Banks's Bitter - Marston's PLC

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

2.63/5  rDev -16.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

This beer is mass produced and sold all over the Midlands, I just don't understand why people drink it in such quantities. There are so many other fine beers brewed in the area. I have tried it many times, in plenty of pubs and clubs, but just can't get to really enjoy it. I have even mixed it with Mild, but still it will not excite me.

It looks OK, light brown with a loose white head, which clings to the glass, and sometimes stays to the end.

Smells fine, hops and barley in equal amounts.

The taste lets it down badly, very weak, almost insipid, watery and uninviting in my opinion. Sorry I couldn't bring the scores up any, it is just a poor product from a very successful brewery.

Update October 2011: had a blind tasting of a bottle and a can, both seemed to mirror the cask version, if a little more carbonated, OK but no world beater.

Serving type: cask

08-24-2006 15:24:41 | More by BlackHaddock

jonb5

United Kingdom (England)

3.53/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Half Litre bottle, poured into pint glass. Pale bronze colour, clear, medium head, decent retention + lacing. Malty aroma, some wheat. Tasted a bittersweet maltyness, wheaty finish. Decent character for the low strength. Medium body, slightly coarse, low carbonation. Overall typical session beer, not watery, has good depth for the ABV.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 13:15:17 | More by jonb5

flyingpig

United Kingdom (Scotland)

3.16/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

500ml bottle from Morrisons for £1.25:
Light amber with a thumb sized, creamy white head on top that holds well.

Earthy malts and a few hints of caramel with some fruity hops. There light citrus and orange notes with a touch of bitterness towards the end.

Again earthy malts and a spicy citrus taste followed by some very light, floral hops. The taste is a basic one but it's not a bad one and has a touch of fruity bitterness at the end.

Medium bodied, quite spicy and with an strong, earthy bitterness to it. There is some background citrus and a rather dry finish.

A solid bitter with all the usual flavours making an appearance, it's not the most exciting beer in the world bit it wasn't a bad one. It was quite a nice, relatively low strength beer that seems to hit the spot and went down rather well.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2013 10:11:28 | More by flyingpig

rulisekmartin

Czech Republic

3.25/5  rDev +2.8%

02-25-2013 22:37:05 | More by rulisekmartin

BILF

Israel

3.5/5  rDev +10.8%

01-14-2013 19:07:26 | More by BILF

EmperorBevis

United Kingdom (England)

3.03/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a golden amber body with a quickly gone thin white head.

malty aroma with hints very vague but just there of bitters

too much of a taste of what sweat smells of sweat smells off
nice hop hints when appearing

thin mouthfeel okay carb

less than average bitter okay at a push

like WWI over the top push

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2012 23:16:53 | More by EmperorBevis

StJamesGate

New York

3.43/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Brass with loose piles of foam that pock and leave big sheets. English sour grain nose with bark and some soap.
Dried apricot and whole wheat toast with orange sap and fresh earthy leaf hops.
A lactic hit in there somewhere, herbal finish, and tightening spicy linger. Light, soft, smooth, but a bit thin.

A typical, toned down but still solid English bitter. Fuggles and Golding together carry the day here. Better than expected from Marston's, which wasn't much. There are far better bitters out there but this does hang together.

Note: Label said 3.8%

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2011 10:25:54 | More by StJamesGate

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

3.08/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Coming in a 500ml brown glass bottle, BB 31/12/11, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass. NOTE: the bottle version is now at 3.8%abv.

