my favorite beer but unique enough to stand out in my mind and be worth getting every once in a while.

440 mL can. Bought a four-pack, and I've had them poured into pint glasses and also straight out of the can--can't tell much difference except in the appearance and slight difference in the scent.

Offers a slightly-above-mediocre head, bronze-amber brew, minimal (if any) lacing.

Taste and smell offer nothing outstanding or particular. This isn't a bad beer, just not a good one either. It's thoroughly mediocre. I'm actually glad to be drinking the last one (so I can move on to others).

Mouthfeel is decent--moderate to high carbonation with a bite.

I won't seek this out deliberately, but wouldn't turn one down at a mate's house either.

from jenny lou's in beijing

500ml can

clear, deep copper/amber, decent head fades to wisps and ring. lacing stays at first, but much of it fades or slides back down.

faint malt aroma, hint of butter and yeastiness.

biscuity malt flavor is a bit overpowered by hop bitterness. a bit stale, but there are hints of cider-like fruitiness. again, the hops contribute mostly just bitterness, and not much else. also some metallic notes on finish.

mouthfeel isn't too thin, and is actually almost smooth. moderate-to-lively carbonation might be a bit too much however.

not horrible, and certainly something for variety out here in china. that said, i would rather visit the UK and try this on cask if i ever had the chance.

Poured this brick and cream colored can (500 mL) into a small shaker pint. Dated best by March 2008. Purchased at Whole Food Market, Kensington, UK. The pour created a pithy off-white head with the familiar sizzle sound of a macro. The head faded to a weak cap. The body was clear and dark honey colored.

Smell was caramel, honey, and light malts.

Taste was of soft malts, which took second place to the understated bitterness. There was a nice clean, lightly drying finish. A tea-like sweetness stepped forward as it warmed further.

Mouthfeel was smooth but with a zippy carbonation in the finish. Overall, an accessible mild English bitter.