Banks’s Bitter

Brewed by Banks’s (Marstons plc)
Style: Bitter
Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England

1. Keg Handpump at the Old Stable Inn, Weston super Mare 14/05/2002 Golden amber coloured and slightly bitter on the palate. Hoppy finish.

Very good looking golden pint with creamy head. No discernible aroma. Flat and bitter, not much else to be said about this.

Nitrokeg at The Black Horse, Cirencester, Gloucs. Amber, slow to clear with creamed head. Caramel, toffee, soggy newspaper. Some boiled hop in the background, but overall an homogenous mess.

(Can BB 31/08/07; Thanks Rich!) Mild aroma of malt, toffee and metal. Amber colour, clear and small, white, creamy head with good lacing. Malty flavour with a hint of toffee and roasted malt. Creamy, slightly watery, light to medium-bodied and almost flat carbonated palate. Easily drinkable but thin brew! 27/05/07

UPDATE Can at The Penguin. Fake red amber with a tight white collar. Fern, slight nutty malt, caramel sweetness, faint stewed tea and aniseed/sultana spiciness aroma. Tea, caramel, honey, pinecone and paper. Lacing condition and some complexity from a can. Decent, with no off-notes. ORIGINAL RATE Keg, on many occasions at The Fox, Attleborough. Creamy, soft, nitrogenously soapy pint resolving into clear chesnut. White as a pint of milk when poured. Just enough of a hint of a suggeston of leafy, tea-like hops to qualify it as a quenching and inoffensive sessions. (re-rate) Caramel, wet dough, biscuit. A gnaw of HB pencil. A stranger to the hop.

Can fromVictoria Wine Kelso. Looks ok..but that’s about it really! Little in the way of aroma or flavour, except for a soft malty note on the finish and that’s yer lot! I suppose it’s better than most canned bitters but that’s not much of a recommendation is it?

Can from Bargin Booze! Amber/brown in colour with a big dense off-white head (if poured quickly into the glass). Aromas are soft, sweet malts with sulphur and light hops. Flavours are soft and fruity with a fairly dry finish. Pretty bland but very drinkable. A decent session beer.

Keg, at The Old Crown (1368), Burmingham.
Stuck right in the middle of the city and some industrial estates, I ducked into this pub for some lunch. It was a bit of a bad pick but one scoop. Nitro and poured smooth, its not such a bad bitter considering the treatment its had. Amber with a smooth, full, creamy, white head. Reduced aroma. Restrained bitterness, sterile.