12 Beers Of Xmas Day 12 - 12/04 Barrel Aged Traditional Porter

I've made it to the finish line and to celebrate the ringing in of the new year I have the one beer I have been looking forward to the most.  I found this one on my first visit to Trafalgar Wines in Brighton last month, a shop with a very impressive selection of bottled beers from all over the UK.  I was suitably impressed by my first beer from Brew By Numbers earlier this year so this expensive large bottle grabbed my attention and emptied my wallet.

Brew By Numbers are located in SE London and began brewing beer for sale at the end of 2012.  The numbers on each beer refer to the style of beer (the first part) and the recipe within that style (the second part).  So for my 12th beer of the 12 Beers of Xmas I am trying beer style 12.  I love it when numbers line up.  They now have a 12bbl (there's that number again) plant up and running and the original kit (one tenth the size) is now their pilot kit.  As with many other new London brewers they open their doors every Saturday when visitors can try their latest creations.  Mental note to self for 2015.  Go to London one Saturday and go on a brewery crawl.    

This beer is a barrel aged traditional porter clocking in at an impressive 8.5% ABV.  The bottle size is 750ml so this is one I will be able to get my teeth into.  Firstly, let me say that beer style 12 is not a porter, it is a barrel aged beer.  There is a number for porter and that is '03'.  Confused already you see!!  My wife said it is strong and smoky and very nice.  The aroma is very smoky with this one.  I can't wait to taste it.  It has everything I expect from a strong porter.  Plenty of liquorice and dark fruits.  Dark chocolate in abundance and a perfectly balanced bittersweet finish.  Rich and moreish and for the strength it is so easy to drink.  As soon as I tasted this I knew it was a perfect finish to my Xmas beers.  Except for one disaster and one or two average beers the quality of beers has been first class and at least half of them have got my top score it seems and this one is no exception.    

Cheers

12 Beers Of Xmas Day 11 - Cantillon Geuze-Lambic

Amazingly, this will be my first taste of a Lambic beer.  This has meant reading up as to what it is and how it differs to other beer.  Lambic beer has been around for hundreds of years and it is the oldest beer style in existence.  From what I understand it is a type of wheat beer and under protective laws the mash must contain at least 30% wheat and the wheat is not malted.  The boil is a long one, lasting for three hours or more and the wort is heavily hopped.  These are not fresh hops though.  They are four years old and used just for their preservative qualities.  After boiling, the wort is pumped up to the brewery attic where it sits in a shallow open fermenter.  Windows are left open and during the night wild yeasts will enter and attack the sugars in the wort once the temperature falls below 18 degrees C.  When the beer reaches the maturation halls it will be stored in oak casks.  The wort is therefore affected by yeast strains from the wood of the casks and the cellars as well as from the atmosphere.  The beer will stay in casks for several years.  This laborious process probably explains why there are so few producers of this beer style left.

That brings us on to Cantillon.  Cantillon is the last lambic maker in Brussels.  They began brewing in 1900 and the only major change came when they switched to organic ingredients in 1999.  Cantillon describe themselves as the Museum of Geuze and they continue the strict use of traditional brewing methods.  About half of their production is the Geuze, a lambic beer that it is a mix of young and old lambics with the younger causing a fresh fermentation in the bottle.  The character of the beer will obviously depend upon the blend that is used but it usually about 60% young.  

So what does this beer taste like?  Firstly, the bottle has both a bottle top and it is also corked.  It pours a very slightly hazy golden colour.  My wife took a sip and said 'that is not beer - it's disgusting'.  I guess it's all mine this one then!  The aroma is sour with hints of marmalade.  I am reminded slightly of the first Belgian saison beers I tried.  It is definitely tart which I was expecting but with a fruity mellowness to it.  It is not a strong beer - coming in at just 5.0% ABV.  Lemon, lime, apple and orange are all evident giving a very sharp tanginess that takes some getting used to but it is also refreshing and different in a good way.  It's like your first taste of a tangy sour sweet.  It catches you off guard but once the reaction is bedded down you adjust to it and the flavours begin to come through.  I think if you like saisons you will like this beer too.  I have been enjoying saisons more and more this year so that's probably why I find it enjoyable.  I'm very glad to have included this in my 12 Beers and will be happy to drink more of it.

