Here’s my problem. Growing up – as a young lad in the early drinking days – when my father was trying to show me the ropes, we would often go to pubs where Cask Conditioned Bass was kept. My father would never let me drink anything else but that stunningly magnificent brew.

Many years later we come up to date, I am confronted by a label that says Bass, and I see the famous (oldest in the world I believe) red triangle trademark, but what’s in the bottle bears no resemblance to those halcyon days.

Ho, hum. This is a mahogany brown pour with some head depending on the aggression, with a hoppy start but mild finish and aftertaste. The creaminess is always surprising to me. This is a beer which is routinely murdered in the USA simply by the temperature that it is served at. Bass brewers would be appalled. In my opinion this needs to be a room temperature serving, nowhere near a refrigerator, let alone coming out of huge containers of ice.

Cask conditioned draught it isn’t, better than many it is. My advice, don’t drink this when you are out, get a twelve pack, let it warm up and enjoy it at home in leisure.