Theakston Best Bitter
Cask; Regular.
Changed from 3.6% to 3.8% in 2004.
Previously brewed under contract at John Smiths at Tadcaster due to lack of capacity at Masham. Production returned to Masham in 2009.
This fine, golden coloured beer has a full flavour that lingers pleasantly on the palate. With a good bitter-sweet balance this beer has a robust hop character described as citrus and spicy. It’s a refreshing and very satisfying pint – noted for the aroma of its Fuggles and dry hopping strain Golding to add to its characteristic Theakston aroma.
Changed from 3.6% to 3.8% in 2004.
Previously brewed under contract at John Smiths at Tadcaster due to lack of capacity at Masham. Production returned to Masham in 2009.
This fine, golden coloured beer has a full flavour that lingers pleasantly on the palate. With a good bitter-sweet balance this beer has a robust hop character described as citrus and spicy. It’s a refreshing and very satisfying pint – noted for the aroma of its Fuggles and dry hopping strain Golding to add to its characteristic Theakston aroma.
2.8
164 reviews
Masham, England
Community reviews
Dark golden color with creamy head. Mild flavor, slightly bitter but not as much as IPA. Some malt sweetness underneath.
Bought from the plough in bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire. One of the finest ales Iv had the pleasure of drinking. Very smooth. And has extraordinary flavours that many ales don’t contain. Very appealing and extremely drinkable. Will be purchasing again: perfect on a Sunday. It’s a Sunday drink.
Pint draught @ The English Football Club, Milano (April 23, 2018). Amber, clear, no head. Great complicated taste - malts, hops and something else... Funny, I had to go to Italy to have a decent bitter.
historical back log rating so no notes on aroma / taste / palate . Just the rating saved
Cask at GBBF 2009 & Scarborough 2015. (Backlog / historic rating from old records. NO tasting notes taken / kept) (Backlog)
Cask at Kays Bar, Edinburgh, Scotland. Clear golden, medium wjite head. Fruity aroma with notes of coconuts, floral hops. Medium bodied, low carbonation. Dry, medium bitterness.
Cask at The Black Swan, Leek. A clear amber colour with a medium white head. Aroma of caramel, bready malts, some nuts, slight fruit and subtle earthy hops. Taste of caramel, bready malts, slight fruit, a hint of diacetyl and subtle earthy hops. Light bodied and soft carbonation. A dry, slightly grassy, malty bitterness in the finish. In terms of a standard, low ABV bitter, it’s not bad. Nasty finish though.
Light copper, average white head, pretty solid and leaving very nice lacing. Weak but clean aroma of light caramel, slight citrus, maybe floral hops. Taste follows the aroma with a nice and pretty refreshing citric presence that is definitely more vivid than in most bitters. Overall in very good bittersweet balance with the slightest bitter edge in the finish. Light bodied with classical delicate carbonation. Very easy and quite refreshing, not remarkable but pretty enjoyable.
Cask at White Swan, Ovingham. Very little aroma, small notes of soap and citrus. Solid bronze colour with dense white head. Taste is soapy and slightly acidic, very little hop character. Bloody horrible, didn’t even finish the pint.
Cask. Superb delivery at the Cover Bridge inn East Witton Yorkshire. Bronze with a solid off white head. Floral on the nose without being sickly. Medium mouthfeel, classic English (Yorkshire) bitter. Nice balance of fruitiness and hops with just the right amount of bitterness. Not over complex and great for slaking....
Draft. Dark gold almost amber, small head. A: slightly sour, malts, light lemon. T: follows aroma, low carbonation, bitter finish with note of apple sourness.
A little more flavoursome than I remember it from either Carlisle or Tadcaster. Little aroma but a pleasant taste of toffee and with adequate bitterness. Not a classic but more likeable than many well-established bitters.
Cask at kays bar. Pours clear golden, nose is floral, grassy, toffee, taste is sweet, creamy, toffee, grassy.
Nothing out of the ordinary but it's sometimes the simple things done well that are decent about bitter sweet toffe with hops at end small lasting white head pint at red lion whit worth mid walk.
Cask at The Big Jug, Durham, £2.35/pint.
Brown beer with a creamy off-white head. Wet cardboard and bread in nose.Taste is a little sweet with butter, diacetyl, popcorn and some biscuit in a short slightly bitter finish. Not good by today’s beer standards.
Wrote down a score ages ago but ni5 any tasting notes. Recording for posterity. Good stuff.
Cask at Cask, Scarborough. Pours clear golden, thin white head. Aromas of light lemon, grassy hops, light malt. Taste is light sweet, faint lemon. Standard.
Looks fine. Medium copper brown. Some malg and yeast on the nose. Relatively firm bodied and structurally sound. Palate is vague with metallic and some malty qualities but generally this lacks identity and engagement.
Very mild aroma, quite sweet and not complex. Yeast is dominant yet mild in manner. Traditional and quite dull. Especially the taste is more uninteresting than needed. (On cask at Leeds airport bar)
Pint on tap at Strawberry Gardens Stockport. Very little nose, mild malt perhaps. Bronze colour with creamy head, no carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel, slight toasty malt flavour followed by more malt and a little hop bitterness. Standard session bitter.
On tap at the Dog and Duck near Edwinstow. Amber colour with a thick white head. Aroma has faint citrus fruit and light malts. The taste has caramel. OK.
Alla spina. Aroma di caramello, cereale seguito da un amaro terroso che non riesce a bilanciare il caramello. Corpo esile e carbonazione leggerissima. Al palato molto dolce e caramellata, amaro quasi assente.
Cask, Black Bull, Masham, Yorkshire. From 2008 notes. Found the beer to be bland and forgettable.
Quite a subtle aroma. A little malty with hoppy undertones. A little cloudy dark amber colour. Quite hoppy tasting with a quite honey aftertaste.
On tap. Hazy golden with creamy white head. Creamy texture, not really bitter, too sweet
E’ la prima volta che assaggio una Bitter. Dicono che questa sia la Bitter per antonomasia. Sinceramente spero di no, anche se è comunque abbastanza gradevole. Colore è biondo un po’ opaco e leggermente ambrato. Schiuma finissima (più che un cappuccino) e persistente. Aroma poco pronunciato, fresco e luppolato. Al palato si avverte soprattutto l’interessante luppolo Fuggle, utilizzato per la birra. Si avverte anche un leggero speziato. Retrogusto leggermente amarognolo. Corpo leggero e abbondantemente acquoso. Birra molto rinfrescante e dissetante.
Cask @ pub in Wooler. Hazy golden colour, white foam. Creamy mouth feel. Aroma of soap and caramel, some sweet hints. Bitter finish. Not very good.
Kolor bursztynowy, idealnie klarowne. Piana gesta, powoli opada, zostawia cienka obraczke i minimalnie oblepia szklo. W aromacie intensywny karmel i owocowe estry, calkiem intensywny aromat chmielowy - dominujace pomelo, dalej lodygowosc, trawa i ziola. W smaku dosc nijakie, lekko karmelowe, przypiekane i orzechowe, intensywny smak spalonego plastiku. W odczuciu pelne i idealnie gladkie. Goryczka srednia, lekko lodygowo sciagajaca, aromat glownie pomelo, dalej trawa i ziola. Wysycenie bardzo niskie.
Cask Howard Arms Carlisle. Semi sweet beer, creamy texture, with light grassy and bready notes. Smooth - its lost its harsh tang from its days on Tyneside - with some very soft lemon flavour in the finish.
Cask. Hazy gold with a cream head. Nose is soapy and malty. Taste is bitter and slightly lemon and damp dishcloths. Flat and passable, but not great.