Bass (Bottle - UK)

Brewed by Samlesbury (InBev UK - InBev)
Style: Bitter
Preston, England

From a bottle. A brief head soon disappeared. Amber colour, slight aroma of malt. Watery sweetness with a bit of fruit, followed by a lasting bitterness. Bass is one of the most famous names in the world of English beers. This 21st century version is unmemorable.

Canned. Copperish colour, creamy big head. Mild sweet aroma. Caramellish sweet flavour mixed with hoppy bitterness. The bitterness grows in finish. Not much aftertaste.

Can (BB 08/2005)
Copper brown, thick creamy and brown nitro-kind-of head. Mild flowery aroma, slightly metallic. Creamy, smooth, watery. Sweetish hops and mild mouthfeel. Not much aftertaste. Really nothing special but actually ok session beer.

Dec, 2002. "Our Finest Ale". This is a mass market beer which largely exploits the famous history of this once classic brew. The brewing method and the yeast has been changed. This pasteurised bottle provides consistency, but no life - it is a clean easy drinking beer that is often on special offer. Tasted blind this would get an average on most people’s ratings - it is pleasant without being distinctive. [2.8]
May, 2006 Blind tasting: Pasteurised. Mostly nondescript, but quite hoppy. Nothing outstanding. A lasting soft bitterness. Toffee. Around 4.7%. [2.5]
Trying it again after the blind tasting. This is a pleasant enough beer - inoffensive, but flavoursome enough. There’s a gentle and toffee accented malt with an orange tinged hop bitterness. Quite acceptable. [2.7]

Doesn’t taste of much - except for perhaps a touch of lemongrass. Reminds me of eating a melon. Very watery. In no way unpleasant, but rather boring.

Another beer with nothing special about it. A little more reddish in the colour. And perhaps a little hint more bitterness.

Scottish mates rant about it like they do Guinness, never a thought for their home Broughton or Belhaven. This is another beer of legend, brought into the real world by common unoffending tastes and mass marketting. I had a beer mat since I was five of Bass Pale Ale which fits the stories, but the beer itself didn’t. Poured a turpid amber, with a thin white head that lasted the first mouthful. Taste was overly nutty, with little aroma, and little body or balance. I believe my scotsman pals, as this is another ’Real Ale’ that lost it’s home to the corporate body. $hite

Very classic English pale ale. It is nothing special, but a good and classic average English pale ale.