Theakston Lightfoot Bitter (Cask)

Brewed by Theakston
Style: Bitter
Masham, England

Hazy dark blond ale. Sharp zesty aroma. Flavour is bitter but the sharp edge makes it very refreshing. Sweeter notes of banana and lemon are present.

A strong amber coloured ale brewed in the Summer and one of Theakstons’ better efforts. The aroma was a little undermined by a marked sulphur whiff and the heavy sparkler it was served through dispersed pretty much anything else distinctive in the aroma. Although nothing really dominated the flavours, there was a pretty good balance of all the usual elements and the overall impression was of a smooth and clean ale, easy drinking for its strength. The relatively high alcohol content is not intrusive. Slipped down very easily. Cask (handpump) at GBBF 2004.

I don’t think this beer was meant to drank with hamburgers, but it was OK. It sort of tasted like my sherry. Is that how you spell sherry?

Sept 2002: The Ship Inn, Cobham, Kent. Lightfoot is the Masham brewery that was taken over by Theakston in 1919. In honour of that take-over the brewery named this wonderful pale ale. In an ironic twist, when Theakston was taken over by Scottish Courage, Paul Theakston left and formed the Black Sheep brewery in the old Lightfoot building! Lightfoot is a good example of a summer pale ale that is currently very fashionable in the UK. Very pale in colour and strongly hopped, these beers are very thirst quenching and aromatic. The best of the bunch is probably Titanic’s Iceberg, but this is a close runner runner up. Lots of juicy and delicately sweet lemon fruit yet balanced by outrageous handfuls of aromatic hops. Not bitter hops, not razor sharp hops, not wahing up liquid hops, but hops with a delicate perfume that arouses the senses without deadening them. As it’s the end of the summer the pint I had was probably drawn from the last cask of the year. Roll on next summer! [3.8]
Aug 2004: The Anchor, Bankside. Pub 1 on the Southwark Beer Tour. Burnished gold appearance. This comes over as rather dryer than when I had it last. Possibly a change of recipe. It's still a very nice beer - just not quite as exciting as on that late summer afternoon two years ago. There's some delicate fruit hinting at green, tart apples, and a gentle sprinkling of dusty hops. Buttery aroma nudging into butterscotch. [3.3]

Cask. Old review from August last year. Light gold, amber. No head. Sweetish, slightly hoppy nose. Mouth is sweet malt, but balanced, but nothing pretty defining. Was looking forward to something amazing here. It was good, and interesting, but not characteristic of anything.

(Cask Conditioned) Descent English Pale Ale with amber color and medium head.

A Mes rate. Cask at the Market Porter. A hazy mid gold with a thin white head. The rest of my notes say standard golden bitter"". A bit thin on the ground I know so here are my notes from the bottle. It’s probably the same, really, do you care? Grassy and floral with some faint wheaty notes, pale malt and some fruity hops in the finish. Dull.

Cask (handpump) @ Coal Hole, London WC2, UK. Alc. 4.1% Clear flat medium amber orange color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, toffee. Flavor is moderate sweet and light bitter with a average duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft / flat. (281207)