HSB (Horndean Special Bitter)

On cask draught at Kickoffs in Waterloo. Always a solid English bitter here, so I'm game.

A - mahogany-brown, leaves a 2cm white head encircling the glass.

S - bread and biscuits, citrus and malts.

T - A fine English bitter (somewhat similar to Fuller's ESB). Toffee, bread, malts that finishes with a crisp bitterness.

M - A bit thin, low carbonation as cask-draught tends to be. Goes down smooth.

D - Terrific on cask - privileged to have tried it in this form. Bitters and I get along just swimmingly, so this will be a sessional for me in the future. Good offering.

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 10-23-2009 04:50:26 | id: 1022266

Pours deep copper with ruby hue and a nice ivory head. Lacing sticks.

The smell is of toffee/caramel - complex maltiness with lemony citrus, apricot and a bit of wood.

The taste is of nice caramelish/toffeeish maltiness with a leafy, citric hop bitterness in the finish.

It has a creamy smooth body that is full-bodied for the style. Coating. Mild carbonation. Silky.

Incredible how they replicated the cask-feel so well in a bottle, adding to the drinkability factor. Very well-balanced and delicious. Complex in a soft and subtle way. This is an exceptional bitter!

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 04-30-2009 00:45:30 | id: 904455

Gales HSB now brewed at Fullers is an excellent example of an dark ale that is highly drinkible and not to heavy, but also not watery. The taste is quite strong with a slight fruit taste and also quite fruit cakey witha malty base and a slight hop kick. This is my favorite Gales beer and can be drunk all night long.

Serving type: can

Reviewed on: 06-17-2008 18:41:23 | id: 692914

Tasted by a pint at Sir Charles Napier, Brighton. This is the first time that I’ve tried the now Chiswick-brewed HSB.
4 A: clear, dark russet brown in colour, coming with an off-white creamy head that leaves tight lacing behind, on top of rather low carbonation.
3.5 S: rich caramel, pear-drops and sour-sweet plums fill the nostrils, added with a touch of palm sugar, but lacking a more assertive hoppy input as before.
4 T: the initial entry of brown malts and caramelised sugar is ensued by the slow manifestation of hops that mix in the flavour very well, leaving a semi-dryish, faintly earthy, and tea-ish aftertaste… a light tinge of sour-sweet ripe plums seems to linger and blends well with the tea-leafy hoppiness. Very pleasant in the finish.
4 M&3.5 D: fresh on the texture, full of micro-scopic fizziness, but the body is lighter than what I can remember from my last pint of Hordean-brewed HSB from three years ago. Although this is still a lovely pint, at the price of 2.95 pounds a pint, I wouldn’t rush to try a second pint at this pub again…

* Review of 14/08/2005:
Another favourite cask ale of mine when living in Sussex. Happy to see it on draught at the Cross Keys, a Wetherspoon's pub in City, London.
3.5 A: seemingly fresh, it comes in a brownish hue, with a thin, white head and leaving uneven lacing. Looking o.k.
4 S: the aroma is dominated by a sweetish raisiny, dark-malt note, a port wine-like deeply aromatic texture is also present. Overall it's very juicy and mouthwatering.
4.5 T: rich nutty malt flavour dominates the palate with sightly tart, raw-nut flavour; gradually a profoundly dryish yet fruity and vertically-structured bitterness takes over and lingers well towards the finish. The flavour in the aftertaste, a bit like the taste upfront, is reminiscent of peanuts, dark fruits e.g. black prunes... while a soft bed of hops sustains at the back as a balancer with the otherwise fruity and rich malty palate.
4.5 M&4 D: very rounded mouthfeel throughout, good depth of dark malts and refreshingly bitter texture are the winners for this beer. Very very nice bitter indeed, extremely drinkable for me, especially in Autumn.

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 12-10-2007 21:40:54 | id: 588227

Judging by the locations of the other raters, I don't believe this fine ale is imported in the US. Having had the opportunity to spend an extended period of time in England, I've drank my fare share of real ale. My British friend, Matt, always brings me a handful of various ales when he comes to visit, which temporarily quenches my insatiable thirst for British Beer. I had one can of HSB left from his last visit so I thought I'd throw it up on BA.

