Almasty Ian’s Bitter

Tasting Summary

These comments are the opinion of the individual reviewer and represent what they thought of the beer on a particular day in a particular pub. If a review is less favourable, it may be because the beer suffered somewhere in the supply chain between them and the brewery.

Halfway House, Brenchley, Kent

Who	Score	When	Notes
Hogan Sampling		23 May 2026	2nd beer of this visit: Can honestly not recall trying this one before. It comes from Benfield Business Park in Newcastle upon Tyne and was set up in 2014 at the Algernon Industrial Estate in Shiremoor, North Tyneside, just outside Newcastle city centre. It had a very hazy appearance. It was marked in red on the tasting sheet to indicate it had replaced a beer that did not arrive due to a delivery vehicle breaking down and so perhaps just a touch still not quite settled from its journey into the beer tent. Its head and lacing lasting on this modern take on a classic English Best Bitter. A dry fruited first hit. A hoppy bitterness rising from using fresh-harvest English hops, lending a balanced spice, lightly earthy, and sharp bitter finish. Its maltiness joining in from its exclusively all-English malted barley such as Maris Otter with flavours of toasted bread, biscuit, and a touch of burnt toffee and sweet caramel all hitting my taste buds. A good bitter hoppiness playing out from its earthy hops in accompaniment to the massed bongo drums being bashed on the outside of the beer tent. Tasted fine despite its unexpected haziness.