Young's Special (Cask)
Cask: Regular.
A best bitter.
Production moved from Youngs to Wells & Youngs in 2006. Brand acquired solely by Charles Wells in 2011.
Ingredients: Maris Otter and Crystal malts; Fuggle and Golding hops.
Abv reduced from 4.6% to 4.5% in 2005.
"Amber in colour, Young’s Special has a fruity, slightly estery nose with a good hop aroma and full round flavour, a fine balance between malt and hops."
A best bitter.
Production moved from Youngs to Wells & Youngs in 2006. Brand acquired solely by Charles Wells in 2011.
Ingredients: Maris Otter and Crystal malts; Fuggle and Golding hops.
Abv reduced from 4.6% to 4.5% in 2005.
"Amber in colour, Young’s Special has a fruity, slightly estery nose with a good hop aroma and full round flavour, a fine balance between malt and hops."
3
205 reviews
Bedford, England
Community reviews
Cask @ King’s Arms, Oxford. Clear brown with a white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel and dark fruit. Flavor is medium sweet and light bitter. Sweet finish. 170218
Great beer , one of the cult beers we looked out for at festivals,
Our local has it now, and it’s the second best seller,
In the top 5 of most of my drinking mates
Pint at The Old Ship in Chiswick. A slight upgrade to the Young's Bitter with a bit more interest on the flavour and a touch of that soapiness that I do enjoy. It was however quite basic and not one to seek out in the future.
Draft at Greyhound Pub near London. Looks great, clear copper with a lacy off-white head. Aroma is caramel, toast, nuts, perfume. Flavor is nutty, slightly sweet, slightly bitter. Medium light feel, crisp. Pretty moreish as those Brits would say. Good for the style.
Cask pint at the Rising Sun, Epsom. Pours clear chestnut with a white head. Aroma of malt and toffee. Sweet taste and finish. Enjoyable.
Queens Arms, London. First pint in town. Thick, overworked head. Clear, darker amber hue. Sweet, round malt. Nominally sweet, some butterscotch, very round. Missing any sort of bite or bitterness at all. Not a favorite.
Cask at The Red Lion, Leek (Hydes) A clear amber colour with a medium off white head. Aroma of caramel, some fruit, slight cereal and subtle earthy hops. Taste of caramel, bready malts, fruit, some cereal, slight yeast and subtle earthy hops. Light bodied and soft carbonation. A dryish, yeasty bitterness in the finish. A standard bitter, similar to Bass as if it’s in good form it’s a good drink. This is decent for a bitter.
Cask at The Plough, Bignall End. Pours amber with an off white head. Cereal, malt, some hop. Average.
4.5% amber in colour with a good head, some hops and caramel in the aroma and a nice bitter taste.
Cask at the Duke of Clarence SW5. Deep brown colour. Malty with some heavy fruity notes, Christmas cake, raisins, purple fruit. Sweet but a decently bitter finish. A little bit hard work. Decent enough wintry bitter.
Cask. Pours copper brown. Aroma mildly malted. Tastes sour mash. Slightly fusty aftertaste.. Not great
Pours amber with a thick head. Malty caramel aroma. Taste is a bready sweetness.
A bit more flavor and a bit more alcohol than the standard Young’s Bitter. Still pretty sessionable at 4.5%, and still reasonably light flavored. Good but not great.
Clear amber pour, with a creamy white head that quickly dissipated. A nice malty caramel aroma, a little fruit and grassy hops. Some lacing; toasted malted caramel taste, a little fruit. A slightly oily feel in the mouth but a good spicy bitter finish.
Pours clear amber with low white head. Aroma of toffee, malt, light citrus. Taste is mild bitter with subtle balancing sweetness. Light and smooth body with soft carbonation.
Fra cask på Dog and Bull Croydon 27 Nov 15 som Wells Dog’s Baubles. Klar gyldenbrun. Filmskum. Svært så forsiktig maltaroma. Mild svakt fruktig smak - men domineres av malt. Vel søt.
On tap at the Royal Hop Pole, Tewkesbury. Deep Amber colour with a white head. Malty caramel with fruit and grain aroma. Taste is bready with a caramel sweetness.
Cask at the GBBF. Low fluffy white lasting head. Clear dark brown body. Mild sweet fruity caramel aroma. Fruit chestnuts caramel, dusty malt grass flavor. Low carbonation. Long finish.
Amber with an off-white head. Fruity and grassy with biscuity malt. Smooth. Standard bitter, but drinkable.
Cask in Buxton Wetherspoons. Pours amber with an off white head. Biscuity aroma. The taste is citrus with some biscuit undertones. A slight earthy quality to it as well. Quit e thin in body making it noticeably watery. Drinkable enough. An average bitter.
My favorite real ale and probably my favorite beer in the world. This traditional well crafted ale is only availabe in Southeast England, mainly the London area. If visiting London, you must try this.
On tap. Pours clean amber with a white head. In taste and aroma it is a normal bitter - malt, caramel, hints of hops.
In the seventies, this used to have a reputation out of all proportion to its actual qualities. Those ’in the know’ always drank Ordinary. Since then it has been through the meat-grinder finally arriving 40 miles up country at the charmless Bedford production facility. Always rather thin for its gravity, it has never had much aroma. Medium bitter, the over-riding flavour is of hedgerow fruits with little of the toffee/caramel often encountered in mid-gravity bitters. Reasonable bitter finish though.Hardly a favourite.
Cask at JDW Square Peg; clear light amber pour with a creamy off white head, fruity aroma, taste has sweet caramel, some malts a hint of fruit.
Cask at the Assembly Rooms, Solihull. Poured a clear medium amber with a frothy white head. The aroma is light malt. The flavour is light bitter witn a light, slightly watery, light hop bitter palate. Light bodied with soft carbonation. Doesn’t really inspire me.
Cask - amber with a bubbly white head. Aroma of malt and toast. Taste of malts, grass, a little yeast, hints of toastiness, fruit and chocolate. Medium body. Bland.
How: Cask.
Where: Brew Wharf, London.
Appearance: Amber colour with a beige head.
Aroma: Hops, malt, grass.
Body: Light body, low carbonation.
Flavour: Malt, some fruit, hops.
Cask @ Lamb Tavern, Leadenhall Market EC3. Pours an amber color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty caramel hoppy aroma. Fruity malty hoppy caramel flavor. Has a fruity malty hoppy caramel finish.
Cask at the moon under water Watford. Light amber copper coloured pour with a lasting cream dense head. Aroma is mineral, caramel, candy sugar, berry and some seaweed. Flavour is caramel, sweet unrefined sugars, some berry and touch of spicy hop. Altogether unrememberable and bland. Palate is quite sweet, lowish cask condition. Finish has some sweet stale notes that are in compelling. Bored!
Cask at the Dial Arch, Woolwich. I remember drinking a lot of this back in the early 90’s and I’m sure the strength was higher. It certainly doesn’t appear as robust and flavoursome as it once was. Anyway, it pours amber with an off-white head. Aromas of toffee malt and fruit. Dark fruit and toffee flavours. Not as good as I remember it unfortunately.