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

Cask conditioned at the White Horse, Parsons Green, London. Deep golden colour, moderate head. Minimal carbonation, aroma was hard to detect due to a smoky pub, some aromatic hops around. Flavour is instantly Cascade hops (I think), elderberry-like qualities, not really bitter. An OKish beer, not great, lacks some "bite".

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

(Cask conditioned). Sampled at the Wear Valley CAMRA beer festival. (Room temperature, low natural carbonation). Listed there as a stout (I would even say dry stout, though it's a tad sweeter than the Irish ones), but another local CAMRA website claims that a beer named Luddite has been judged as a "strong dark mild". I'll leave that to the category freaks. Anyway, this beer is pitch black with a delicious roast aroma and flavour, but the mouthfeel is a bit thin despite the relatively high ABV. Add a little nitrogen, and it would compete with draught Guinness (or rather: Beamish).

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

Cask at The Hogshead, Ipswich. My first Ringwood beer. Deep golden colour, light bodied, fruity flavour with a faint hint of barnyard. OKish, but not a favourite of mine.

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Deep golden colour. IBF programme said "hoppy & fruity throughout", and I can’t object to that. Not impressive, though.

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

Cask conditioned at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. I had a sip or two of distinguished beer rater chris_o’s sample of this beer at the festival, and found his rating to be quite accurate. This organic dark ale is not a typical English best bitter (organic Hallertau hops from New Zealand are used), it's more of a cross between a bitter and a dark mild, like chris_o says: Deep tawny/chestnut colour, sulphurous aroma, grainy and some roasted malts flavour with low bitterness, a slight sweetness, dry finish.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

(33 cl can, bought in Greece). Pale golden colour, poor head. Moderate malty sweet aroma, hints of boiled vegetables. Sweetish boring flavour, some bitterness in the finish. A poor attempt at a pils.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

(33 cl can, bought in Greece). Pale golden colour, low head. Weak aroma, weak "neutral" flavour. Poor, but not offensive. Definitely not something to search out.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 4

(33 cl can, bought in Greece). Golden colour, moderate head. Weak aroma, fairly malty flavour for an industrial lager, probably some maize (corn) too. Drinkable, but not interesting.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

(33 cl can, bought in Greece). Pale golden colour, low to none head. NO aroma (well, I had a bit of a cold, but there can’t possibly be much there. I had no problem smelling the Hefeweissbier I had afterwards). Thin mouthfeel, sweetish fruity flavour but not unpleasant, just a hint of hop bitterness in the finish.

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

(Bottle, bought in Denmark). Deep amber (okay, chestnut) colour, moderate head. Too much CO2 for a bitter. Moderate aroma of toffee/caramel and malts, hints of dried fruits / fruitcake. Flavour is malty with a reasonable bitterness, finish is a bit watery. Easy drinking, nice enough - but nothing special either.