Greene King Fireside (Bottle)

Brewed by Greene King
Style: Bitter
Bury St. Edmunds, England

Bottle, from Sainsburys. Deep amber, thin but lasting white head and moderate condition. Initial chewy toffee, caramel and banana aromas subsiding to earthy hop oils, quite thin in the mouth with a slight tinniness with more fruity banana and a slight toffee sweetness, lingering oily hop notes in the finish with a lingering fruity hop bitterness.

Yup, it’s a deep, brownish dark red. Bubbly head shrinks back fast and there’s not much to look at besides the colour. The aroma gets stronger as the head recedes, though, and is mostly fruity malts. Something there I can’t pinpoint, perhaps some metallic notes. Not a plus but doesn’t really do any damage, either. The taste is flatter though and mouthfeel and palate are hardly exciting. The taste of the malts hints at chewiness, but it doesn’t quite get there. If not for some fairly decent hops to end it with the taste would be bland. Along with the colour (nice, but not something that makes me a repeat customer) the hops just manage to keep this beer a notch above mediocrity.

a good head, malty flavour that i found a touch strong. probably wont drink again.

almost like a brown ale in looks. The commercial description seems it pretty much up, nice citrus hops balanced well with the malty overtones, easy drinking and refreshing, yet a nice session beer.

Dark amber with quite a short head. Sweet fruity and malty aroma with toasty caramel. Flavour is lovely fruity, good hoppiness, roasted malt and caramel, nice biiterness. A good bitter winter ale.

Bottle picked up at local Sainsburys. Ruby red in colour as it states, with a tasty slightly nutty and malty flavour. The aroma gives off sweetish notes along with the malt there is some hops detected in both nose and taste.

500ml bottle from sainsburys, pours a lightish ruby red colour, hints of malt and some fruit on the nose and pretty much the same in the mouth, slightly metallic taste in the mouth too, dry finish, nothing to make me want to try it again

Bottle: pours a chestnut-red colour with a beige head; rich fruity aroma; medium jammy body with fruit and malt, and just the right amount of bitterness; citrus hops give a clean aftertaste, but it still feels quite sticky in the mouth.