Cheers.

12 Beers Of Xmas Day 10 - Gales Prize Old Ale (2005)

When it comes to beer Gales Ales were my first love.  I was brought up on Martsons Pedigree and  Home Ales in my teens as well as lager but once I had a pint of Gales HSB in the early 1980s beer it was and particularly HSB.  In the mid 80s I even completed the Gales Ales Trail which was a year well spent, drinking a pint of HSB in every Gales pub.  Nowadays I can't get enough of hops but I still have a fondness for rich malty beers.  Gales disappeared in the mid noughties following the sale of their operation to Fullers in late 2005 but they retained HSB and I must say I still think it is a pretty decent pint.  In fact it is probably an improvement on what HSB had become by that time.

One of the special beers from Gales was the highly acclaimed Prize Old Ale (9.0% ABV).  At Gales you could have bottles of Prize Old Ale or HSB relabelled to your own design for special occasions and when our son was christened in 2005 we thought it would be a good idea to do just that and give all of the attendees a bottle of Prize Old Ale to take away to commemorate the occasion.  I obviously kept a few bottles back for my own consumption too and I am now down to the final two (the last one will probably remain unopened).  The beer was stored in oak vats which gave the beer a distinctive tartness.  The bottles are corked and the beer should mature and improve over the years so tonight I will find out what a 10 year old bottle tastes like.

The cork came out with a nice pop and it poured quite thick and it is very dark, nearly black.  It smells a bit like port and quite intoxicating.  My wife thought it smelt a bit like HP sauce and had the taste of twiglets.  To be honest I thought it was actually lacking in taste and the taste it did have wasn't that nice.  It was also toally flat and lifeless.  There was a taste of treacle in there but very little else.  This is an experiment that hasn't really worked.  It isn't pleasant and I won't be finishing it and I will open a bottle of HSB I had in for any vistors wanting a beer over Christmas.  The last bottle will definitely remain unopened.  Never mind.

Cheers.  

12 Beers Of Xmas Day 9 - Brutal India Pale Ale

For beer no.9 I head back to the US for the final time.  Tonight I get to enjoy a large bottle of beer from the good ol' US of A because over there they like you to enjoy more of their beer.  None of these crappy little 330ml bottles.  To be fair they do plenty of those too but from my last visit over there I did notice that these large 650 ml bottles were very popular and abundant.  I even enjoyed a 650ml bottle of the 11.2% ABV Double Old Thumper - a real man's beer.  

The beer I have chosen tonight then comes from Rogue Ales.  The story behind Rogue goes back to 1988.  The brewery was in the basement of the Rogue Public House in Ashland, Oregon.  Their second brewpub opened a year later in Newport, Oregon and they now operate brewpubs in California and Washington too.  Their philosophy is to give back to the local community in which they operate too as well as brewing 'revolutionary' beer.  Their beer has certainly won many awards and is often available over here now.   

Brutal India Pale Ale (6.0% ABV) pours a delightful golden colour and has a wonderful fruity hoppy aroma.  Neither the bottle nor the website tells me the strength of this beer although Untappd tells me it is 6.0% ABV.  The website does tell me it is 15 degrees plato and 13 degrees Lovibond and 81 AA and 46 IBU though.  All fascinating to someone I'm sure.  I will make a note of finding out what all of these mean one day (actually I know most of them but I won't bore you with it).  Anyway back to the beer.  It looks great and smells great.  My wife said it tastes like many of the IPAs I ply her with from time to time, no better and no worse.  As I only offer her the best then that must be a compliment.  Very strong tropical fruit flavours with this one particularly mango and there is a dry bitterness in the finish that I think is just fab.  The hops and malt in this beer come from their own farms no less.  In fact Rogue Farms seem to produce everything a brewer could wish for including rye, pumpkins, jalapenos and hazelnuts.  I'm sure these all end up in one or two of their specialty beers.  All in all a cracking beer from a brewery that seems to do everything the right way.  Top marks from me.    

Cheers.

