Coniston Bluebird Bitter (Bottle)

This has a nice golden amber color with a short white head. a mild, floral aroma. Nice firm body with a rich, caramel moth feel. Very clean finish.

Bottled (Obviously). Orange/Brown with fast dissapearing foamy white head. Spicy, citrus aroma, with a touch of maltiness. Slightly sweet maltiness, with a hoppy bitterness developing. Dry finish. Nice beer.

Well done but nothing special: light in colour and body, soft herbal aroma, gentle hoppiness. Slightly metallic.

Bottle. Amber coloured, average slightly off white head. Floral hoppy aroma. Fruity hoppy taste, not much bitterness. Medium bodied, nice mouthfeel with moderate carbonation. Crisp and clean with a dryish finish, and not much aftertaste. Not bad.

Wonderful bitter. Had this last a few months ago, cannot find it now. Just a very solid bitter that bottles well. Very noticeable hops and truly "bitter." Almost an IPA-Light, but done in a way that is both classy and tasty. Highly recommended and grab it if you find it.

Orange coloured. Nice hoppy and slightly spicy aroma. Bitter and hoppy flavour. Refreshing and pleasant.

Sept 2002: Brakspear’s bottled version. The Bluebird of the name is Donald Campbell’s boat in which he died while attempting the world speed record on Coniston Water in the Lake District, near the Coniston brewery. Brakspear’s brewery is next to The Thames which has rather more sedate boating pass-times. This beer can be both thin and soapy yet have a melting texture with floral hints. The beer lacks body and depth, but is wide ranging with interesting twists and turns - the most intriguing being the soapy floral hints. The Challenger hops are the key to this beer - modern perfume notes. Shame the malts let the whole thing down. [2.3]
August 2004: The Beer Counter bottled version. The bottle conditioning is not done well enough to allow the hops to really make a show of themselves. Reading other people’s comments it seems that either the hops have survived, in which case the beer is well received, or - as in my case - the hops have not done so well, and the beer is mostly metallic flavoured. The malt this time around seems ok - there’s a pleasant English fruitiness here - but it’s fairly average. There is hint of what the hops are capable of with notes of palma violets, apples and gooseberries, but they have suffered. In addition the carbonation is wrong, and the balance is all over the place. A nice beer, but poorly bottled. [2.7]
Feb, 2007 Compared with Chimera IPA, Wild Hare and Rolling Hitch. Thin and metallic and dry. Perfumed Challenger hops. The Challenger hops were introduced in 1974, and were among the first of the modern pine flavoured English hops. When Coniston used this hop in Bluebird Bitter in 1998 it was quite exciting, but times have moved on. It tastes less exciting now. More exciting hops are being used today. This beer feels like it is stuck in the transition between the traditional and the modern. [2.6]