Marston’s, Banks’s Fine Fettle, 4.8%abv. (Best Bitter)

Coming in a 500ml brown bottle, BB 28/02/2014, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

3.5/5 Appearance: brown-ish amber in colour, mild and sporadic carbonation, good clarity, topped with a thin beige

3/5 Smell: upfront the peach-blossomy and orangey-honey-ish aroma abounds, underlined by a rather subtle tinge of toffee-ish maltiness. But overall the honey-ish fruity aroma seems to be so dominating that it’s hard to pick up any other elements on the nose… Hops are rather timid in this case, if Fuggles and Goldings are indeed used according to the back label (meaning that the two varieties are not so pronounced and true to their aroma).

3/5 Taste: spritzy on the palate, the thin-bodied, smooth malty foretaste is a bit like barley tea even, going down with more fine sweetness from crystal or caramel malts; as the malty flavour quickly settles, a flow of earthy and roast tea-leafy tannic bitterness reveals itself by stealth, not in a big, rough way, but sufficient to render a pleasant, moderately bitter finish.

3/5 Mouthfeel & 3/5 Overall: as mentioned, the palate is compromised a bit by the spritzy carbonation, otherwise the beer drinks very smooth and lubricating, albeit a bit lacking a proper body. This is a strange Best Bitter that is far more malty than it is bitter on the balance, although the label claims (or, purports) the style to be “Pale Ale”.

Note: The Cyclops table printed on the label says:

STYLE: Pale Ale / 4.8% ABV

SEE Pale Gold

SMELL Fragrant Hoppy

TASTE Crisp, Fiery, Bitter

BITTER ***** (5/5)

SWEET *** (3/5)

To be honest, after tasting the beer itself, I personally find the Cyclops description here to be nothing more than subjective, misleading and unable to tell one what the beer might be like. At least, it fails to ring a bell on the beer I’ve just had…! Why “Fiery”, by the way? Good intention, but not professionally executed, I’m afraid.

--Yau (tasted 10/03/2013, notes transcribed 16/03/2013)