I'll never forget my first pint of this brew. It was in
cask-conditioned form on the hand-pump at the Blue Tusk in Syracuse, New
York. I was on a beer road trip with two brewer friends, one of whom grew up
in Syracuse. He had always spoken highly of the Blue Tusk, which is an
establishment called a multi-tap in the beer enthusiast world. This
simply means a bar with a lot of beers on tap. The Blue Tusk has over 50;
some like the Sunset Tap and Grill in Boston and Taco Mac in Alpharetta,
Georgia have over 100. I've been to both of the latter, and no before you
ask I didn't make it through all 100 in a night (though I gave it my best
effort).
Multi-taps are great in my opinion since you're bound to find a beer or two
you like on draft, but I seriously believe they shouldn't carry more beers
than they can sell in a reasonable amount of time. Having 100 draft lines is
not a good thing if 30 of them are pouring stale beer, an idea I once had
the pleasure of discussing with Michael Jackson. Fortunately, the Blue Tusk
has very good turnover of its beers, especially those form nearby Middle
Ages Brewing.
On 5/20/99 I wrote:
If you happen to be in Syracuse, the Blue Tusk is a multi-tap you certainly shouldn't miss. If you don't happen to be in Syracuse, you should go there so you don't miss the Blue Tusk. We arrived here last Friday night and after a drive from Troy it was time for a beer, John Jepson recommended the Middle Ages Impaled Ale and so I ordered one. Pure bliss in a glass. Also enjoyed Brooklyn Dry Stout, Babar Honey Ale, Middle Ages Druid Fluid Barley Wine and Kilt Tilter Scotch Ale plus their fantastic cask Beast Bitter, one of the best cask ales I have EVER enjoyed. There were countless others to be enjoyed as well, and we got there about 6PM, in time to get $1 off all pints (they do this from 8 AM to 8PM). A beautiful bar with plenty of outside seating, a class act all around.
On cask, Beast Bitter was wonderfully mild, very crisp malty with hints of pear and surprisingly little Ringwood character. The finish was balanced to slightly bitter, just enough so to make the beer extremely drinkable. The low carbonation helped this too. A bottle I brought home from the brewery poured bright orange color, with very good head formation and retention. The beer had a slightly buttery, malty nose and a wonderfully crisp biscuity pale malt palate. This is accentuated by just the right amount of diacetyl and punctuated nicely with a lingering hop bitterness in the finish. A classic English bitter and a Ringwood beer all the way, but to an old Ringwood fan like me, that's the beauty of the Beast.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft