The Beers


It occurs to me that you now know all about the pubs in Marple, but you may not be able to identify from the comments whether they sell an actual beer that is to your taste.

As I am not one for forcing my opinions on you (well not much!) I went for the ultimate source, the Campaign For Real Ale's - Good Beer Guide. In this fascinating reference book for the drinking man or woman it lists all the "Real Ales" and uses its trained beer tasters (what a job!) to describe their individual merits.

Now, if you do not recognise an individual beer, you can see if it sounds like the sort of beverage that you would like to try.

Only the "Real" ales are listed here (that is the cask conditioned variety) and their Original Gravity (for you real buffs) along with their Alcohol By Volume. There are a couple which CAMRA have not described for their own reasons, these you will have to try and decide for yourself whether they are to your taste.

If we have been able to find a web site for the breweries listed below you can visit them by clicking the beer mats.

Egbert Mackereth.

ADNAMS

 Bitter (OG 1036, ABV 3.7%)
An excellent drinking beer, with the characteristic Adnam's aroma of hops, citrus fruits and sulphur. The flavour is dry and hoppy, with some fruit. The finish is long, dry and hoppy.

BASS

 Draught Bass (OG 1043.3, ABV 4.4%)
Once the Rolls-Royce of cask beer, it is now just a Ford Fiesta. Cost-cutting (the beer is no longer dry hopped in cask) and indifferent quality control mean the beer is all too often overly malty and cloying.

BODDINGTON'S

 Bitter (OG 1034.5, ABV 3.8%)
A golden, straw coloured beer in which the grainy malt, hop and bitter character can be spoiled by a cloying sweetness.

CAIN'S

Traditional Bitter (OG 1038, ABV 4%)
A darkish, full bodied and fruity bitter, with a good, hoppy nose and a dry aftertaste.

Dark Mild (OG 1033, ABV 3.2%)
A smooth, dry and roasty, dark mild, with some chocolate and coffee notes.

CHARLES WELLS

Bombardier Premium Bitter (OG 1042, ABV 4.3%)
Citrus fruits are present but malt balances this beer, making it particularly well rounded with a long dry finish.

 

FLOWERS

IPA (OG 1036, ABV 3.6%)
A light, spicy, floral hop aroma precedes malty bitterness in the taste. Citrus hop finish.

HARTLEY'S (ROBINSON'S)

XB Bitter (OG 1040, ABV 4%)
Robinson's copy of Hartley's XB is far from the beer once brewed in Ulverston. It is an overly sweet and malty bitter with a bitter citrus peel fruitiness and a hint of liquorice in the finish.

Cumbria Way (OG 1040, ABV 4.1%)
A unique seasonal beer specially formulated to quench the thirsts of all those who enjoy the delights and challenges of the Cumbria Way.

Brewed specially for local taste this full bodied pale beer has a superb mouth feel of rich malt & hops, complimented by a long dry finish.

HOLT'S

Bitter (OG 1040, ABV 4%)
A tawny beer with a good hop aroma. Although balanced by malt and fruit, the uncompromising bitterness can be a shock to the unwary.

HYDE'S

Bitter (OG 1036, ABV 3.8%)
A good flavoured bitter, with a malty and fruity nose, malt and hop in the taste, with a fruity background, and a good bitterness through into the aftertaste.

JENNINGS

 Cumberland Ale (OG 1040, ABV 4%)
A creamy amber-gold malty ale with hop resin and fruity notes; rising bitterness balances well.

Bitter (OG 1035, ABV3.5%)
A tawny brown malty ale with a chocolate malt roast character. Distinct and rising bitterness.

MARSTON'S

Bitter (OG 1038, ABV 4%)
An amber, tawny session beer that can often be sulphury in aroma and taste. At its best a splendid, subtle balance of malt, hops and fruit follows a faintly hoppy aroma and develops into a balanced, dry aftertaste.

Pedigree (OG 1043, ABV 4.5%)
Sulphurous aroma giving way to hops. Tastes hoppy and fruity and leaves a bitter aftertaste. The classic Burton pale ale.

ROBINSON'S
Follow this link for more details of Robinson's Seasonal Ales

Best Bitter (OG 1040, ABV 4.2%)
A pale, brown beer with a malty, hoppy nose. There are malt, hops and bitterness in the flavour and the aftertaste is short and bitter.

Hatters Mild (OG 1034, ABV 3.3%)
A light mild with a light malty aroma and a refreshing dry malty flavour. Short bitter, malty aftertaste.

Frederics (OG 1050, ABV 5%)
A golden, full-bodied, premium bitter. A hoppy nose leads through to a full, hoppy taste, softened by malt in the finish. Rarely found in the Robinson's estate, it is mainly a free trade beer.

Old Tom (OG 1079, ABV 8.5%)
A full-bodied, dark, fruity beer. The aroma is fruity and mouth watering; the aftertaste is bitter sweet, with an alcoholic kick.

STONES

Bitter (OG 1037, ABV 3.7%)

TIMOTHY TAYLOR

Landlord (OG 1042, ABV 4.3%)
An increasingly dry, bitter finish compliments the pungent hoppiness and complex fruitiness of this full flavoured and well balanced beer. Champion Beer of Britain 1994.

Golden Best (OG 1033, ABV 3.5%)
A clean-tasting and refreshing amber-coloured mild with fruit in the nose, a light hoppiness in the taste a hoppy, bitter finish and background malt throughout. A good session beer.

TETLEY'S

Bitter (OG 1035.5, ABV 3.6%)
A variable amber-coloured light, dry bitter with a slight malt and hop aroma, leading to a moderate bitterness with a hint of fruit, ending with a dry and bitter finish.

THEAKSTON'S

Best Bitter (OG 1038, ABV 3.9%)
A light beer which is easily faulted if old but can show dedicated hop character. Look out for regional variations.

"Cool Cask" (OG , ABV %)

As EGBERT has already mentioned, the descriptions above are extracted from that excellent publication the "Campaign for Real Ale - Good Beer Guide 2000" or the 1998 version. For more information about CAMRA and their campaign for real ale visit the CAMRA web site at www.camra.org.uk

The graphics on this page are all scans of beer mats produced by the breweries to publicise their products. We have attempted to locate a web site for each brewery so you can find out more about them if you are interested. Where we were successful, the links can be followed by clicking on the beer mat images.

If we have used any images in a way that is not acceptable to the copyright owners, we apologise and will remove them if so asked by those owners.

Mark Whittaker - Web Author

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