Sharp's Brewery Doom Bar Bitter

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

Halfpint (cask) at JDW, The Flying Horse, London Gatwick Airport. Also had a pint in Guernsey. Copper colour, low off-white head. Malty aroma and flavour, medium dry. Nutty notes, a hint of tingling fruit and toffee. Very moderate hops. Smooth to drink. Shared 500 ml clear bottle at local tasting, from a Tesco store in Gloucester. ABV is 4.3%. Copper colour, low hite head. Weak aroma, a little caramel and nuts. Nutty flavour, medium dry, tolerable hops, not exciting but easy drinking.

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

This is one of those typical British beers. Indeed bitter taste, but smooth drinking. Foam not present. Some caramel? There is something sweet present. Good, but not outstanding. (London 201111)

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

Really nice copper color with mighty white top. Aroma is hoppy with some hints to fruits and cookies. Taste is really nice hoppy and round at first and then refreshing and bitterish at next moment. Really goodone.

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

Bottle. Poured a red copper amber brown colored ale with a thin creamy head that had a small retention. The aroma is spicy hops ans caramel malts. The flavour is toasty and caramel malts, notes of pine and nuts. The mouthfeel is a well done balance between sweet malts and hops bitterness. The finish of this light bodied ale is spicy and resinous. I like it.

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

This is easily Cornwall's finest cask-conditioned beer. It has a complex aroma of spicy fruit esters combined with rich, biscuity malt and lovely fresh hops. In many examples there is a pronounced zesty citrus edge which is very appealing. It is medium-bodied with sweet fruity flavours upfront and a fresh, firm hoppiness underlying. The sweet fruit is balanced beautifully by a concentrated maltiness. The finish is well-integrated, ending with dry hoppiness and leaving you wanting more. For those who have marked this beer lower than I have, I would say that it definitely must be fresh - a cask more than two or three days old may well disappoint. In rural Cornwall out of season this may well occur quite frequently, unfortunately, especially in pubs that try to run too many "real ales" in winter. In addition, it is a sin to serve this beer warm, as I have experienced in some pubs. Like any fine product it is a delicate beast that needs good handling to bring out the best, but when it is at its best there are few cask ales that can better it.

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

Im going to agree with concensus on this one. I found this at the local liquor store as a winter import. Nice aroma with a clear yellowish appereance. Very hoppy on the mouth attack and a bit of bite on the aftertaste but nothing to write home about or shell out premium dollar for.

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

Cask. Hazy pale amber colour, small white head. Aroma is hops, fruits and some wooden hints. Flavour is quite the same, but the wooden hints are more apparent. 6 6 6 6 6

Bottled (from bierzwerg.de). Finally got my hands on this, so I stop buying this as cask version, from not remembering which I have had... Amber olour with mediumsized foamy slightly off-white head, that leaves some lae. Aroma is caramel malts, some mild toasted notes, mild nuttyness as well as some wooden and fruity notes. Flavour is quite similar, but the wooden notes are more evident. 6 6 6 6 6

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

Cask conditioned (hand pump) at the Shepherd’s Crook, Crowell. Amber coloured ordinary bitter. Thin, slightly sweet malt with a few hops for balance in the background. Average.

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

First sampled cask-conditioned at The Royal Oak Hotel, Lostwithiel, Cornwall (and later hard to not notice at seemingly every-other pub in Greater Cornwall).

Although until me and Karen's trip, I had never heard of the Sharps Brewery, once we got in-country, it was very hard not to run across this particular Cornish Bitter. Ubiquitous, to say the least. And to be honest, that's kind of a shame, since I wasn't all that thrilled with the Doom Bar.

Named after a navigational hazard off the coast of Cornwall, I think the parallel with the beer is a little too appropriate. That is to say, both the hazard to seaborne vessles and the hazard to your overall interest in this beer are both rather wet and little sloppy....

This starts out of the gate decently enough. Some biscuity notes, with a rather standard mix of English hops. But this isn't quite as bitter as I like my Bitters, and tends to get a bit mushy and sweet as it warms.

Not horrible, but rather basic compared to most other Cornish Real Ales available. Not too sure why this is so popular with the locals -- it's literally avalable at seemingly every single Free House in Central Cornwall -- but for my quid, I moved on to other offerings....
//TB

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

Just returned from a week of intensive Cornish Beer drinking. I didn't have a bad pint of Doom Bar, but neither was it particularly impressive at its best. Dry and malty, but a bit thin. At 4.0% a bit low on alcohol for me.