Max’s Choice
| Session Bitters | Mid-range Bitters | Strong Bitters |
| Milds | Stouts & Porters | Old Ales & Barley Wines |
These are some of the ales I have particularly enjoyed. I dislike the word “favourite” intensely. Most of my preferences in life come with qualifications attached and none more so than where beer is concerned. With “real ales”, the skill of the cellarman is often more critical than that of the brewer and I’d rather have a good pint of an indifferent beer than vice versa. For this very reason, I wouldn’t dream of attempting to grade the beers in any way. Rather than write any old tosh, I will only give tasting notes on those I have sampled fairly recently. Other old acquaintances and new discoveries will be added in due course.
Session Bitters
Beers you can drink a lot of when you’re thirsty or you’ve got a long session ahead of you - low in alcohol, light in body with a refreshing touch of bitterness.
| Brewer | Beer | ABV | Notes |
| Black Sheep Masham, Yorks | Best Bitter | 3.8% | The true heir of the local Theakston family brewing tradition. |
| Brewster Stathern, Leics | Hophead | 3.6% | About as hoppy as a beer of this modest strength could be. A superb session beer. |
| Bryson Morecambe, Lancs | Lancashire Bitter | 3.7% | Traditional brown colour, well balanced with a hoppy finish. |
| Fuller Chiswick, London | Chiswick | 3.4% | The archetypal session beer. Why is it not more widely available? |
| W J King & Co Horsham, Sussex | Horsham Best Bitter | 3.8% | Successor to the late lamented King and Barnes Sussex Bitter. Maltier, but well balanced with a typical Sussex nutty flvour. |
| McMullen Hertford | Cask Ale | 3.8% | Lightish and pleasantly hoppy. |
| Oakham Peterborough, Cambs | JHB | 3.8% | Aka Jeffrey Hudson Bitter. Award winning golden ale with a citrussy, hoppy flavour. |
| Old Mill Snaith, Yorks | Traditional Bitter | 3.9% | By name and by nature. An excellent pint. |
| Oulton Ales Lowestoft, Suffolk | Oulton Bitter | 3.5% | Light but with a depth of flavour and beautifully hoppy. |
| Ringwood Ringwood, Hants | Best Bitter | 3.8% | Eminently drinkable. |
| Sambook’s Battersea, London | Wandle | 3.8% | Refreshing with a very distinctive taste. |
| Shepherd Neame Faversham, Kent | Master Brew | 3.7% | Distinctive and hoppily true to its origins. |
| Suddaby Malton, Yorks | Double Chance | 3.8% | Seriously hoppy but goes down too easily. |
| Westerham Westerham, Kent | Grasshopper Kentish Bitter | 3.8% | A richly flavoured but very drinkable bitter made with chocolate malt and local hops. |
| Woodforde Woodbastwick, Norfolk | Wherry | 3.8% | A jolly good beer which has won so many awards that any words of mine are probably superfluous. |
| Young Bedford | Bitter | 3.7% | Affectionately known as Ordinary to distinguish it from the stronger and sweeter Special. |
Mid-range Bitters
Good all-rounders - beers with a bit more body and strength, but you can still put away a few pints without falling over.
| Brewer | Beer | ABV | Notes |
| Brewster Stathern, Leics | Rutterkin | 4.6% | A fine meaty, hoppy bitter, almost home-brewed in character. |
| Butcombe Butcombe, Somerset | Butcombe Bitter | 4.1% | One of the first beers from the new wave of micro-breweries in the late 70s and still one of the best. |
| Goddard Ryde, IoW | Special Bitter | 4.0% | A lovely hoppy bitter. Sadly, but commendably, not available on the mainland. |
| Harvey Lewes, Sussex | Sussex Bitter | 4.0% | A malty, copper coloured beer with a readily-recognised flavour. |
| Purity | Pure UBU | 4.5% | A well-balanced amber ale from one of the best new breweries around. |
| Sambook’s Battersea, London | Junction | 4.5% | Redolent of blackberries (thanks to the Bramling Cross hops) with a distinct family likeness to Wandle (see above). |
| Shepherd Neame Faversham, Kent | Whitstable Bay | 4.5% | An organic ale with New Zealand hops. Refreshing with a hoppy nose and dry finish. |
| Timothy Taylor Keighly, Yorks | Landlord | 4.5% | A very distinctive fruity flavour with a long bitter finish. |
| Tring Tring, Herts | Monk’s Gold | 4.1% | Refreshingly fragrant but bitter and darker than the name might suggest. |
| York York, Yorks | York Bitter | 4.0% | Well-rounded and hoppy. |
Strong Bitters and IPAs
Beers that are full of flavour but need treating with a bit of respect. Personally, I prefer those where the balance is on the hoppy side rather than a cloying maltiness.
