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A
Adnam’s. Broadside Strong Original. 6.3%
Deep brown with golden-red hues. Some plum and blackcurrants up
the nose. Sweet like toffee in the mouth with a hint of banana and
orange peel. Some dried fruits, mainly dates, through the warming
middle. A really good bottle of beer. This was from a
bottle; the cask version (at 5%) is also a cracker.
Adnam’s. Innovation. 6.7%
Bottle number 2751. Sold in a
100% recycled box and in a bottle made with 34% less glass. It cost
£3.49 for 500ml so I can’t help but wonder if I am paying a premium to
get an environmentally friendly beer. It’s a lovely golden colour with
a big fruity nose of grapefruit, kiwi, marmalade and sweet malt. In the
mouth it hits like a big IPA with hops to begin then moving in to a good
biscuit/cake malt finish – really well balanced. Some roast oranges,
cereal and pepper in there too. Easy drinking and delicious, with a
long finish but a hefty price tag.
Adnam’s.
The Bitter. 4.5%
Banana, dried fruit and sweet
bread up your nose. Some blackcurrant and apple and plenty of
smooth bready malts. A slight hop bite to finish. Another very
good beer from the brewery.
Anchor Brewing
Co. Liberty Ale. 5.9%
Peachy-amber colour. Big,
intoxicating lychee and grapefruit nose, with hints of floral aromas,
blackcurrant and tropical fruits. A beautiful beer, very complex.
Malty with a deep hop finish – very well balanced over the palate.
Anchor Brewing Co.
Porter. 5.6%
Big, beautiful bouquet of
aromas; chocolate milkshake and autumn berries. Black. Allow
the gentle fizz to dull and don’t drink fridge-cold. Full
flavoured with a good depth, sweetness and a little roasted malt.
Blackcurrant bitter-sweetness. One of the best porters I have
tried.
Anchor Brewing
Co. Steam Beer. 4.8%Bright
amber colour with a creamy yellow head. Fresh banana, lightly
toasted grain and custard on the nose. Big sweet malt with a hoppy
overcoat which leads into a long, dry finish. A very well balanced
beer starting with caramel malt then on to bittering hops and a further
tickle of sweetness before the quenching finish. Big hop hit at
the end but awesomely drinkable.
Artisan Brasseur. Biere du Garde. 6.2%
Not a style that we see very
often in Blighty, but a great one to have around. It pours a glistening
strawberry blonde with a fluffy foaming head. Grain and summer berries,
tinny spice and even something soapy up the nose. As the beer hits your
palate you expect it to go Belgian on you with spice and booze but it
levels out and swings back towards Paris with an ending of cerealy grain
which is clean and crisp with a good sweetness and a citrus twang.
Artois. Eiken Artois. 4.6%
Artois have replaced their
Bock with this brew, an oak-aged lager. First impressions are not
great and the label looks cheap and tacky. Then there is the
question of why I want to drink what is probably Stella that has been
left for a while in a barrel. It pours a light peachy colour with
the expected frothy head. Not much up the nose and not much fizz
in the glass. A clean and crisp beer, light and smooth. It is
like Stella but better, although not a great deal of the oak
characteristics come through. Quite drinkable though.
B
Belle-Vue. Gueze Lambic. 5.5%
A good lambic is a beautiful
thing. A bad one is like drinking vinegar. This pours a
wonderful peachy, straw colour with a very lively pink foam. It
has a big, sharp lemony aroma with raspberry tartness. In the
mouth it is remarkably smooth with a light tickling fizz. There is
more lemon and raspberry in the mouth with some sharp apples and a
wonderful grain flavour underneath it all which becomes biscuity, or
even perhaps a little like lemon cake. This is very drinkable,
especially on a hot day.
Biera Corsa.
Pietra. 6%
This chestnut beer has found a
place in the supermarkets and some restaurants recently. It has a
sweetly nutty aroma and is the colour of a chestnut skin. Malty
with very little hop bitterness, some slight anise flavours.
Earthy with hints of hay and grass. I find this hard to place: it
is not a session beer and not a special occasion beer, but it is rather
drinkable.
Brakspear.
Oxford Gold. 4.6%
Organic. Target and
Golding hops. Fresh apple on the nose, some zesty and tropical
fruit. Lovely amber colour. Crisp, clean and easy drinking.
Some honey and bread in there somewhere. A perfectly balanced
session beer – bloody good!
Brakspear.
Triple. 7.2%
The triple refers to the three
fermentations. I really love this beer, especially with a
selection of strong cheeses. Plenty of almond nuttiness in there
flitting between bakewell tart, roasted nuts and macaroons.
Definite grain and bread flavours. Some hints of cherry, brandy,
honey, banana and teacake as the beer develops and changes throughout
the duration of the bottle. The range of flavours makes this a
wonderfully complex beer and highly drinkable.
Brasserie Rochefort. Rochefort 10.
11.3%
This beer always comes very
highly rated and is regarded as one of the best there is.
Rochefort brew 3 ‘Trappistes’ simply titled 6, 8 and 10. It pours
a wonderful dark indigo/ruby colour with a large tan coloured foamy head
which laces down the glass. Up the nose I got mocha and coffee,
candy sugar, dried fruit and chocolate cake: an intoxicating mix.
The beer is so light in the mouth for such a big-hitting alcohol
content, the balance is brilliant, it is very drinkable and there is a
complexity to it which makes you want more and more. Deeply
flavoured with layers of berry fruits and roast nuts, liquorice, a smoky
vinous quality, a big smack of roast bitterness, warming booze and a
long lingering finish. As the bottle neared the end I got a more
distinct flavour of the grain which was delicious. A beer to be
savoured slowly.
Brasserie de
Saint Sylvestre. Gavroche. 8.5%
Golden, flame-coloured with a
large fluffy head. Tiny, tickly bubbles. Almond, vanilla
ice-cream and butter on the nose with a little fresh apple too. My
flavour notes begins simply with: Wow! Including the
underlining. Creamy-sweet vanilla and almond in the mouth.
Quite thin but a lengthy finish with some hops and a little alcohol
which warms on the way down. An oaky character to it. Some
banana and butterscotch towards the end of the glass. A
wow-inducing beer.
Brew Dog. Paradox Grain. 10%
An imperial stout aged in
whisky casks. Just seeing those words makes me excited. It
pours a dark brown with a thin tan-coloured head. Everything about this
beer is massive. The aromas that fly out the glass are sweet like
doughnuts with a buttery richness from the oak casks. There is
also some bourbon spice and medicinal molasses. In the mouth it is
enormous and it just keeps on growing, yet at the same time it is light
and delicious and incredibly drinkable. The woody cask gives
flavours of vanilla, butter and bourbon while the stout comes in two
layers – sweet teacake and caramel underneath a glorious roast
bitterness. It is so great to see a beer like this brewed in
Britain.
Brew Dog.
The Physics. 5%
Laid back amber ale made with
caramel and crystal malt and hopped with First Gold. Lovely golden
colour with a creamy head. Stronger and richer than expected with
fudge and raisins and some tropical fruit freshness. Really good
full-flavoured beer with a cleansing hop finish. This would be
good served alongside strong flavoured fish or chicken, perhaps with a
barbeque.
Budweiser/Budvar.
Dark Lager. 4.7%
Budweiser and Budvar mean the
same thing, just in different languages, but each carry similar
connotations the world over. The dark lager breaks those
preconceptions in a wonderful way. Pale, Munich, Caramel and
Roasted Malts mix with the Saaz hops to give a deep ruby-brown beer with
a lacy head. Chocolate, mocha, dried fruit and a little roasted
grain hits the nose. The beer is clean and simple with some
roasted flavour, a little chocolate and some dark cherry. Hardly
any bitterness and very well balanced. Magic.
C
Cains. Fine
Raisin Beer. 5.0%
A great beer from the
Liverpool based brewery. This is infused with California raisins.
An amber colour, that of a golden sultana. Some deep fruitiness in
the nose alongside a drizzle of golden syrup, a little chocolate muffin
maybe and the distinct smell of a fruit and nut selection, the kind that
gets passed around at Christmas. Really delicious on the palate,
definite raisin and dried fruit sweetness, a little almondy bite, some
cherry and a garibaldi biscuit. Big on malt but a nice orange zest
finish with a little hop dryness.