A: pours a lightly carbonated, burnished gold body with light reddish glows; the white beer head is short-lived.
S: the main aroma is sweet tea-ish and caramely, underlined by mild citric hop fruitiness, biscuity malts, a touch of boiled sweet root vegetables and a touch of sweet butter.
T: boiled yum and biscuity malts seem to echo each other seamlessly, underlined by a sharp edge of sourness as of yeastiness, while the aftertaste shows more aromatic malts in contrast with a dry-ish palate & lightly chewy citric hoppiness.
M&D: lightly carbonated but more effervescent than I would like, while the palate is at times light and at times slightly thin. Nothing to write home about - OK drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2010 20:17:01 | More by wl0307

charlatan

United Kingdom (Scotland)

3.6/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Fairly light gold colour with a moderate head. It has a clean citric smell with lemon to the fore. The taste surprises me: it's the nose but with much greater intensity. Any sweetness is an afterthought, following a zesty,almost acrid lemon hop punch. Much bolder than I had anticipated, even though I grew up in the Black Country drinking this stuff.

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2010 23:43:14 | More by charlatan

AEK

United Kingdom (Wales)

3.65/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

500ml brown bottle BB 31/5/11 poured into a Young's branded pint pot.

A. Amber coloured beertopped by a soapy/foamy white head.

S. Whole oranges including the peel, a faint touch of lemon.

T. Malty, caramel notes, initial burst of hops, fruity - perhaps citrus.

M. Medium bodied

D. The very first pint of Banks's bitter I had got me hooked on their beers. While this bottled version is not quite up to the standard set by the draught it is still an escellent beer to have at hand. A good offering for a beer of such low ABV. I bought this for 99p at Aldi just after they had stocked it on the shelves. A great value beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2010 13:20:22 | More by AEK

BeerDetective

Pennsylvania

3.3/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I found this to be an average bitter, not bad, but not great either. It also had a slight vingerary odor, which I found a little off-putting. The taste was much better, and the mouthfeel was nice and well balanced. I would drink it again, if there weren't so many better beers out there.

Serving type: cask

10-27-2009 18:30:38 | More by BeerDetective

LittleCreature

Australia

3.48/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Appearance - 4.0
A rough pour yields two fingers of solid cream coloured head over a clear peachy-copper coloured body.

Smell - 3.0
A sweet aroma of caramel and a little fruit and earthy hops.

Taste - 3.5
Lots of flavour for a beer of just 3.7% ABV. Biscuity malt is there along with peach and earthy, metallic hops. A healthy bitterness level, as one would hope so when drinking a beer called "bitter". Finishes bone dry.

Mouthfeel - 3.0
Carbonation is very light, the beer feels quite heavy in the mouth.

Drinkability - 4.0
A very sessionable ale thanks to the low alcohol and appetizing malt-hop balance.

OVERALL - 3.5
A better than average English bitter, very drinkable and a much better session choice than a blonde fizzy lager.

Serving type: can

09-10-2009 08:44:53 | More by LittleCreature

kmacphail

United Kingdom (Scotland)

1.78/5  rDev -43.7%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

I tried this beer after seeing it for the first time in the local co-op superstore.

The beer poured a dark amber colour with a thick creamy head that settled to a 3mm film. Very impressive given that it was a canned beer. However this was the best part!!!

The nose was non-existant, a very faint hint of hops and nothing else. This theme of blandness continued through to the taste, a slight hint of bitter hops and nothing else.

The mouthfeel wasn't bad for a beer, a medium mouthfeel with a bitter aftertaste did offer something else positive about the beer.

This was a really bland beer, no scent, no taste and certainly nothing that would ever make me want to try this again. It pours nicely, maybe I should have taken a picture and mounted it on the wall. Apart from that aspect don't waste your money.

Serving type: can

05-11-2007 18:56:13 | More by kmacphail

gpcollen1

Connecticut

2.83/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Had the great joy of sipping this on cask after getting back to the hotel at 9PM and running to the Clocktower. I have been neglecting my beer duties by not getting into town, but oh well, here goes...

Nice pour with a half inch head. Laces nicely.

Not any nose at all. Dont know if it is me or not but I just cannot smell anything.

This brew has a nice dry mouthfeel, which I really enjoy, but not much flavor at all. A bit of bitter hops in the finish but...where's the beer? Average brew - I do love drinking someone else's average brew instead of one in the US!!

CHeers

Serving type: cask

09-13-2006 21:30:12 | More by gpcollen1