Coniston Bluebird Bitter (Bottle)

Brewed by Hepworth
Style: Bitter
Horsham, England

This was a really strange beer. Categorized as a bitter, it had a LOT of qualities commonly associated with a wheat beer, especially in the nose and flavor. As a wheat, pretty good, as a bitter only average. Strange brew....

bottle from brickskeller. color: clear gold, well laced white head. aroma: malt, hops. flavor is very well balanced: malt character is full and broad, but finish is mild noble hops. great bitter.

Different from other bitters. Brown. Dominated by fruit and floral aromas and flavors. Much more complexity than most bitters. Very little bitterness.

My bottle looks just like the one in the photo, so I’m pleased that I’m not too fucked up to be rating the correct beer (OK, that’s a beer geek joke, people). Clear gold pour with big carbonation bubbles and small white head. Smells like malt, some hops, spice, blueberries, honeydew, and slight skunk ass. Tastes malty, hoppy, dry, with berry and fruit elements at the finish. This one gets better and more complex as it warms, and it finished better than a 3-way with Jenna Jameson and Ginger Lynn.

Beautiful appearance. A clearish shining orange with full carbonation forming a fully lasting creamy white foam. Gentle aroma, hoppy in a floral and soapy way, english in nature, but with ample yeast undertones bringing in slight earthy funk notes. Dry and slightly grainy flavors. The malt is a bit overwhelmed by the hugely dry hops, the malt in itself is actually pretty dry as well. This creates an interesting refreshment I’ll admit, it fits the high carbonation nicely and enhances the floral aspects, but after a few sips, it gives a rocky or chalky feel as dry and mineral as it is. Fortunately not too astringent, moreso refreshing with its pleasant watery peaks (never though I’d say that). Definitely flavor packed for a 4.4% beer. A bitter that is worth your time to savor and drown yourself into.

A faint flowery quality to the aroma. Taste has hints of lemon and cardboard. Fairly bitter finish made this an enjoyable but unremarkable beer.

Pours hazy copper with thick white head. Aroma is not very appealing, sligtly stale. Taste is sligltly sweet, a little lemon with a nice spicy hoppiness, also bready. The problem is there is also a dusty soapy flavor that ruins the beer.

Bottle. Medium amber color with very little head. Looks weak, tastes weak. Pungent aroma with flat bodied, slightly malty taste. Only a hint of bitterness (even relative to traditional English bitters). I used to live in London and love a good English bitter, but firmly believe that a good bitter can only be had from a tap - preferably a hand tap. That said, there are a few bitters in bottles that at least approximate the taste of a good hand-drawn one. This is definitely not one of them.