12 Beers Of Xmas Day 8 - Kasteel Tripel

I'm staying in Belgium today because Christmas is not complete without a Belgian tripel.  This particular one is from the Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck.  I know nothing about the brewery or this particular beer so I've done some reading.  The brewery has been owned and operated by Xavier Van Honsebrouck, the fifth generation of Van Honsebroucks in Ingelmunster, since 2009.  The history of the brewery dates back to 1865 but it was in 1900 when Emile Van Honsebrouck, the son of the founder (Amandus) moved to the current location in Ingelmunster where they built the Sint-Jozef Brewery.  It was renamed to the family name in 1953.

Plenty of history behind the name then and this particular beer, a potent 11.0% ABV Tripel, was launched in 1995 although the recipe has recently been changed to include more aroma hops and there is certainly a strong aromatic aroma with fruity and floral notes to the fore.  The tripel is my favourite Belgian beer style but this one doesn't really grab me as much as I was hoping.  My wife thought I was giving her a strong cider to drink.  It is probably a little too carbonated too.  

The beer is a pleasant looking blonde and after experiencing the strongly aromatic aroma and remembering I am not drinking a cider the first thing I detected was a sweet malty base which was a little biscuity.  The fruity notes consist of apple and oranges with some pear drops in there too.  In the finish there is a gentle floral bitterness but this never takes control with the fruit maintaining a strong presence throughout.  Not a bad beer but there are better Belgian tripels for sure.  This one would get a 7.5/10 from me I think.      

Cheers.

12 Beers Of Xmas Day 7 - Chimay Bleue Grande Reserve 2014

Christmas would not be the same without beer from Belgium and for my first Belgian beer this year I have gone for a large corked bottle of Chimay Bleue.  Chimay is the largest of the Trappist breweries and probably the most famous.  It was founded within the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Scourmont in the Belgian municipality of Chimay back in the 19th century and the beer has been available in bottled form since 1885.  Annual production is now in the millions of litres and about half of their output is exported.  

Chimay comes in three colour-coded forms.  These are, in increasing strength, Rouge (7.0% ABV), Blanche (8.0% ABV) and Bleue (9.0% ABV).  The Grand Cru versions come in the Bordeaux-shaped bottle and this year I chose the Grand Cru version of the Bleue which is known as the Grande Reserve.  After removing the wire cradle the cork is carefully removed with a champagne-like pop.  It is advised to let the beer breathe after opening. This allows some of the natural carbon dioxide produced during bottle fermentation to dissipate.

This beer is a classic dark ale.  The has a gorgeous vinous fruity aroma.  This carries through into the flavour in a big way.  Initially it was a little fizzy (I didn't let it breathe!!) but this does disappear afterr a while.  It really is Christmas cake in a glass and it was indeed first brewed as a Christmas beer which explains the presence of a 'vintage'.  Lots of rich heavy fruit flavours along with some caramel and despite the strength it isn't particularly boozy.  Very drinkable, quite dry despite the richness and quite a spicy hop character in the finish.  It is a beautiful beer that I never get tired of drinking.   

        

Cheers.

12 Beers Of Xmas Day 6 - White Stout

When it comes to bottled beer there is nobody better than Durham Brewery as far as I'm concerned.  It has been quite a few years since I first picked up some of their strong bottled beers for the festive period and Christmas Day is never complete for me now without one or two of their beers.  They have brought out a few new beers this year which I am keen to try but I could not find any of these locally but I could find an old favourite so this is my choice of beer to accompany my xmas lunch.       

White Stout (7.2% ABV) is a beer I only tried for the first time earlier this year and I could just put the link to that review here and say good night one and all.  However I won't because it is worth a second review.  Untappd describes it as an American Pale Ale so firstly let's talk about the categorisation and the name.  This beer is nothing like a stout as in the modern meaning of the term.  Two hundred years ago porter brewers had not hijacked the term and a stout beer was simply a strong beer.  Durham have recreated this style with modern American hops (Colombus) and Maris Otter malt.  So yes it could be described as an American Pale Ale and there are plenty of sweet tropical fruit notes which you would expect.  Mango and mandarin notes are detectable before a spicy bitterness kicks in along with some soft aromatic notes which all leads to a beautifully rounded bittersweet finish.  This beer gets top marks from me yet again and I am delighted to say that my wife loved it too.  She has excellent taste.   

Cheers.       

