Ignore the name and enjoy! (Coniston Bluebird 4.2%)

Member Name: christh

Product:	Coniston Bluebird 4.2%
Date:	27/08/04 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious, Great balance of strongness, Good value

Disadvantages: When you lift up the bottle to pour another and a single drop comes out

Bluebird Bitter
Coniston Brewing Co
"Bottle conditioned award winning English ale"

Overview
Coniston is a Cumbrian village on the edge of Coniston Water. It is an ancient mining village, dating back from roman times back to the bronze age. This ale originally comes from the micro-brewery of a 400 year old inn, the Black Bull. Update: 27/08/2004 - Grahamt has kindly offered an addition here and tells me that the bottled version is brewed in Horsham by ex-King & Barnes Head Brewer, Andy Hepworth. Thanks Graham!

From the side of the bottle: "Bluebird is a fine session ale with a light golden colour. The intense resinous and spicy hop character which is the beer's hallmark is derived from the use of unusual quantities of English Challenger hops, each bale being individually and personally selected by the brewer. The malt is, of course, Maris Otter fermented slightly warm to give a soft fruitiness with a faint hint of scented geranium."

One thing that particularly struck me about this beer was the fine layer of yeast inside the bottle. This apparently "cask conditions" the beer, and I have to say, it does taste as though it were pulled from a cask. And don't think I'll be spoiling the review too much to say that it tastes incredible.

Appearance/Taste:
Pours an orangy gold with a quickly diminishing head. Distinct aroma of geranium, becoming stronger as it warms up. Something of a floral, grassy taste, again becoming more pronounced as it warms. The water tastes particularly pure. Slightly carbonated. Slight bitterness, but the malt really takes the edge off it. This is a very tasty beer, although the flavour is not as strong as the aroma would suggest. So this ale is also something
of a tease and will keep you wanting more! And dear me, did that paragraph sound like the sort of thing a 'real ale ****' would write or what?? At least I didn't mention fruity mouths or hoppy noses...

Sessionability:
4.2%. As this ale tastes so good, half the battle of sessionability is already won. As it also goes down so well and isn't too strong and isn't too weak, that's the battle and entire war won in my opinion. After I finished the bottle I instantly found myself wanting more -- not through urgency of wanting to get drunk or thirst -- but due to the fact that it tastes so good!

Conclusion
The award mentioned above and on the front of the bottle is when in 1998, it won the U.K.'s most prestigious award; Supreme Champion Beer at the Great British Beer Festival. From the first sip to the last, it was clear to me why. I'll be buying some more of these for the barbeque this weekend, and I'll be mounting an armed guard on the fridge. If only I had a pub to go with this beer!

Fantastic beer, an easy 9.5/10.

Their website is located below, but please put on your beer goggles to fully appreciate the site design.
http://www.conistonbrewery.com/

Summary: