Time for another of the many widely-available, slightly less than exciting English bitters that pervade The Book.

Unfortunately Abbot Ale does little to counter my growing ennui with the style. It tastes like an English bitter, though it’s a little smoother than many. The malt and hops are very well balanced, but there’s a faintly stinky whiff to it that also comes across in the flavour.

If you concentrate, there’s a slightly dry, bitter finish, but at a mere 26 bitterness units we are going to require chess Grandmaster levels of concentration to spot it.

It seems possible that Abbot Ale has the potential to be a much better beer on cask, if well-kept and served at its best, but I won’t go out of my way to find out, since it has been quite unremarkable the few times I have had it in pubs.

On a more positive note, I can recommend the seasonal, and much stronger Abbot Reserve, if you can find it.

Facts and Figures

Brewery:	Greene King Brewery, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Style:	Best Bitters
ABV:	5.0%
Found at:	Maxy Supermarket, Norwood Road, London SE24
Dispense:	500ml Bottle

There are several beers in The Book which I don’t feel I have to actively seek out, knowing that their ubiquity means they’ll find me: some day I’ll be in a pub where they’re the only thing worth drinking, and bingo, another one ticked off.

And so it was with Timothy Taylor’s very famous Landlord.

Some say that this is Madonna’s favourite beer. I can only assume that she hasn’t tried many beers, since there isn’t really anything exceptional about Landlord.

Don’t get me wrong. This is a perfectly good example of a sessionable English bitter, but beyond a reasonably pleasing hoppy edge, I’m struggling to find a great deal to write about.

Not so our host Roger, who rhapsodises about the beer in The Book, citing in particular its “beautifully balanced” long finish, and its “tangy fruit, juicy malt and bitter hops”. I’m just not sure I can get that excited about it.

I feel I’m being a little harsh: in fairness, in the same circumstances, I’d actually buy Landlord again, and enjoy it too, but it’s not something I’d go out of my way for. Still, that’s another one under my belt.

Facts and Figures

Brewery:	Timothy Taylor & Co, Keighley, West Yorkshire, England
Style:	Best Bitters
Strength:	4.3% ABV
Found at:	The Alleyn’s Head, Park Hall Road, London SE21
Serving:	Cask, pint

This is the first of the 300 beers that I tend to drink from time to time even when I’m not obliged to by this ridiculous challenge.

Shepherd Neame Bishop’s Finger is a bit of a classic. It’s a Best Bitter and has been brewed in Kent since 1958, but only on Fridays, for some reason. I’m led to believe that it’s the only British beer to be granted a Protected Geographical Indication by the EU, meaning that only Bishop’s Finger may call itself a “Kentish Strong Ale”.

It’s a distinctly dark and full-flavoured brew, which is no bad thing in my book. It packs in hefty malt, dried fruit and hop flavours along with an interesting wine-like finish. There’s a lot going on, but it really does combine into a balanced whole.

Bishop’s Finger would go particularly well with traditional food, such as a hearty beef casserole or game sausages and mash.

Highly recommended, and relatively easy to find these days too. I picked it up in my local corner shop along with a couple of other goodies that I’ll be sharing with you before long.

Facts and Figures

Brewery:	Shepherd Neame, Faversham, Kent, England
Style:	Best Bitters
ABV:	5.4%
Found at:	Jolly Good News, Rosendale Road, London SE24
Dispense:	500ml Bottle