Bottled Bass is back, good stuff or great stuff?

The new version of bottled Bass is… what’s the phrase? Not quite a triumph, not quite a letdown, it sits somewhere in the middle ground: it’s alright.

When word first came that production had left AB InBev’s brewery at Salmesbury and bottling was returning to Burton, it felt like something close to a homecoming. My first question, naturally, was whether we’d see it bottle conditioned. That was dismissed quickly, too ambitious apparently, but even so the idea of my favourite beer being bottled again in its spiritual home felt like a win. AB InBev had listened, understood and acted.

And to be fair, the first sampling didn’t disappoint. At a blind tasting back in March with fellow members of the Honourable Order of Bass Drinkers, nobody clocked it as anything other than a pasteurised take on Draught Bass. The feedback was positive: good clarity, a solid head, familiar aroma, that reassuringly recognisable character. There was a sense, dare I say it, of celebration. Bottled Bass was back, and it felt good.

Then came the reveal.

The lower ABV.

There was genuine surprise, bordering on disbelief. At first, it felt like we’d been had, but in hindsight, tasting it this way was probably the fairest way to judge it. No preconceptions, no baggage, just the beer itself. And in that context, it held its own.

Compared to the Salmesbury version, this is streets ahead. That stuff barely resembled Bass at all. This, on the other hand, actually tastes like it belongs to the same family. It’s less gassy, pour it properly and you’ll coax a respectable head out of it. The old version just collapsed instantly into fizz and nothingness. I’m told that others have managed to reproduce the lacing, but so far, I’ve fallen short.

Leave it in the fridge for half an hour (no longer mind, treat it with respect), enough to bring it down to cellar temperature and it’s perfectly drinkable. More than that, it’s enjoyable. Close enough to Draught to scratch the itch, though let’s not kid ourselves, once you know it’s weaker, you can’t un-know it. There’s a slight hollowness where that extra one percent alcohol should sit.

That’s really the crux of it; this isn’t a replacement for Draught Bass, and it never could be. Pasteurised beer rarely stands shoulder to shoulder with cask and expecting it to would be optimistic. Even a hypothetical 4.4% bottle-conditioned Burton version might have struggled to truly replicate the magic. Cask is king for a reason.

But judged on its own terms? This is a clear improvement. A decent, reliable way to enjoy Bass at home. No more, no less. Which is why it feels just a little frustrating, because it’s good stuff, however it could have been great stuff.

Still… it’ll do.