Cains. Liverpool Lager 2008. 5%
Pale golden colour, clean aroma with some
summer fruit, lime and sherbet. Easy drinking with simple
flavours; clean grain, peach and tropical fruit, and a little hop at the
end which makes it refreshing. A good English lager but I wanted
more from the finish - it tasted a little like a 'light' beer.
Chimay. Blue. 9%
Deep brown colour with a
light, creamy head. Some toffee and banana on the nose. A
complex beer but surprisingly light; buttery, smooth, caramel and milk
chocolate with a faint hint of sweet bread.
Cookie Beer. 8%
I bought this from Utobeer in
Borough Market purely because the stout little bottle had a big picture
of a cookie on it. I am fickle. The beer pours a freshly
baked cookie colour, with butter and sugar aromas (I think my judgement
may be clouded by the idea of the biscuit that is in my mind), which is
overtaken by the smell of foam banana sweets and even a little scented
floral note. The taste is not as sweet as the aroma, with some
buttery malts and a herby-spiciness to it, with definite aniseed and
basil twangs. This is a strange beer; it doesn’t taste much like a
cookie.
D
Delirium
Christmas. 10%
I love delirium tremens with its pastel grey, vanilla-speckled bottle
and blue foil. I have had it off tap once in Sankey’s, Tunbridge
Wells, and it was even better than the bottled stuff. This festive
version is stronger and has a red foil cloak, which seems fitting.
Triple fermented. Deep, chestnut-red coloured – not dissimilar to
Rudolph’s nose in fact - with a massive honey, cherry and roast banana
aroma and a hint of warming spice. Very smooth over the tongue,
malty and rich but perfectly light. Some almond flavours in there,
some bakewell tart, a long-strong malt finish and some roasted red
fruits. This is an absolutely wonderful beer.
Delirium
Nocturnal. 8.5%
Pours a dark ruby
colour with a large fluffy head. Some toasted nut and dark
chocolate up your nose. Big fizz to begin and alcohol warmth,
plenty of roast malt, some chocolate and sharp autumn fruit with and a
tinny spice finish. Doesn’t stand up against the other Delirium
beers.
Duvel. 8.5%
A supermarket standard now.
Pale and golden with a good fizz. Crisp, strong and dry with a
hoppy bitterness that is soothed by the warming alcohol. A short
finish with some sour citrus and some apple sharpness. Perhaps
some clove.
F
Franziskaner.
Hefe-Weissbier. 5%
Big banana and
clove, as expected, cloudy and fizzy with vanilla ice-cream head and
aroma. Grain comes first in the mouth, clean and simple, then some
fruitiness, banana, some creamy rice pudding and a little hop and a dry
spice to finish. A good supermarket-available wiessbier. If you
find this on draught, and it's been well kept, then it's a dream.
Fuller’s.
Discovery. 4.5%
A quality beer. Light
and refreshing with a tiny tickle of fizz. Sweet fruits up your
nose with hints of melon, apple and tangerine, as well as some
bubble-gum and sugar paper. Creamy biscuit malt underneath with a
zesty and fruity finish. Perfect served cold on a hot day.
Enjoy as an aperitif or pour a glass with a hearty paella.
Fuller’s.
ESB. 5.9%
One of the best beers from one
of England’s very best brewers. The entire Fuller’s range is
superb, especially from the tap, although they hold up brilliantly in
the bottles. There is some smoky-roast aroma with some orange and
grapefruit. A long, malty sweet finish with a lick of bitterness
to end. Slightly floral with a little orange peel and there’s even
something a little oaky about it.
Fuller’s.
Golden Pride. 8.5% - Bottle
Amber colour with a creamy,
tan head. Strawberry fizzy sweets and pick and mix aromas.
Really jam-packed with flavours; burnt citrus, some booze, a little
chocolate and an undercurrent of roasted bitterness beneath the sweet
outer layer. A very delicious beer.
Fuller’s.
Golden Pride. 8.5% -
Draught
This was served for one week only at the Jugged Hare, Vauxhall
Bridge Road, London. I went there on Thursday 6th March 2008.
