Great Pale Bitters Recently Imbibed!

Since I last posted about good pale hoppy bitters, I've tasted quite a few more, and pretty excellent ones too, including this 'American Pale Ale' from Beat Ales of Bristol (website). Rockabilly is a 5.3% pale golden ale, as you'd expect from the label, with plenty of body and plenty of fruit in the aroma. It has a bitter dry finish, quite strong and I noted "pretty damn good!" which says it all really, much enjoyed by me.

Next, from Welsh brewers Bragdy Conwy (website) is their 4.4% California, a 'Citrus Blonde', a pale golden bitter, slightly sweet start with a fruity flavour and hints of grapefruit in the aroma and taste. Another ale with a dry bitter finish, a quality long-term readers will appreciate I value, though not to everyone's taste. Me? I loved it, why else write about it!

OK, Kent Brewery (website), you can guess where they're based, supplied a more refreshing ale than I expected from the writing on the pump clip, the 4.5% Simcoe. This is a single hopped ale, simcoe being the hop used, this really does say it all on the label! Although I didn't get 'earthy', and would never have guessed 'pine' from a blind taste, but I did get grapefruit in the aroma and taste, and a nice dry bitter finish, nice one. I'll have to write about a greater variety of ales next time, but this blog is about my personal favourites, there you go!

I've had two great ales from more local to me, East Sussex brewer Franklins (website), both of which I've written about before, hence just the one photograph. First, their 4.4% Resurrection is my favourite of the two, probably helped by the hops, amarillo, galaxy, centennial and citra all used! Grapefruit in the aroma and taste, a very pale golden colour, and very nice, thank you! 

The second is their stronger 5.5% pale amber bitter, North Shore IPA, which has a hint of caramel in the taste, plenty of body as you'd expect from the strength. The New Zealand hop rakau is used and delivers a fruity aroma and taste, hint of peach and a slight sweetness which dries out at the finish becoming a bitter aftertaste, another goody.

And from Derbyshire (I'm traversing the country here!) Shiny Brewing (website) came up with another stunner, the 5.3% Disco Balls, even the pump clip is very 70s! Obviously plenty of hops used for this golden bitter, which has a nice fruity aroma, fruity taste, mango and peach, with a hint of citrus, slightly sweet at first and dries out, but not overly bitter, and very more-ish!

From Scotland now, and please excuse the image, I have no idea how it went wrong, probably shook when I took it! Fallen Brewing (website) and their quiet excellent 5.4% Grapevine (subtitled New World Pale). Hops galore used in this: magnum, citra, wai-iti, hallertau blanc and ekuanot, from the 'new world' obviously, so plenty of everything really! A  golden amber colour with a big fruity aroma and good body. Citrus, mango, lychee and peach detected in the taste, very bitter and very dry, you'd either love it or hate it, me? Quote: "gorgeous!"

Finally, for today, from Sheffield brewer Kelham Island (website), where I worked part-time whilst undertaking my PhD research, their 4.3% Easy Rider, which just seems to get better and better! Pale golden bitter, hints of citrus, so very refreshing, an excellent quaffing bitter, cheers!

More great ales, oh dear, cheers!

I'll start off with 2 pale bitters, OK, they're all pale bitters, 😉from The Park Brewery in Kingston upon Thames (website), the theme of their ales being Richmond Park, obviously. First, their 4.4% Gallows Gold, brewed with Simcoe and Cascade hops, providing a big fruity aroma with tropical and citrus flavours, with a great dry bitter finish. I liked this a lot, but... 

Spankers IPA (5.4%), like Gallows Gold but with knobs on! Brewed with three of the 'C' hops, Chinook, Columbus and Centennial, you'd expect citrus flavours and aroma, and you wouldn't be wrong, an enormous citrus aroma, and grapefruit ++ in the flavour, loadsa body, pale golden, dry and bitter, I wrote "gorgeous" in my notes, that's how I remember it!

Next, 2 more excellent pale bitters, but this time from East Sussex brewery, Franklins Brewing Company (website). I've already recently discussed their 4.2% Resurrection EPA, a couple of blogs ago, with its wonderful flavours from the Amarillo, Galaxy, Centennial and Citra hops used, and I've had it at 2 further bars since, still excellent! 

Next though, their stronger North Shore IPA (5.5%), another ale I always love to drink. This is brewed with New Zealand hops, Rakau, and another pale golden bitter with plenty of body, plenty of fruit in the aroma and taste too, and, again, noted as "gorgeous!"

I mentioned the Three Sods Trade Union Pale Ale in my last blog, so we'll pass my notes on that one this time, but, another brewery that seems to be consistently putting out great ales is Green Duck Beer Company of the West Midlands (website). Their Duck & Dab IPA (5%) is brewed with Sorachi Ace and Mount Hood hops which provide plenty of citrus on the nose, not just a fruity aroma, but citrus in the flavour too, plenty of body, and finishing off as a very dry bitter, another excellent ale!

Finally-ish, we come to Shiny Brewing of Derbyshire (website), another brewery I keep tasting great ales from! Their 4.6% Affinity, they call an ESB, and do not share the hops used on their website, but it is yet another nice one! You'll have to believe my description, a pale golden ale, with much citrus aroma, I had to think again and again at what fruit is in the flavour, definitely grapefruit, and hints of orange and mango, whatever, finishes off a lovely dry bitter indeed! 

I also drank an ale from the ever reliable Oakham Ales, but you'll have to wait for my next blog, because there's an extra story there, cheers!