I don’t think I ever wrote about my trip up to Burton-upon-Trent back in February, did I? The National Brewery Centre were holding their biennial International Festival of Beer so we thought we’d pop up for the weekend and try some of the 200 odd cask ales on offer, not to mention some of the rare and interesting bottles they had up for grabs. But more about that later. While we were up in Burton we had to go to The Burton Bridge Inn, a lovely little pub that is linked to the Burton Bridge Brewery. In their lovely pub, sitting next to the fireplace, I had a lovely pint of their Burton Porter and just had to grab a bottle to bring home.
Burton Porter (4.5%)
A quick look at the website tells you that this beer was a runner up in the CAMRA national bottle-conditioned beer competition in 1987. It also says it’s only available in November and December…which can’t be right. Oh, hang on, apparently that’s just the festive version (sounds good). Anyway, let’s get to the review.
This poured with a fairly decent head although, as you can see from the photos, this faded fast. The aroma was great though; malty, dark fruits and a hint of nuttiness, like a lovely fruit and nut bar (oof, it’s been years since I’ve had one of them).
The taste? Well, this is a proper dark and fruity number with a distinctly bitter finish. Actually, it’s very bitter indeed and that bitterness really comes through when you take it out of the fridge and let it warm up first. I think it’s probably a bit of a marmite to be honest and not for everyone. That said, I’d certainly have another bottle or, if I’m lucky, I might get the chance to go up for another pint!
The Crafty Beeress 