Greene King IPA (Cask)

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

Beer Engine: burnt orange amber with a thick cloud-like head. Airy hop cone aroma, leave and chlorophyll. Loads of pear and apple flesh. Palate is a bitter but has some sweet nectar and flowers. A bit one dimensional, but all around good flavours, but not much depth. Some dry hop cones linger, nice.

I had this ale on a hot sommer afternoon and was satisfied. Nice creamy head and subtle flow. It is rather light in body (and low in alcohol), has a clean taste with touches of butterscotch toffees, grass and pears. The "english ale" disctinctive hoppy bitterness is practically non existent. Having checked the reviews on www.ratebeer.com most seem to moan about this brew being "thin". I would agree if compared to say a Young’s Special London Ale, however would believe the lightness is a virtue here. This is a great thist quencher for hot afternoons, on a cold winternight I probably would not have loved it much.

[cask] Very nice Goldings aroma with a touch of pine-laden toffee. Clear dark amber with long-lasting, clingy white flanel blanket. Surprisingly complex for such a small beer: nutty and apple-y malt with some tobacco/raisin and rounded, subtle bitterness. Very quaffable!

Cask. Dark orange, transparent. Not too hoppy, but maybe that’s because I’ve had a lot of west coast IPAs before. Nice citric orange rind notes.

Have been served this warm and cold and is definitely better when warm, its ok with some sharpish bitter flavours, which go quite deeply into the pint, it has a certainin charm to it and is worthy of a decent rating

29th April 2002 - Quality cask conditioned bitter with delicate malt and some hops. Not brilliant, but in decent condition is good quality.

Cask at the Anchor Pub, Cambridge: Transparent deep copper with a frothy, dense, well-lacing, cream-colored head. Subtle, earthy hoppy aroma has a touch of toasty caramel malt. Body starts clean, semi-sweet and bitter with some notes of bread and grassiness. Finishes crisp and bitter with a decent balance.

Cask conditioned at The Wheatsheaf, Parsons Green, London. Served a bit too cold for a cask ale. Honey coloured. Minimal head. Little detectable aroma, a smoky pub probably had most of the blame. This is a smooth and very drinkable bitter without too much character. Moderate hoppiness, hardly an "authentic" IPA.