Loonie. I was even going to boycott British beer today because of the order of the loonie ruling about UK's Trading Standards department requiring Polish beer to be served in pints. I thought the victory over EU regulations was that the pint was saved, not that it was mandated. Boo. However, I was reminded how tasty this beer was on an August night and all resolve to fight a battle for Poles everywhere disappeared. Get it line, Pan Pivo, and make it a pint!

Not only is it tasty but at only 3.4% Brakspear Bitter is one of the best examples of what a lot of other brewers could be striving for for sessionable brews. It pours an attractive orange tinged caramel with a lingering rich foam an rim. It gives off the slight aroma of sultanas and nuts. At its core, boosted by a little diacetyl, it is more juicy than watery - just what you want in an ordinary bitter of this light strength - with the black tea drying bitterness that you notice before those same notes of sultanas and nuts in the surprisingly well-bodied malt. As it opens and warms a bit, it starts to remind me of the floral roughness of marigold. Wheeler and Protz in their 1998 book Brew Your Own British Real Ale note that this is or was or could be achieved though three different hops - Challenger, Goldings and Fuggles - as well as a measure of burnt toasty black malt.

Greg has more over here, including some background on the last few years of the beer's brewing history. Solid respect from the BAers.