Regular 440ml can (no nitro), poured into an imperial pint glass. Deep brown color, with a deliciously thick whitish head.

Smell is fruity and full-bodied.

Sips deliciously smooth and fruity, with only the slightest trace of carbonation. A delicious malt flavor overtakes your tongue. Smooth and mild, but extremely drinkable. I miss having this available on tap. And come to think of it, I'm pretty sad this is my last can! Sip? This is a beer to take gulpfuls of.

It's somewhat understandable why Brits are able to down pint after pint of dark ales after you've had a brew like HSB. It may be dark, but it goes down smooth and keeps you thirsty for more. Easy to quaff, and leaves a satisfying malt aftertaste. I know this to be one of the more popular bitters in England, so I can only hope that it may one day be exported to the US, to satisfy our ever expanding national beer palette.

Serving type: can

Reviewed on: 11-11-2007 02:40:12 | id: 574519

Drank at a pub based beer festival in Shropshire 14th Sept 2007.

Great dark colour, ruby red and clear, firm biege head that stayed the distance.

Fruity, hoppy and interesting aroma.

The fruitiness within the fullbodied taste gives this beer a wonderful flavour.

The taste clings to your palat, this is a good beer. Glad I re-introduced myself to it, I won't wait so long between visits again.

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 09-15-2007 08:04:42 | id: 549278

Appearance - Dark brown with a small very light brown head that persisted down to half way down the pint glass.

Aroma - too mild for my liking, lightly malty with a hint of hops

Taste - sweet-malt with strong tones of biscuit. Medium finish with a nutty flavour.

Mouthfeel - medium, low carbonation almost flat, dry

Drinkability - the good flavour but mild aroma combines to give a fairly light feel to this best bitter. Nothing outstanding, however, a good session bitter for those who prefer a stronger pint

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 07-08-2007 16:09:06 | id: 522046

This sample is a bottled version of the HSB with a different label on it: "The Hospital of St Cross & Almshouse of Noble Poverty". The reason for this is that the George Gale brewery provides the beer for the Brothers at this "cloister". If you go to the gift shop and ask for the wayfarer's dole, you'll get a small sample of this beer and some bread. Anyway, they sell this beer in the gift shop with the special label on it.

Appearance: nutty brown, good clarity, nice layer of spongey tan foam, lace

Aroma: bready (pumpernickel?) maltiness, twinge of earthy hops

Flavor: mild malt sweetness followed by an equally mild hop bitterness, touch of yeast, slight nuttiness, finishes semi-dry with a bready aftertaste

Mouthfeel: medium body, mild carbonation, slight astringency

Other comments: Bitters bore me a bit, but this one is quite nice. Smooth and drinkable. It's a shame that this brewery has been bought out by Fuller's and, consequently, might be closed down.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 01-11-2006 18:43:49 | id: 305795

I can't make up my mind about this beer. It tastes of quality brewing but at the same time it's sort of bland. I drank it bottle conditioned. It poured in a nice amber color, it's smooth and creamy, and has a toffee taste somewhere in the background. Fruity smell. It looses most of its dynamics if served just a little too cold. Looking at the average BA score I think it's overrated. Perhaps it's better on tap?

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 08-11-2005 16:33:35 | id: 256395

Bottle conditioned; the liquid is almost clear. The colour is dark copper and the finger thick foam builds a firm head with a nice crater. Perfect!

The smell is delicate with sweet notes of honey and some light bitterness.

The carbonation is refreshing and kind of soft, a combination that I really appreciate.

The taste got, at the same time, both a creamy mildness and a strong united character, just what you want from English Bitters. I found flavours of some salt, diacetyl (butter and hard toffee), dough, canned apricots and honeycomb candy. The bitterness is noticeable but at a level that makes it very easy to gulp down. The rather long aftertaste got notes of short crust pastry and a slowly building bitterness (with some traces of mint) that finish with a somewhat metallic dry bitterness.

You have read it on hundreds of bottles: “Bottle conditioned – almost like cask conditioned!” But this time, I do agree: Not really like a bitter from a well-kept cask, but damn close: A truly exceptional bottled bitter!

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 03-19-2005 09:09:34 | id: 217824