The bottled version of this beer is brilliant, but the cask offering is
even better. A golden bronze colour with a light, fruity nose and
a thin heady. The first mouthful is so rich, malty, strong and
delicious - full of flavour. It was perfectly kept, totally fresh,
clean and smooth - just how every beer should be. There was some
bready grain in there, orange zest, blackcurrants without the tartness,
booze, some fruit bread and a biscuity note. A pint might be too
much, but savoured in halves it is a rare treat, and dangerously
drinkable.
Fuller’s.
HoneyDew. 5.0%
Organic. Golden colour,
sweet aroma with a distinctive honey whiff. Creamy and smooth on
the tongue. Light citrus finish, but just big gorgeous honey
throughout. Great off tap.
Fuller’s.
Vintage Ale 2007. 8.5%
I got this big boy out on New
Years Eve 2007; it seemed like the right choice. This was bottle
number 37, 293. An auburn colour and small head from the slow
pour. Big roast malts and grapefruit combo up your nose.
Some roasted nuts in there too. Palate went caramel malt, roast
oranges, tobacco, liquorice, peppery hops and a big, hop-heavy finish.
A massively complex beer. I’ve got a few hiding away and I will
probably wait at least 2-3 years before I open the next one.
G
Great Divide
Brewing Co. Hercules Double IPA. 9.1%
Massive hops! A monster! Some lemon, apricot, marmalade and
piny-floral aromas. An intense, dry hop bitterness, juniper/gin
like, with sweet caramel malts swimming beneath the aggressive hops.
Long, lingering finish with a little grapefruit. A very good and
drinkable extreme IPA.
Greene King.
Strong Suffolk Vintage Ale. 6%
I must’ve liked this a lot
judging by the random splurts of words on my page. This beer is a
cracker, aged in oak for 2 years. Burnt caramel, toffee popcorn,
banoffee and roast banana, slight fruitcake flavour, rich and malty with
a long, deep finish. Honey and oak and a tickle of brandy.
Pours with a satisfyingly thick glug. Very little in the way of
hops; a malt machine. Serve just-chilled.
Guinness. Foreign Extra. 7.5%
Good thick glugger pours a
dark chocolate brown with creamy head. Toffee and fudge aroma with
some nut, sweet smoke and yogurt. Sweet toasted toffee malt first
moving into smoky, roast and bitter with a long finish of burnt nuts,
mocha and some sharp blackberry underneath. Some of the
distinctive Guinness flavour comes to say hello through the middle.
H
Hoegaarden.
Grand Cru. 8.5%
Over-ripe banana and clove in
the classic spicy sense. An almost savoury quality to this beer
with a whiff of cured meat – in a good way. Bitter-sweet, earthy
and a little liquorice.
Hook Norton.
Old Hooky. 4.6%
Sweet candied apple aroma.
Fruity with a slight dry hoppy finish. Caramel and smoky tobacco
through the middle. It is best served from the cask, but the
bottled version is pretty good.
Hopdaemon.
Green Daemon. 5%
Big fruity number with
pineapple, papaya, apples and pears. A drizzle of honey and a
squeeze of lime. Juicy, light, clean and delicious. Some
hops to balance out the finish. ‘Delicately golden’ reads my last
line of notes, whatever that means. Great with a light Moroccan
dish and capable against a tickle of spice.
I
Innis & Gunn.
Blonde. 6%
37 day oak maturation.
As far as I am aware, it is only sold in a multi-pack box. A
golden blonde colour. Sweet buttered popcorn on the nose.
Smooth and clean with a sweet vanilla fruitiness. Honey on toast.
Palate begins with sweet fruit and moves into the buttery-oak finish of
the Innis & Gunn range. Very easy drinking. Probably my
favourite of the I&G lot.
Innis & Gunn.
Cask Strength. 7.7%
Matured in old oak whisky
casks for 30 days and a full maturation process of 77 days.
Stunning beer full of toffee sweetness, butter biscuits and crème brulee.
A smooth, lingering finish for a strong beer. Milk chocolate and
chocolate orange hints, definite oak characteristics with some vanilla,
and a little brandy cream.
