Beer Report
Here are the first 5 bottles I purchased, most of which are reviewed below. Click HERE for a picture (265k) of the available bottled beer where I bought them.
Young's Waggledance Honeybeer 500ml bottle (present from Dave)
Lager? Drinkable. Decent flavor. Not bad, not great.
Hobgoblin Extra Strong Ale bottle. 5.5% (present)
Red brown color. Robust brown ale. Light roasted taste. Malty. Pretty good.
Dave and some pints of London Pride at The Goose.
Fuller's London Pride £1.60 pint (unless otherwise noted, all pub beers were cask conditioned real ales).
Glowing red amber. So friggin' smooth. Just enough bitterness at finish. Beautiful color. Retains faint white head and leaving lace. It takes restraint not to drink it all down in a few gulps. At less than £3(?) this is a steal. A great first cask experience. Dave bought.
In this picture you see the back bar at the Black Friar. We learned about it and many of the pubs we searched for from CAMRA on their website: http://www.camra.org.uk The Black Friar was perhaps my favorite of all the pubs. The marble curved bar counter, the hop vines, the elaborate wooden artwork of monks, the cask ales, it was just great.
Abbot Ale -Greene King £2.20 pint
Similar to London Pride. Perhaps lighter in color, more copper. Good taste. Good malt presence, light hop flavor and finish. Watery taste my ass. Great stuff.
Another scene at the Black Friar. Many of the pubs had nooks and crannies such as the one above. Notice the marble and wood and mirrors.
At the Cittie of York they had many seccluded booths, such as the one above.
Samuel Smith Old Brewery Bitter £1.66 pint
Light orange brown. Similar head. Taste has a light fruitiness, hint of tanginess that has not yet been present in others.
A blurry shot of the back bar at Cittie of York. At the right you can see the booths, in which we were sitting in the above photo.
The Salisbury, crowded on a Saturday night.
Caledonian Deuchares IPA £2.52 pint
Wow. A noticeably higher but still smooth hop flavor. Wonderful. Hop finish. Extremely drinkable.
Bishop's Finger - bottle (from Dave) 5.4%
Noticeable alcohol taste. Decent. Smooth enough. More malt than hops. Kind of like a strong ale (?) Goes down nice. Wonder what reviews would say.
Black Sheep Ale £1.60 bottle 4.4%
Caramel taste. Tastes familiar, but like what? Like an amber ale, like Red Banshee. Maybe slightly drier. A solid beer.
St. Peter's Organic Best Bitter (from Dave) bottle 4.1%
Hmm. not sure what to say. I want to like this more but I just don't. has bitter, lingering finish that I don't really like. I think that of the cask or bottled bitters I've had I like this one the least.
In Hyde park on a picnic. A little Tetley's Smooth Flow Bitter went down pretty nice.
Dave in the ornate Warrington hotel.
Fuller's ESB £2.50 pint
Nice taste. Lingering bitterness not unlike perhaps American ESB's. Glass is nearly empty. Respectable malt taste. Perhaps served warmer than any other so far. Kind of dry finish. A decent beer.
Young's Special Ale £2.50 pint
Orange, copper, red color. Taste is good and enjoyable, but not remarkable.
Don with the Extra Cold Guinness at the Warrington.
Guinness Extra Cold £2.50 nitro tap
This "extra cold" business was around and we had tried all the cask ales they offered, so we tried it. Tastes fine although it is colder than the cask ales. Not bad. I probably would prefer it more at normal temps.
Dave contemplates being an outsider at the very locals only Ye Olde Mitre. Downstairs (we were up), the rooms were filled with men in business suits.
Adnam's Bitter £2.52 pint 3.7%
Slightly darker. Fine smooth malty taste. Not outstanding or exceptional but still very good and enjoyable. Maybe slight hint of tang or off flavor.
Indcooper's Burton Ale £2.58 pint 4.8%
A little different. Has a spiciness I can't define but is noticeable. Otherwise, like many others and quite enjoyable. A little different than most and thus more memorable.
Ferment to Beer Report Page 2
