Wagtail: Ale-Next-The Sea (England: Bitter: 4% ABV)
Visual: Chestnut brown to toffee. Brown inch of bubbles.
Nose: Malt chocolate. Slightly nutty. Lightly floral.
Body: Nutty. Walnut cake. Moderate bitterness. Lightly earth. Coriander. Slight malt drinks.
Finish: Coffee cake. Earthy bitterness. Carrot.
Conclusion: After a mix of good bears that really show off the traditional British style, and one really weak beer that just let the side down, we then get this. A beer that is basically exactly what you would expect from a traditional British bitter, no more and no less.
This is, therefore a nutty, earthy ale; Slightly bitter – basically what a bitter is but nothing else. Ok, that is slightly harsh – there is a mild coffee and walnut cake taste to it. That is the one spin of the dice where it chances trying something just slightly different. Not much, but it is an element.
This is a hard beer to hate, but that is because it doesn’t do too much. Then again, when I say that, it is a hard beer to hate if you like bitters. People with a sweet tooth or people who hate earthy beers will not like it at all. The biggest problem is that it doesn’t give you much reason to overly like it either, it is just so very average.
So, if any other decent choice is on offer, go for that. Otherwise, if you have just Fosters and John Smiths as other options, well this aint utterly terrible like they are.
Not much more to say than that, it is, well, meh.
Background: Anyone get the feeling this time of the year is when I stock up on notes on bitters? Another of the Norfolk beers from the family. Many thanks! I kept almost adding the word “to” in the middle of the name. It just looks wrong to my eyes. Anyway, as before, drank back with the family.