Innis & Gunn. IPA. 6.4%
A new limited edited of 68,000
in the shops March 2008. An IPA aged in oak (not the
characteristic whisky or bourbon barrels that I&G have become famous
for) and brewed with English Golding hops with some Styrians added to
the barrels. Pours a golden amber colour. Big buttery oak
aroma with some juice and zesty fruitiness. In the mouth it is
light and creamy with loads of flavour coming from the oak barrels as
well as some tropical fruits, orange zest and juice, crackers and
maderia cake. The beer has a savoury quality to it from the
buttery barrel flavour but the zestiness lifts the palate at the end.
It is another good I&G beer but it is missing a big and bitter hop-heavy
finish that IPA’s should have.
Innis & Gunn.
Oak Aged Beer. 6.6%
Pale gold colour and brilliant
aroma. I cannot drink this beer without thinking about burnt
buttered toast. There is also some caramel and vanilla, definite
oak and a lick of whisky. All the range of Innis & Gunn share
similar characteristics – that of the oak aging – but the differences
between them make them special. I would love to try the beer
before it enters the aging process because there seems to be little
going on in the way of hop and grain, with the palate of flavours mainly
being drawn from the cask.
Innis & Gunn.
Rum Cask Aged. 7.4%
107 days aged; starting in
American oak which previously held bourbon and then finished in rum
casks. Only 84,000 produced. Red-chestnut colour with
buttered toast, oak and vanilla on the nose. Creamy and delicious
texture; sweet and buttery; complex and smooth. A rum sweetness
and perhaps a hint of coca-cola.
Isle of Skye.
Hebridean Gold. 4.3%
A porridge oat ale.
Really good, easy drinking beer. Biscuity sweetness with a massive
oat flavour throughout. Sweet beginning and an almost savoury
hoppy finish. A creamy, vaguely nutty, oat-smoothness.
K
Kasteel Cru.
5.2%
Becoming popular in upmarket
joints, probably because it is brewed with a champagne yeast. It
pours a lovely, lively, light beer. The first taste is good, clean
with some savoury biscuit flavours and a little apple. No
bitterness. The early fizz soon disappears and the beer ends up
flat and watery, even insipid and tonic-water-like. Disappointing.
Kasteelbier Brune. 11%
A dark bown colour with a
small head. Amazing aroma which wafted up of cocoa, raisin,
molasses, burnt sugar, roast banana, brazil nuts and winter fruits.
All malt in the mouth with big caramel/sugar syrupy sweetness, alcohol
warmth, smooth grain and a deep finish. Some chocolate and cherry
in there with plenty of dried fruit. The texture and mouthfeel is
velvety smooth like a big luscious Zinfandel. Considering the
potent strength, this is very well balanced and very drinkable. I
really enjoyed this beer.
Kasteelbier Triple. 11%
I enjoyed the Brune
Kasteelbier so much that I went straight out and bought the triple.
When I poured it I was surprised to see it was a fizzy light golden
colour with a big frothy head – I was expecting a thick, ruby-brown
beer. Up the nose was some smoky spice and perhaps some roast
citrus. Big in the mouth but I’m not sure what of – some more
tinny spice in there for sure as it begins sweet and develops into a dry
twang of a finish. There was hardly any zesty hop and the grain
flavour seemed cloaked in the boozy strength. A forgettable beer:
the Brune was much more memorable.
L
La Biere du
Demon. 12%
Perhaps the worst beer I have
ever tasted; I didn’t want to finish the bottle. It claims to be
the most alcoholic pale beer in the world. It tastes like cheap
vodka. It is straw-coloured – paler than most lagers. Not
much on the nose but a warming on the back of the throat. Very
weird in the mouth; alcohol and tin with the faintest suggestion that
this could actually be beer. The hints of malt and hop are soon
smashed to pieces by the alcohol.
La Trappe.
Quadrupel Trappistenbier. 10%
A Dutch trappist with an amazing aroma of milk chocolate, banana,
custard, marzipan and amaretto. Strong, rich and creamy (ice cream
almost) with a massive malt profile. Copper-ruby colour.
Wonderfully complex.
Left Hand Brewing
Company. Milk Stout. 5.2%
One of the best beers I tasted
in 2007. Rich, sweet aroma of milky oats, treacle, and blackberry
jam. Smooth and creamy over the tongue with a little sweet coffee,
a jam-like finish, rich and delicious. A super stout.
