BEER REVIEW: 475
BREWER: Butcombe, Bristol, England
STYLE: Bitter
ABV: 4.5%
VESSEL: 500ml brown bottle
DATE OF POST: 13th November 2026
SAMMY SAY’S…
Butcombe Original feels like a beer brewed for a grey autumn afternoon on the harbourside, where the wind is carrying fallen leaves along cobbled streets and the city is settling into its slower rhythm. It pours with all the visual charm of muddy Avon water after a spell of rain, not exactly inviting, but there’s enough character lurking beneath the surface to encourage a closer look.
The nose is understated. Leafy notes lead the way, backed by a faint touch of caramel and a gentle graininess that never quite steps forward. It’s subtle to a fault, offering quiet hints rather than bold introductions.
Thankfully, there’s a little more happening on the palate. Nutty malt forms the backbone, joined by biscuit sweetness and those same leafy, earthy notes that drift through from the aroma. The overall impression is distinctly autumnal, like a walk through Brandon Hill with a paper bag from the bakery tucked under your arm. There is a pleasing level of complexity, with flavours revealing themselves gradually rather than arriving all at once.
Where it falls short is in the mouthfeel. The flavours are there, but the body doesn’t quite support them. A little more fullness would help carry those nutty and biscuity notes across the palate and leave a more lasting impression. As it stands, the beer feels slightly restrained, as though it’s holding something back.
Butcombe Original is perfectly decent drinking and easy to enjoy. There’s nothing here to dislike, and I’d happily order another pint if it appeared at the bar. Yet in a county blessed with memorable ales, this one struggles to carve out its own place in the memory. Solid, dependable and pleasant enough, but not quite distinctive enough to linger long after the glass is empty.
Sammy’s Rating: 64%
JYMI SAY’S…
Imagine this…
It’s late November and you have been trekking north through the Mendips for hours and hours and hours. Your mind, weary, starts to wander, as you do…
How sad,
The falling of leaves of Autumn,
How melancholic,
The passing,
Autumn,
Half-twixt Summer and Winter,
How melancholic,
The brown sludge of fallen Autumn leaves,
Gone the crunch underfoot,
Now the squelch of rain-sodden brown,
How sad, how triste,
This season twixt Summer, not yet Winter,
And yet it is not bleak like the Midwinter,
It is not unforgiving.
So let us stay awhile here,
Replete in the clemency of Autumn,
Swaddled in coat, but not too big,
Replete in jumper, chunky socks,
My hair grows longer now.
Warm strands of my lower hair,
To keep warm my neck,
Heck,
It’s cold.
But now winter comes,
And Autumn Leaves.
Autumn Leaves, by A. G. Partridge.
Lights flicker in the distance. Your mind begins to refocus. IT’S A PUB you cry. IT IS A FLIPPIN’ PUB!!!
Sodden, cold, but now drying and warming in front of an open fire and a freshly poured pint of Butcombe’s Original. It was worth it. The endless miles. The driving rain. The bitter cold. It was all worth it for this moment of wonder. For Butcombe’s Original is indeed a wonderful beer, made for moments like this.
Jymi’s Rating: 80%
MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 72%
MOB review next weekend: DIVINE INTERVENTION by ST AUSTELL BREWERY
Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017
Bluesky: @museonbooze.bsky.social
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M O B 2026
