They Brew it, I sell it, You Drink it... and so do I..

Tuesday 16 April 2013

Cans From The Past

I've never tried a beer from Bass before. I'm not sure why because it has such a history behind it. The beer from Burton has a clearly recognizable design, the red triangle itself was the first the first trademark to be registered under the UK's Registration Trademark Act. That was in 1875/6, but the brewery itself has been operating for much longer, starting in 1777! Bass Pale Ale was once the highest selling beer in the UK so they say, so when I came upon some cans in Asda the other day I thought I'd give it a go... Cans would have to do, I've never seen a bottle of the stuff and certainly no draught.

It has an interesting aroma, lots of orange sherbet and waxy lemon rind. Some peach and apricot also comes out from the pristinely pin clear looking beverage. Coming from a can there is a slight metallic tinge to the taste, but it's not a terrible beer. It has a good biscuity malt body and clean bitter finish. It has a slight fruit and nut quality with hints of butterscotch, brown sugar and caramel. The finish has probably a bit too much sweetness about it and the body is rather thin but I don't mind it at all, it's a decent enough brew.

"Expect Perfection" the can states... I don't really have any major complaints...

7 comments:

  1. It's really not bad. Being relatively clean and straightforward, it mixes well with other beers, too.

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  2. I think (although I'm not sure) that the canned version now has an entirely different provenance from the cask beer which is brewed by Marston's. The cask beer is a long-standing favourite of mine and still something I would probably pick above its main competitors if spotted on the bar.

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    1. I had heard that too.. in those good ol Yorkshire Square fermenters! :)

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  3. A bottle with the red triangle is also to be seen in Manet's "Bar of the Folies-Bergère".

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  4. When brewed by the Burton Union System Bass was an excellent multi-layered beer, and like Curmudgeon was one I actively sought out in the past. Not sure whether Marston's brew the beer in their own Union Sets these days, but when on form, it's still a pretty good beer.

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  5. had keg version the other day, not disgusting at any rate. I'm not so keen on the cask version, too much burton snatch!

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  6. I really enjoy the cask version of this beer. The Fat Cat has it on quite regularly.

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