Looking for Bass Ale alternatives

Old Speckled Hen?

 

How about New Belgium Fat Tire? Amber ale and not very micro-brewy.

 

Might want to figure out what ingredient is bad for you. Doubt it’s Only in “micro” beer. How does hazy “kill you”?

Try
Nugget Nectar, not hazy.
Smithwicks



Enjoy

 

I am in the same boat as the OP. I was a huge Bass Ale fan and have yet to be able to find anything that tastes similar. Hard to believe such a historical, classic brew is no longer made (at least in the US).

 

Fuller’s London Pride

or, although it’s seasonal,

Brooklyn Summer Ale (or Pennant Ale. I think summer ale replaced Pennant ale or was re-named or something)

 

That is currently in process of change: Amber -> Golden.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...gets-full-makeover-after-sales-tumble.670872/

Cheers!

 

This is going to be trickier than you think. English Pale Ale or Bitter is getting very tough to find in the US; and whatever our local craft brewers are making is usually not fermented properly, so the yeast signature isn't right (which is seriously important for this style).

The imports will have the right character but will also sit on the shelves too long when you can get one.

The Old Speckled Hen and Fuller's are great suggestions. I'd start there, or if you can get Well's Bombardier. Hopefully they are in decent enough shape to be enjoyable.

If you're in the New England area I'd also look into trying Cisco Whale's Tale.

Alternatively, you may have a local brewer who's doing it the right way. Please let us know your general location for better suggestions.

 

Or alternatively, the beer that inspired it, Palm Amber.

 

Can you please expand on this observation? Enquiring palates want to know.

To me, I always think craft brewers miss using the right malts -- Maris Otter, to be specific, but that may just be a personal preference.

 

I've had beers using Marris Otter and Goldings that still didn't get it right, because they were made in the brewer's normal conical. I believe that the English yeasts get their fullest expression when used in open fermenters, based on my own experience and talking with various brewers through the years.

 

It’s another InBev product now but I’ve always found Boddingtons to be pretty enjoyable and easily found.

Fullers ESB is excellent also, but not sure how easy it will be to find

 

Michael, I also have an opinion that fermentation temperatures play a notable role here too. When I brew my annual batch of Bitter Ale, in addition to using floor malted Maris Otter Pale Malt I use the Timothy Taylor's Landlord yeast strain and I make it a point to ferment warm (e.g., 70 degrees F).

Cheers!

 

Pipeworks Blood of the Unicorn (assuming they're still brewing it and assuming you're in the distribution area).

Here's a link to a listing of the Amber/Red ales on BA:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/styles/128/

 

I agree that this is trickier than one would expect. US craft/micro beers are often going to be putting too much emphasis on toasty malts and hops (compared to Bass) and not enough emphasis on fruitiness. Idiosyncratic UK imports (like Fullers or Samuel Smith) are likely to have equally idiosyncratic flavor profiles compared to Bass.

The following recommendations can be very different from one another... so just take these all as possible places to experiment with rather than a list of interchangeable beers. UK imports are not very common right now. I'll add another recommendation for Old Speckled Hen. Other imported options are Belhaven Scottish Ale, Boddingtons, and lastly Robinsons Trooper (the regular one) if the price of that one doesn't turn you off.

I want to give a few choices out of left field. If you are willing to try US beers, give Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Blue Point Toasted Lager a shot. Maybe go really outside the box and try an imported dark German lager like Hofbrau Dunkel. That last one might be a longshot, but it might actually have a better chance of scratching the itch compared to many US craft/micro beers that are made to be in the same category as Bass. Although nobody here would put these beers in the same category as Bass, I think it might pay to be flexible in this case.

 

This is sad! Bass was my go-to in college. I guess I'll never get to relive those days though that beer. Probably a good thing...

 

Did they? Or did they stop exporting Bass Ale to the US and then stop brewing Bass Ale at some AB breweries in the US? Last I recall the Bass Ale in the UK was two different versions, brewed at different breweries (Marston's), a cask version and a bottled/canned version - not sure if the latter survives?