Left Hand Brewing Company. Imperial
Stout. 10.4%
A big brute of a beer like any
imperial stout should be – the name ‘Imperial’ just has connotations of
grandeur and power. It poured a syrupy black with a
cappuccino-like foamy head. Roasted grain and coffee wafted out of
the deep bowl glass with a definite berry sweetness in there too.
The flavour is much the same as the aroma with a bold roasted quality
and sweetly-sharp winter berries. The beer is thick and strong
with a finish which becomes slightly salty and meaty, in a smoky kind of
way.
M
Meantime.
Pilsner. 5.4%
Pale golden colour.
Sweet summer fruit aromas – apple and peach. Some floral-honey
flavour, light and crisp, fruity and herby. Some clean papaya and
a hop crispness to finish. Great with fish.
McEwan’s.
Champion. 7.3%
Rich and strong, dark and
thick, with a fantastic Christmas pudding aroma. Best served just
below room temperature after allowing the fizz to settle. Dried fruit,
caramel, toffee yogurt and rum treat the palate. Strong alcohol to
begin in the mouth but this is softened by the long, sweet finish.
Mongozo. Quinoa.
5.9%
Brewed with quinoa from the
world-friendly Mongozo brewers. A pale cloudy beer that was served
to me with some floating sediment, but this didn’t have any mouth
presence. Fruity and floral, with some spice towards the end and
some earthiness. Perfectly drinkable, although like the other
beers from the Mongozo range (coconut, palm nut and banana), you
probably wouldn’t finish the one you are on and crack open another.
Morrison’s.
Organic Golden Ale. 5%
Brewed by Wychwood for Morrison’s, this is a bloody fine beer and one of
my favourites to always have in the cupboard. A delicate, light
fizz with a gentle sherbet sweetness giving way to a hoppy, citrus end.
A quality thirst quencher; fruity, crisp and golden. A quaffer.
O
O’Hanlon’s.
Port Stout. 4.8%
Blended with ruby port. Roast grain, dark chocolate and cherry,
subtle coffee roast. A wine hint in the background. Very
easy drinking.
P
Pauwel.
Kwak. 8.1%
A big favourite of mine.
Golden-chestnut colour with custardy foaming head. Big malt aroma
of honey and a little nut, perhaps coconut. Sweet malt monster
with no heavy-hitting hops. Very smooth and delicious with a
light, tingly fizz. Clean malt flavours, with some roast banana,
toasted grain, vanilla, pepper and just a grating of orange zest.
If you can drink it in the round bottomed glass then do. I served
a glass of Kwak with the Christmas turkey and it works perfectly.
S
Samuel Smith.
Cherry Fruit Beer. 5.1%
Organic and blended with pure
cherry juice. A big aroma of cherry drop sweets and just a little
fresh apple. Burnt red colour and pink candy floss head.
Creamy and almost milkshake-like with a light fizz and a tiny tartness.
It is sweet, but enjoyed in small amounts it is a very nice cherry beer
– if you can find it.
Samuel Smith. Imperial
Stout. 7%
Thick and dark
with coffee coloured foamy head. Big espresso nose and roasted grain.
Rich coffee bitterness but lots of sweetness, oily, some berry fruits
and dark chocolate. Not the biggest, most Imperial stout out there, but
a good one none the less, and an easy drinking after-dinner beer.
Samuel Smith. India Ale.
5%
Auburn colour,
massive cereal malt, delicious with toasty grain, burnt caramel and a
kick of hops to finish. It’s not too clingingly bitter and well
balanced with the malt.
Samuel Smith.
Nut Brown Ale. 5%
Deep brown colour.
Smooth, nutty and roast malt. Some burnt sugar and caramelised
oranges. Slight, soft-dry bitterness at the end. Quite like
a sweet, milky hazelnut coffee.
Samuel Smith.
Oatmeal Stout. 5%
Originally prescribed to
nursing mothers and athletes for its nutritional value, informs the
label. A very creamy beer and very easy drinking. Very dark
brown, almost black, with a tan head. Banana and light caramel
sweetness on the first sniff, a little bubble-gum somewhere in there
too. Some roasted grain, burnt caramel, molasses and bourbon
biscuits on the palate.
