Courage Directors Bitter

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

In a 500ML can. Poured nearly headless but with a good looking body of clear, rich amber, and carbonation was minimal. Aroma was some hop and malt. Taste was not so bad, featuring hops, malt, and yeast. Mouthfeel was so-so and with an odd aftertate. Tinned, perhaps?

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

500 ml capped bottle. Poured a copper-amber or ruby-brown coloured ale with a generous one finger beige creamy foamy head that had a very long retention and tons of micro bubbles. Soft carbonation. Some lacing. The aroma is moderate sweet caramelized malts. The flavour is toasted and caramelized malts, toffee, fruity, cherries and dried fruits, nuts, moderate hoppy bitterness. The mouthfeel is creamy, a bit oily and quite smooth. This light to medium bodied ale has a dry slight bitter finish. A decent ale, but where is the expected bitterness ?

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

At first sight, this is a beer with a beautiful red color, the moss is thin and creamy. It has aromas of nuts and grains. its taste is a pleasant bitterness. It also has a good carbonation.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Wonderful initial bite of bitterness, calmed with a smooth finish. Warming and easy to drink with just the right amount of carbonation. Decent beer on the whole, but not a huge amount to write home about.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Would describe this as a fine example of what a good bitter can be, tastes like the technically perfect pint. That said, it has no particular features which stand out and make it amazing. It has a great tartiness, from a fruity undertone, slight dry bitterness, enough to make you thirsty for more, touch of hops, roasted flavour to it, you can taste the UK in this ale, however it is nothing completely amazing.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Overall, this was a pretty great Bitter - not a true "British" bitter but great nonetheless (Director's is Scottish but owned by Young's). In any event, this beer was really creamy and a bit sharper than Young's bitter. It was good, but when I went back for a second, it was Young's from there on out. I am glad I tried it though. Pint at Punch and Judy, London, UK.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Had this at an ale house just to the east of the Globe theatre in London. Deeper then the best bitter. Nice head and alot of flavour. Better then the bitter, Im more of a fan of the ESB then bitter.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

A tale of two samplings with this one. Have had this one a number of times both bottled and at the hand pump. In the pub this is one of my all time favorites when pulled from the pump - the bottled version is another story (it seems to go sour). Review is for the live version.

Beautiful ruby, purple in color with just a bathtub ring of a head. Very fruity and rounded in taste and mouthfeel - almost juicy. Finish is bitter but with the fruitiness balancing the hops nicely. I think this might be the best bitter in the UK when cellared properly. If only the bottled version was more in line so we could get a taste here in the U.S.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Sampled cask-conditioned at the Fisherman's Arms Pub, Golant, Cornwall.

This had something of an exclusive reputation, when I first started looking into taking a trip to Cornwall and the various adjacent counties. So when I saw it available at several different Free Houses in Cornwall, I thought I had hit something of a goldmine, beer-wise.

But really, I guess that I was wrong. This is not a bad beer, per se -- just not all that interesting.

Whilst in Cornwall, I had more than my fair share of various finely made Cornish Ales... all from various hand-pumps..., all from pubs that truly cared about serving the very best cask-conditioned ale possible.

But when it came to this particular beer, things weren't quite as hunkey-dorey as they could be.

Basically, most of the time it seemed that this beer (when I had it in both Golant and St Austell) was rather tired and flat tasting. I don't mean that the carbonation was empty and/or flat... it *is* cask-conditioned ale, after all, and meant to have minimal carbonation. No, rather, that this beer seemed just a bit empty and lacking in gumption, compared to the deicidedly fresher and more interesting Cornish offerings at the various pubs.

Perhaps it's unfair to try to review a beer that might have not been at it's peak-form. But when it comes to having the same lack-luster pint at two very different pubs in Central Cornwall, I have to think that there is some sort of recurring theme there, eh?

A strictly adequate English Bitter, but one that I can't recommend....
//TB

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Enjoyed a pint at Moon Under Water, London. Pale brown beer with fruity, hoppy, and yeasty notes throughout. Pronounced raisiny taste in the middle. Medium body. Tasty!