Can't recall if the UK's packaged Bass was the same recipe as exported (doubtful) and then the ale brewed in the US but it was acknowledged by a US AB employee here on BA that the beer was lacking and they were considering a new recipe.

Wasn't too long ago that ABInBev let it be known that the Bass brand was on the market (except for the UK) and there were no takers.

And, of course, Bass Ale, domestic and exported, has changed constantly since the late 18th century (see some of the stats from a century ago at Ron Pattinson's website https://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2021/07/bass-and-allsopp-ipa-1851-1901.html ).

Can't speak for that version of Bass Ale but I recall be shocked at the pre-InBev version, bottled and draught, exported to the US in the 1990s compared to the bottled version I first drank in 19790s. Quite insipid - when a friend gave me a bottle I thought he was playing a trick on the beer geek - adding brown food coloring to Budweiser and pouring it into a Bass bottle.

Ultimately, there's little doubt, given the fact that the company is run by accountants that IF Bass Ale sold well in the US or worldwide, it would not have disappeared from the US market. (Doesn't look like Canada has Bass, either - not sure if they ever brewed it a In-Bev-owned Labatt breweries for their domestic market).

 

If beer is making you physically sick.....you may want to switch to something different.

If its hoppy beers doing this to you, you may be allergic to hops.

 

Robinson's Trooper was a beer I wanted to love for reasons that should be somewhat obvious. But it legit scratches my english bitter itch.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23394/96511/

 

If you're right, he may want to try the new Fat Tire as the ivy's have dropped to 15. Or he might want to try some of the brown ales as a more malt forward option.

 

If you can find the non nitro version, you'll get more flavour than the nitro. Trust me.

 

I don't mean this disrespectfully, but if Boston Lager makes you physically ill and throw up for reasons other than alcohol intake, you are wasting your time and playing with your health by getting beer recommendations on this site. You are better off seeing a doctor instead.

 

I don’t remember seeing a locally made Bass here. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I saw Bass on shelves in Ontario. Our selection from the British Isles is generally lacking though. That said the recent availability of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Allsopp’s IPA has been great. Still, it seems that 9 out of every ten beers we get from the UK and Ireland are some Innes and Gunn product. I have t had anything from them I’d bother buying again.

 

Yeah, wasn't sure but since so many other large "imported" brands have been brewed in Canada (Guinness, Carlsberg, Lowenbrau, Red Stripe, Toby Ale, Henninger, Amstel, Sapporo, etc.) over the years, some for your domestic market, some exported to the US, I figured it could be possible given what ABInBev has moved to the US (Beck's, St. Pauli Girl, Bass).

Oh, yeah? Who's brewing that?

In the US (NJ anyway) I've seen Timothy Taylor Landlord very infrequently and when I do I usually question its freshness.

 

In recent years, fewer and fewer of these brands you note are made domestically. Carlsberg and Lowenbrau are imports now. I believe Sapporo is brewed in Guelph at the Sleemans brewery. I’ll need to check a can of Beck’s next time i deign to visit an LCBO.

The Landlord we have now is a little long in the tooth. I think the last shipment came in about 6-9 months ago. It was pretty fresh when it first hit shelves here.

I think the Allsopp family have revived the brewery. The bottles we have on shelves now are from the UK. I read something about it when it was new to our shelves but can’t find it now.

 

I have never seen packaged Landlord at any of my local beer retailers. I have only had the pleasure to drink this beer on tap (cask) at local beer events.

You are fortunate that McClelland Premium Imports brings this beer into Ontario (and makes it available to other provinces?).

Cheers!

 

If hoppy stuff is making you sick I'd stay away from Nugget Nectar. Very very hoppy American red ale.

 

. I’d never seen it in Ontario before last year. I know they had it in BC before that though as a friend out there I trade with sent me a couple bottles a few years back. It might be a different importer though. Not sure.

Definitely lucky. It is a great beer. I’d last had it back in the late 90s in the UK.

 

Samuel Smith’s Pale Ale is also worth a shot, but pricey as well.

Personally I tend to mix in expensive stuff that scratches a particular itch with cheaper stuff that I also enjoy.