Suffolk County - Nethergate Brewery Co. Ltd.

jazzyjeff13

United Kingdom (England)

3.15/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A 500ml bottle with a BB of Dec 2012. Picked up from a supermarket some time back.

Poured into a tulip pint glass. A coppery chestnut-amber colour with good clarity and light carbonation. Forms a small, off-white head of foam that lasts for a minute or two before disappearing. Aroma of caramel malt with hints of grain, fruity yeast esters and stewed hops. Dry and mildly leafy, with a cardboard note in the background.

Tastes of caramel malt with a dry, bitter finish. Notes of fruity ale yeast, stewed hops, a hint of grain and wet cardboard undertones. Mild carbonic acid; like mineral water. Rather dry, with a decisive bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and astringent; the carbonation is pleasant but dries the palate. Body seems a tad insubstantial. Aftertaste of bitter stewed leaves and mild fruity yeast.

A pretty average bitter. No flaws but nothing special - standard caramel malt and bittering hops combination. More aroma hops would be good. Carbonation is nice but body could be improved. Goes down easily enough but a forgettable brew. No need to seek it out.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2012 23:33:04 | More by jazzyjeff13

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

3.88/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This is a regular cask-conditioned Best Bitter brewed by the Nethergate. In some of their tied houses or free houses one might find some of their beers available in bottles, such as Old Growler and this beer Suffolk County. I tasted this bottle at the Black Bull pub in East End London, itself a free house whole-heartedly dedicated to Nethergate's whole range of ales~~

A: it pours a chestnut-brown colour, with very fine carbonation and an extremely creamy and tight, off-white neck sustaining for at least 3 minutes. Looking great.
S: like the bottled Old Growler, this beer bears a quite distinctive nose which doesn't appear in the cask-version and very different from all other English Bitter I've tried-- the mixed smell comprises a bit wet clay-soil(?!), lightly musty and earthy, mild savoury-cheese and calcium-tablets(!!), crystal malts, etc... quite exotic, yet I like it.
T: on the palate there comes upfront an almost parsnip-kind of bitterness and lightly coriander flavour; lightly char, pleasant soft nuttiness, and an intensifying bitter taste gradually reveal at the back, with a lingering, almost Chinese herb-medicine like dryish bitterness in the aftertaste...
M&D: very smooth mouthfeel (slightly too smooth for me), while a good fizzy body helps keep all the interesting flavours on the palate. The mouthfeel towards the finish turns a bit flat though. Overall this is a medium-flavoured bitter with a distinct taste even from its own sister on cask. Worth trying at least once to experience the anomaly this beer can bring.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2005 16:29:58 | More by wl0307