Tetleys Cask Bitter

Brewed by Leeds (Carlsberg UK)
Style: Bitter
Leeds, England

[Cask at GBBF 2004] A dark orange beer with a huge beige head. The aroma is lovely fruity and hoppy. The flavor is very fruity with a dry hoppy end and a smooth mouthfeel.

No nitrogen here, I had this on cask, at the Wenlock Arms in London (near the Pitfield Beer Shop - both are highly recommended). Hard body, dryish finish, touch of yeast and fruit. Nothing special, but very English.

1. Cask Handpump at the Ramsden Arms Hotel, Blackpool 01/08/2001 Golden brown and smooth with a malty hop finish. 2. Cask Handpump at the Penny Black, Northwich (JDW) 18/04/2002 Copper mid brown smooth slightly gassy. Dry slightly bitter malt finish. 3. Cask Handpump at Northwich Victoria Social Club, Northwich 26/04/2002 Golden amber smooth slightly bitter with malt finish. 4. Cask Handpump at the Penny Black, Northwich 21/05/2002 Amber mid brown coloured and malty. 5. Cask Handpump at the Old Broken Cross, Rudheath 20/03/2004 Golden amber with some sour fruit flavour. Slightly bitter hop finish. 6. Cask Handpump at the Coachman, Hartford 07/07/2005 Amber fruity slightly hoppy. Some dryness in a lasting malt finish. 7. Cask Handpump at the British Lion, Crewe 23/09/2007 Hop aroma. Small white head. Amber golden coloured and hoppy with a bitter lasting malt finish. 8. Cask Handpump at the Cross Keys, Crewe 28/12/2007 Floral and hop aromas. Small white head. Amber coloured and hoppy with a crisp and slightly bitter full malt finish. 9. Cask Handpump at the Red Lion, Stockton Heath 17/02/2008 Malt and some hop aroma. White head. Amber coloured a little hoppy and floral with hints of dryness and bitterness in a crisp and pale malt finish. 10. Cask Handpump at the Circus Tavern, Manchester 17/03/2008 Floral and hop aromas. Small white head. Golden coloured and smooth on the palate with a crisp and slightly bitter full malt finish.

Cask: Dove & Olive Branche, Grasmere. Late summer 2004. Amber color, lasting creamy head. Hoppy seaweed aroma. Sweetish, malty flavor with some butterscotch and still a fair deal of hops. Grassy, seaweed finish. Much better as I expected.

Really bad, especially for a cask bitter. I'd been avoiding this for a while, but finally decided to give it a go the other night. Citrus, caramel and grain, rank bitterness, thin, can't say too much more about it.

Cask Conditioned at The Angel, Bicester. Standard amber bitter, cost reduced to near rock bottom. Faintly consists of hops and malt but this is an overprocessed tasteless swill.

[Cask conditioned] Pale amber coloured. Very thin and watery. Not much flavour nor aroma. Bad.

Pretty bland stuff. Soft, quite smooth and lacking in character. I won’t drag the rating down further by including the perfectly dreadful tinned and smoothflow versions. Cask (handpump), The Morning Star, Lincoln.