Bloody Awful Beer Of The Week

[Maldenman]

Sambrooks Wandle on it's release was widely considered as a welcome addition to the SW London scene, however I agree it is a fairly ordinary routine brown beer. Not unpleasant and certainly never a babotw but just fairly dull. But some people like regular brown bitters and why not?

[ROBCamra]

Last night in The Baum I tried a pint of Hornbeam Stretch Bitter, it was bloody awful.

I don't normally mind Hornbeam beers and some are very good. This wasn't one of them.

Astringent and malty, a very poor combination.

I struggled to finish my pint and had to quickly order a pint of KI Pale Rider to get rid of the taste.

Simon has told Hornbeam never to deliver another barrel anything like it again.

[sheffield hatter]

Astringent and malty, a very poor combination.

These words could well have described the beer I had at the White Swan in Chesterfield today: "Schrödinger's Cat is Alive / Dead", brewed on the Little Ale Cart plant by Steel City Brewing.

OK, so it's dark and malty, a bit like a mild. And OK, it's brim full of hops, a bit like an IPA, but they all clash horribly with each other and the only sensation on the palate is an overwhelming astringency. There's no balance, and no attempt to make a pleasant drink. The Steel City website reads like a long list of hops, the more obscure the better, and they've clearly been chucked into the brew in vast quantities with no concern as to what the resulting brew might taste like, like undergraduates discovering spices and making a curry for the first time.

If you look at successful dark bitters like Jennings Sneck Lifter or York Centurion's Ghost, they are beautifully balanced, with a quaffable maltiness and a restrained hoppiness that results in a moreish drinking experience. I only had a half of Schrödinger's Cat and I struggled to get that down.

[london calling]

tried the W + Eton -canberra last night to check if it was as bad as my initial impression. def not to my taste but salvaged it by adding it to a pictish -samhain stout.nice black and tan.waste not want not

[Rex_Rattus]

tried the W + Eton -canberra last night to check if it was as bad as my initial impression. def not to my taste but salvaged it by adding it to a pictish -samhain stout.nice black and tan.waste not want not

We had this in the Edward Rayne the other night, and were similarly unimpressed. Tasted as if there was a bit too much ginger in it. The selection in the Edward Rayne was so poor that we opted to return to the Earl Beatty for a pint of Doom Bar - and we don't do that lightly.

[Wittenden]

If you look at successful dark bitters like Jennings Sneck Lifter or York Centurion's Ghost, they are beautifully balanced, with a quaffable maltiness and a restrained hoppiness that results in a moreish drinking experience. I only had a half of Schrödinger's Cat and I struggled to get that down.

You are damned for all eternity,you've used the B word...

[Brewguru]

These words could well have described the beer I had at the White Swan in Chesterfield today: "Schrödinger's Cat is Alive / Dead", brewed on the Little Ale Cart plant by Steel City Brewing.

OK, so it's dark and malty, a bit like a mild. And OK, it's brim full of hops, a bit like an IPA, but they all clash horribly with each other and the only sensation on the palate is an overwhelming astringency. There's no balance, and no attempt to make a pleasant drink. The Steel City website reads like a long list of hops, the more obscure the better, and they've clearly been chucked into the brew in vast quantities with no concern as to what the resulting brew might taste like, like undergraduates discovering spices and making a curry for the first time.

If you look at successful dark bitters like Jennings Sneck Lifter or York Centurion's Ghost, they are beautifully balanced, with a quaffable maltiness and a restrained hoppiness that results in a moreish drinking experience. I only had a half of Schrödinger's Cat and I struggled to get that down.

Hear hear!

I quote myself from the 3 pint thread:

This leads me to mention that a lot of beers that win "beer of the festival" at smaller events tend to be those that hit you in the face with flavour but are not necessarily very well balanced beers.
There is certainly something in having 2-3 pints to properly judge a beer. Some brewers think just by throwing sackfulls of hops into a beer they make it good. I find some pale beers over bittered, and am gasping for a full bodied malty beer to take away the gum curling bitter flavours after a couple of pints of liquid hops. There are also lots of pale beers that are very well crafted and balanced and leave you wanting more - these are good beers IMHO.

[london calling]

Hear hear!

I quote myself from the 3 pint thread:

i have met one of the brewers from Steel City and his opinion is there is no such thing as balance in a beer.i disagree.

[aleandhearty]

It's not very often I come across something so awful that I feel the need to mention it on this thread. However, Oates Summit, tried over the weekend, was absolutely bloody dreadful. It's a new brewery to me, as well as a new beer, so I've no point of reference to go on. There was nothing offensive on the nose, but on tasting it had this intense bitterness, with a slight berry-ish edge and a hint of sourness. It may well have been off, but if it was, I couldn't work out the reason, particularly as the conditioning seemed fine.

The brewery's promotional puff states: ' Summit is a cacophony of hops and malts harmoniously orchestrated in the style of a traditional IPA.' Don't know about that, but the word cack would appear to be in there somewhere. Anyone else tried it?

[Mobyduck]

Not quite sure of the exact name of this beer, against my better judgement I got talked into having breakfast in Wetherspoon's pre beer tour of Reading ,the pump clip said Single Hop by Marstons also prominent was the hop variety used ,"Saaz" so whether its called Single Hop or Saaz or both I'm not sure but it was bloody awful and won't be having it again.