Theakston Grouse Beater (Bottle)

Bottle at home ... amber ... odd sweetness ... very floral buble gum ... not very pleasent

500ml bottle. Fruit notes quite strong. Hints of raspberry and perhaps a suggestion of whiskey. Quite flat. Quite tannic and chalky. Drinkable and reasonably interesting. Be nice if it was fresh.

Bottle from Sainsburys, Fallowfield. Copper colour with thin white head - more of a film after a minute or two. Initially pleasant floral aroma it breaks down to feel slightly chemical. Overly sweet initially, there is that chemical element in the finish. Decent palate. Without that chemical tang this would be a reasonable beer.

Bottled, pasteurised, 500ml from Sainsbury, Banbury. Amber copper coloured with white head. Pronounced fruity notes from the Blueberries, quite sharp and tart. Sweet malty with heavyish CO2, but a pretty reasonable beer overall.

Thin and laceless lagery pour. Can’t quite put my tongue on what this tastes/smells like but it’s thoroughly nasty. Some kind of low-cal aspartame-pumped soft drink with ’fruit flavours’, medicine I was forced to take as a child, sugar-free honey and lemon coughsweets? That kind of thing. Distinct chemical sweetener-like... emptiness. Really weird. Why would you make a beer taste like that? Unsubtly fruit-flavoured concoction rendered undrinkable by chemical berry flavours (presumably natural), and a strong contender for The Worst Beer I’ve Ever Had. This Week.

Bottle. Golden with a small head. Aromas are sweet malts with lavender and berries. Some tartness with sweet grapefruit. Flavours are very floral with Vimto fruitiness. Sweet and soft with some soapiness and a dry finish. A bit different.

Bottled. A clear copper coloured beer with a dissipating head. The moorland berry referred to in the commercial description is blueberry and although the aroma and taste are very fruity, I wouldn’t have picked out this particular fruit. It’s a nice beer in both aroma and taste, with that fruit really dominating. Enough length in the body to satisfy. The pasteurization is obvious which is a shame. A pretty eclectic beer from such a large English brewer. I liked it.

Bottle. Dare to be different. This certainly is.Sweet distinctive flavour with an unusual spiciness.What is it? Makes for an unusual and very refreshing bitter.Certainly one worth trying.