I quite often drink this, so I bought some bottled Bluebird a couple of weeks ago. Last Sunday I opened one and started to drink it.
What a bloody shock I got, it was like drinking John Smiths smooth. It was gassy and very astringent like. It took me more than 3 hours to drink some of it before I tipped the rest down the sink. I was told later that it was not made by Coniston, but some brewery in Oxfordshire.
Unless I am greatly mistaken or the situation has changed, bottled Bluebird is brewed by Ridgeway Brewing of South Stoke, near Goring in Oxfordshire. This is run by Peter Scholey, former Head Brewer at Brakspear in Henley, but I believe he only has an office there. He does all his actual brewing at Hepworths in Horsham, Sussex, who boast on their website, 'As well as producing our own beers we supply brewing and packaging services to a diverse range of trade customers.'
I think his involvement with Bluebird dates back to when the beer won CAMRA's CBOB award and was then brewing of the bottled version wqs taken over by Brakspear.
I have recently purchased a bottle of Ridgeway's Foreign Extra Stout - I hope I don't have the same experience as you!
I've not had bottled Bluebird in a couple of years, but one of my local bars in the US here usually has it at a very tolerable price and I've never had a bad bottle of it. Definitely wouldn't tar it with John Smith's brush. It should be very sharply hopped with a nice dry finish. Bottle conditioned, so shouldn't really be gassy either.
I'd suggest trying another from the batch and seeing if it's really the same, then take it with you when a friend next has you over for a barbecue...
The brewer says the batches he has sampled have been fine and thinks you maybe just had a bad bottle. He also wonders if you realised it is bottle conditioned?
Should it be so different if it is? My idea of bottled conditioned was that it would have some yeast sediment in the bottle. Fine to visible.
I used to make my own beer, so I know my way around it. I still have the bottle that I drank from. Should I report back?
I drink at the Top Lock which is a distributer of beers The BB there is never on less than top form, only beaten by XP. Olive's light, I can't make my mind up. I have had about 5 pints of it so far
I sit in a corner of the bar and when punter comes in and asks for a pint of smooth, most barmaids will look at me for a recommendation. In the past, I have said try a pint of Timothy Taylors until recently.
Now Im recommend a pint of BB. Never had a complaint yet
I had the misfortune to have to drink one of JS smoothe down in Portsmouth caravan park when George gales HSB was not on. It is the only hand pump they have on the bar :-)
JS un smooth is not much a degree in taste above Carling :-(((((
Landlord was cleaning out his larger lines and he was up to getting the beer back up onto the bar.
AS he pulled the beer back up to the bar, he would put some in a glass and examine it for clarity. Not an un natural thing to do. However, he passed this sample over to me and my drinking companion to taste.
The first one, I kept my face straight, don't know how.
I am nearly at the bottom of a bottle TTs Landlord (brewed at their Yorkshire brewery) and though it is slightly better than the Blue Bird, I am not impressed with bottle condition beers so far. I will open the last one soon and see how that comes over. It's a Hawkshead Gold. (Brewed at Stavely)
I have just read all over the 2 labels and you could well be right, there is no mention of bottle conditioned on them. My judgement was based on the bottle going Shh when I took the crown cork off and my experience with the Blue Bird bottle that took even longer to drink.
I opened the bottle about 4-00 pm and finished it at about 8-00 pm and the beer did taste a lot better, but not a lot like the cask hand pulled.
Well you can say that, but ... many years ago I had my first bottle of Old Peculier here in the states. It was malty and hoppy and deep and rich and wonderful. I had never had anything close to it ever. Then we took our "first" trip to Yorkshire and had OP on the hand pump. Nothing like! I mean it was good, and will always be good, but ... that first bottle was magic!
Real ale should never be compared with bottled beer, either conditioned or not.
Taste that beer from a cask and you will find so much more flavour, you will wonder why you had the bottled.
I have told this tale a few times on this ng.
Local landlord was cleaning out his gassed pumps and got to the point of pulling up the beer after the cleaning. His normal procedure was to pull the beer back up to the bar and examine the clarity of the beer and pronounce it clean. After this, he put the beer in front of myself and my drinking companion to taste.
First beer, I kept my face straight until my companion tasted it and pulled a face. Every other beer we tasted, our faces went the same way as his. Took my pint of real ale and took a drink and the flavour flooded through.
Bottled beer and keg do not do my taste buds any good.
I suppose this is like taking a pint from the cask and comparing it with one pulled from the hand pump then.
When I arrived at lunch time, the Bluebird XP had expired the night before and Oliver's Light was put on in its place. Now this is not a beer I can get my taste buds around, I can't make my mind up about it. I might just have it as a first one tomorrow and see.
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