Samuel Smith.
Old Brewery Pale Ale. 5%
Another very drinkable beer
from Sam Smith. Chestnut brown in colour with a slight nutty
aroma. Some toasted grain and toffee malt. Clean and crisp
with a touch of hops to steady the finish. Very simple flavours;
smooth and quaffable.
Samuel Smith.
Organic Best Ale. 5%
Apples, pears and a flower bed
on the nose. Amber coloured. Full of flavour: oats, bread,
grain, crackers and juicy fruits. A crisp, hoppy finish. A
cracking beer, good with a ploughman’s.
Schofferhofer
Hefeweizen. 5%
A good light wheat beer, with
a smack of lime and banana peel in the nose. A smooth and easy to
drink brew, no dominant spice and some good malt, with a hint of
bubble-gum to it.
Shepherd Naeme.
1698. 6.5%
Thrice hopped. Some
herby, hop resin on the nose along with an oaky, buttery aroma.
Despite the triple hopping, the malt dominates with honey and dried
fruit, some banana liqueur and teacake. Definite alcohol strength
but a smooth finish. Shepherd Naeme’s best beer in my opinion.
Sierra Nevada.
Anniversary Ale 2007. 5.9%
Golden caramel colour.
Massive nose, wonderfully alluring; apples, grapes, sweet wine and some
Cascade citrus. Cobnuts, roasted nuts, sweet fruits and some herbs
over the palate. Complex flavours with a smack of grapefruit at
the end. This would sit down well for a year or so.
Sierra Nevada. Celebration Ale.
6.8%
Bronze/copper colour and a big
face-smacking aroma of fresh mango, tropical fruits, toffee, grapefruit
and a bouquet of fresh flowers. Big in the mouth too with a very
dominant (Cascade and Chinook) hop finish which is dry and tart like
grapefruit or lychee. There is also some big toasty malt
underneath the top blanket of herbs, flowers and lots of rampant
tropical fruits. This is a beer to savour and certainly not one to
glug. A monster IPA.
Sierra Nevada.
Pale Ale. 5.6%
A golden-orange colour to this
fabulous beer. A palate of summery flavours from just-caramelised
oranges, elderflower and even some vanilla. A crisp citrus jab at
the end from the Cascade hops. Very easy to drink and very
enjoyable to drink. Great off tap too.
Sierra Nevada. Wheat Beer.
4.4%
Golden orange
cloud with light foamy head – quite like orangeade! It has an aroma of
orange- and lemonade also. Some sweetness with orange zest and apple
fruitiness, but from the aroma I expected it sweeter. Simple flavour
with creamy grain with some hoppy spice: clean and tasty, a good
American wheatbeer. I served this with an
Asparagus Tart
which worked perfectly, enhancing the grain and complimenting the cheese
and asparagus spears.
St Austell.
Clouded Yellow. 4.8%
Can be poured clear like an
ale or cloudy like a wheat beer. A pale yellow hue flavoured with
coriander, cloves, vanilla and maple syrup in the brew. A creamy,
sweet, hoppy beer with an almost savoury finish from the spice. An
almost biscuity sweetness. Clean and crisp, a very good English
wheat beer.
St Austell.
Tribute. 4.2%
Grapefruit and citrus on the
nose along with a hint of freshly toasted grain, lovely golden malt
through the middle with a little hoppy finish. Some tropical
fruits. A very good beer.
St Peter’s.
Organic Ale. 4.5%
A light fizz and
copper-coloured. Grapes, apples and tropical fruits hit the nose.
Grainy malt underneath a big hop profile which finishes with a floral
flourish and a squeeze of grapefruit. Very refreshing. There
is also some gooseberry or rhubarb tartness in there.
T
Theakston.
Old Peculiar. 5.6%
A quality beer, best enjoyed pulled straight from the cask. Dark
brown colour and creamy head. Caramel, toasted nuts, treacle,
roast banana and dried fruit in there. A cracker.
Thomas Hardy’s Ale. 1986.
