Shepherd Neame Bishop's Finger Beer Review

When it comes to traditional breweries you don't get much more traditional than Shepherd's Neame, the UK's oldest brewer. With well over 300 years experience these guys have certainly passed the test of time so they must be doing something right. I picked up a bottle of Bishop's Finger a while ago and it's sat in the cupboard far too long, so it's time to give it a review. I'm not really sure why I've waited this long, I guess it's just because its one of those beers you just see everywhere all the time so you never quite get around to trying it where as if you see something new, or rare you tend to jump straight in to make sure you don't miss out. Maybe I was also put off by the name which feels like it'd bring back horrendous memories for many a Catholic choir boy, but having never really bought in to the whole Catholic thing or learned to sing, I can't really blame that.

Anyway I picked the nice traditional looking 500ml bottle of Bishop's Finger up from LIDL. It's a Kentish strong ale, and with a 5.4% alcohol content the Bishops Finger packs more of a poke than a full blown punch. Not that you'd want to be poked in the head too often, I'm just saying it doesn't pack a knockout blow unless you drink a few. The look is a pretty traditional bitter with a clear amber colour and thin quick to vanish head. This is all fine, once I quickly discovered lager isn't the drink for me I immediately headed towards bitters so this is very much the beer look I've been bought up on. 

There's no great aroma to Bishop's Finger, but what there is will remind you of more bitters. There's a fair level of malts, but it's really dominated by toffee or caramel, and a little bit of subtle fruitiness. It's certainly not a beer you're going to smell from a distance, but then why would it need to be? If I'm honest prior to doing these reviews I never really worried what a beer smelt like unless it was completely pungent, but apparently it's something people are interested in so I'm trying my best to improve my sense of smell. I guess the first taste is with the eyes, the second with the nostril, and the third with the taste buds.

I'll tell you right away Bishop's Finger is not going to set your taste buds tingling. It's a very smooth, drinkable pint, but surprisingly for a 5.4% beer it almost tastes slightly watered down. It's a very standard, traditional English bitter. It's malty, there's a hint of caramel, but primarily it's a not remotely unpleasant or remarkable bitter. I guess this is the nature of things with Shepherd's Neame, they've been doing this a seriously long time, so it's not really their fault the beer doesn't stand out, it's actually everyone else's fault. They got there first, came up with a good taste, and now it's just the standard, well trodden path. Sadly a beer review isn't about tradition, or who got there first, it's about taste, so Sheperd Neame get a bog standard 5.5 out of 10 for Bishop's Finger. Give it a go if you like a nice traditional bitter, but there's no rush.