| Brewer | Beer | ABV | Notes |
| Butcombe Butcombe, Somerset | Brunel | 5.0% | A seasonal cask beer (October - March) but available all year round in bottled form. Well-balanced, plenty of malt body with a good hoppy edge. |
| Fuller Chiswick, London | ESB | 5.5% | One of the finest beers you can drink. When well-cellared, it has a wonderful fresh hoppy bouquet and a rich fulsome flavour. Makes one very philosophical. |
| Greene King Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk | Abbot Ale | 5.0% | Actually I find it a bit too malty now, but I once had a very singular experience while drinking Abbot (see Beer Matters). |
| Hopback Downton, Wilts | Summer Lightning | 5.0% | One of the first, and still one of the best, of the new breed of pale, strong bitters. |
| Ringwood Ringwood, Hants | Forty Niner | 4.9% | Lovely ruby colour. Plenty of body but not too sweet. |
| Thornbridge Bakewell, Derbys | Jaipur | 5.9% | An outstanding example of a modern IPA* with a powerful, citrusey hoppiness. |
Milds
Traditionally the working man’s pint, light and slightly sweetish to replenish lost fluid and sugar. Latterly teetering on the brink of extiction but kept in existence largely by the micro-breweries, who have the flexibility to brew a wider range of beers in smaller quantities. Milds also make good session beers; some can be bland but others are full of flavour.
| Brewer | Beer | ABV | Notes |
| Adnams Southwold, Suffolk | Fisherman | 4.5% | Probably better described as a draught brown ale (it has only in recent years graduated from the bottle to the cask). A rich, nutty, autumnal beer. |
| Elgood Wisbech, Cambs | Black Dog | 3.4% | Sound and unassuming, a good example of the genre. |
| Linfit (Sair Inn) Linthwaite, Yorks | Linfit Dark Mild | 3.0% | Weak but well-balanced and tasty, everything a mild should be. |
| Moorhouse Burnley, Lancs | Black Cat | 3.4% | An exceptionally tasty mild, but then it was overall winner at the Great British Beer Festival 2001. |
Stouts & Porters
Dark beers made with heavily roasted malt, giving a different sort of bitterness to that which hops impart.
| Brewer | Beer | ABV | Notes |
| Bowland Bashall, Lancs | Hunter’s Moon | 3.8% | Deep black with pronounced coffee and vanilla notes. |
| Fuller Chiswick, London | London Porter | 5.4% | A classic porter, rich, smooth and full-bodied with bitter chocolate flavours. Unfortunately not on draught all year round. |
| Hopback Downton, Wilts | Entire Stout | 4.5% | Rich and nourishing but slips down very easily. |
| Wye Valley Stoke Lacy, Herefords | Dorothy Goodbody’s Wholesome Stout | 4.6% | A buxom beer with intense smokey, chocolately flavours. |
| York York | Centurion’s Ghost | 5.4% | A pleasantly potent porter with liquorice and vanilla flavours and a long, roasted malt finish. |
Old Ales and Barley Wines
This category consists of a range of strong (-ish to very), dark, heavy and usually slightly sweetish beers, traditionally brewed for winter consumption and, not so long ago, often served straight from a pin (4½ gallon cask) on the bar. (Why not now? Hygiene regulations? Not cold enough? Feeble excuses.)
| Brewer | Beer | ABV | Notes |
| Exmoor Wiveliscombe, Somerset | Beast | 6.6% | Black as the devil, strong of body and taste. Easy to drink too much of it. |
| Hopback Downton, Wilts | Pickled Santa | 6.2% | A well-tuned beer with warm, spicy harmonics (see Beer Matters). |
| Linfit (Sair Inn) Linthwaite, Yorks | Enoch’s Hammer | 8.0% | For a beer of this formidable strength, surprisingly pale and beautifully balanced, no cloying sweetness whatsoever. |
| Young Bedford | Winter Warmer | 5.5% | A lovely beer when it’s on form, once notoriously fickle but seems much more reliable these days. |
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