Bottle number 07352. One
of my best mates bought a bottle of this from ebay. When he told
me I ‘shotgunned’ myself a glass of it. He chose to open it for
his 23rd
birthday and I was there, along with a few other mates, to get in on the
action. The bottle was in stunning condition and looked almost
brand new despite being 22 years old. It poured a thick, dark
brown but there was a worrying lack of head. The first sniff told
us something wasn't right. The unanimous verdict on the aroma was
marmite and soy sauce which was, in all honesty, terribly unpleasant.
Taste and smell are so closely related that it was difficult to take the
first sip. The flavour had a big tawny port sweet richness to it
and a smooth body with a little spiciness, but then the finish stepped
up and a salty oxo-cube aftertaste blitzed the palate. Terribly
disappointing. I do not know if the beer was spoiled in the bottle
or poorly kept by the previous owner, all I know is that none of us
wanted to finish the bottle. If anyone has a bottle like this then
I suggest it is used up in a delicious stir-fry.
Twaites. Champion Dark Mild. 3.2%
A pint of dark mild can be a
glorious thing. Unfortunately, too few are actually brilliant examples
of the style. Twaites’ Dark Mild is spot on, and, dare I say, it lives
in a tin can. For me, a mild is all about the smooth mouthfeel, the
flavour of the toasted grain and the lack of bittering hops. This pours
a dark ruby colour with a whispy tan head like a lace suspender. Sweet,
toasted malt and roast nut aromas swill out. The first gulp tells you
it’s good and it glides down with a great grainy, cereal taste, a hint
of cherry sweetness, a hint of chocolate and more nuts. There is no
bitterness, just grain. Some drinkers may want more punch from their
beer, but this is a dream mild – cheap too!
W
Wells. Bombardier. 5.2%
Brewed using crystal malt,
hopped with Challenger and Goldings. I have had Bombardier countless
times but this bottle just tasted better than any other I have had, I
don’t know if Wells have done something different? The sweet aroma hit
me first with cola cubes, coconut and nectarines – smells I wasn’t
expecting. The beer was malty and biscuity, really delicious with just
a tickle of inoffensive hops to finish. I was surprised by how much I
enjoyed this.
Westerham Brewing Co. William
Wilberforce Freedom Ale. 4.8%
Brewed with Fairtrade Demerara
sugar, Maris Otter and Crystal malts, Kent Northdown and Golding’s Hops.
Pours a ruby bronze colour. Up the nose is a lovely mix of apples
and toffee and a spritz of citrus. On the palate it is much the
same with a hint of the sugar coming through with caramel and biscuits
and more apple. Very well balanced, very easy drinking, very good.
Whitstable
Brewery. Oyster Stout. 4.5%
I have drunk this in three different environments. In a pub,
(where it tasted and smelt astringently fishy) from the bottle and from
the brewery bar while sitting on the beach; the brewery bar is by far
the best way to enjoy this. The bottled variety is dark black with
a thin tan head. Coffee aroma and a very slight hint of the
seaside (although this might be because I know it is a beer made with
fish). Some good roast flavour, thin in the mouth and a gentle
citrusy-sharp finish.
Whitstable
Brewery. Pilsner. 4.9%
Naturally lagered and one of the best English pilsners in my opinion
(along with the Meantime brew). Big fizz which leaves a foamy
head. Light and golden colour. Really juicy and fruity up
your nose and in the mouth with apples, peaches and nectarines coming
through most prominently. Some cracker and bread grain in there.
Very simple and clean.
Worthington.
White Shield IPA. 5.6%
Classic beer brewed in Burton-upon-Trent. Tropical fruit and apple
on the nose. Clean hoppy finish with a slightly dry crispness.
Some floral characteristics. Very smooth with a sweet
undercurrent; biscuity more than bitter. Very drinkable and not as
harshly hopped as some IPA’s.
Wychwood.
Fiddler’s Elbow. 5.2%
Sweet, yeasty aroma. Golden, weiss-coloured. Refreshing but
with an underlying alcohol kick. Quenching with some crisp citrus
hop bitterness to finish, some apples and grapefruit in there.
Food friendly, especially with simple fish or chicken.
Wychwood. Wychcraft.
4.5%
A triple fermented beauty.
Golden in colour with a clean, fresh flavour and a good lingering
finish. A little zing, touch of bitterness, a biscuity sweetness.
Nothing spectacular but wonderful at the same time; a refreshing beer on
a hot day.
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