12 Beers Of Xmas No.5 - Santa's Darkside

This beer was not chosen for it's recognised excellence in the world of beer unlike many of my others in my 12 Beers.  My boy has to leave a bottle of beer out for santa each year and the name and picture on the label is more important than anything else.  My suggestion for the beer to leave this year got overwhelming approval so this beer is already a winner.

I think this is my first beer from Naylor's Brewery in any form.  Naylors began in a pub in 2005 and they moved to a new site a year later.  In 2009 they expanded further but remained where they still are, in the village of Cross Hills in North Yorkshire between Skipton and Keighley, where there is also a shop and bar on site.  Good brewing country indeed.

I'm not sure what kind of beer Santa's Darkside (4.4% ABV) will be but I'm expecting a dark wintry beer.  It looks black in the pic but it actually poured a nice dark brown and it gave off a distinct aroma of toffee.  My wife was a bit bored by it.  A little bitter she said but felt that any taste quickly disappears.  Bah humbug.  It's certainly not as malty as I was expecting.  There are caramel notes in there for sure but a spicy hoppy bitterness comes through in the finish that is a little dry.  I think it needs more dark malt in there but it's a pretty decent bitter.  More of a brown ale than an old ale really but drinkable.  I would give it a score of 6/10 and I hope santa appreciates the remains of it later on.

Cheers.

12 Beers Of Xmas No.4 - Ola Dubh 12

For my fourth beer I am heading north of the border.  Tonight it is our local CAMRA social evening and it is my turn to drive so this beer is a lunchtime check-in.  The alternative is to open it when I get back in around midnight which I do not fancy doing particularly.  So the brewery today is one of my favourites from Scotland.  Harviestoun have now been brewing for over 30 years and have now grown to a 60-barrel plant.  I particularly love their Old Engine Oil and for today I am sticking to the black stuff.

Old Dubh (Gaelic for 'Black Oil') is a black beer matured in whisky casks and it comes in three variations.  Old Dubh 12 (8.0% ABV) is matured in old casks of Highland Park 12 year old single malt scotch whisky.  You can also get Old Dubh 16 and Old Dubh 18 and I think these are self-explanatory.  Highland Park is an award-winning distillery from the Orkney's and the Highland Park 12 won a double gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2007.  

I am not a whisky drinker, in fact when I visited a Scottish distillery I was unable to finish the free sample!  Having said that though I did love the smells of the distillery.  The addition of whisky notes to beer though is something I have not had a problem with in the past and I have high hopes for this particular beer.

I don't want to mention this damn cold on every post but if this beer doesn't kill a few germs then nothing will.  It poured black and thick and there is definitely an earthy peatiness to the aroma even to my limited senses along with a distinct booziness.  I particularly love the chocolate notes in this beer.  This is proper dark chocolate and not your milky stuff.  The finish has a distinct earthy bitterness from the whisky which my wife did not like at all.  For me though this beer is another Christmas cracker and it gets a 9/10.

  

Cheers.    

      

   

12 Beers Of Xmas No.3 - Ot The Explorer Double IPA

My wife is out tonight so I get this one all to myself.  She is not a particular fan of IPAs though so that's probably not a bad thing.  For day two I headed to Wales and met up with some Celtic druids.  Today I am in the Netherlands and drinking a beer in praise of the king of all Dutch beer hunters - Ot Louw.  Ot likes them bitter apparently so this double IPA is packed with American hops (Colombus, Simcoe and Centennial).

    

I took to Dutch beers in a big way over the summer during my World Cup of beers.  The best of these was an imperial passion fruit white IPA (7.8% ABV) and yes it is as good as it sounds!!  This beer was not 100% Dutch as it was a collaboration between Ilkley Brewery and the two Dutch brewers of Rooie Dop and Oerseop and this was more than good enough to win my golden pint award for best collaboration of 2014.  It also meant I was determined to add a beer from Rooie Dop into my 12 Beers of Xmas and this one from Beer Hawk sounded perfect.

      

Rooie Dop was born in 2012 by Mark Strooker aka The Dude.  He experiments in a wharf cellar in Utrecht and the big batches are then brewed at De Molen in Bodegraven so until he gets his own big plant he is a bit of a gypsy brewer.  They are already exporting to twenty countries and doing collaborations all over the world so The Dude must be a busy man.  

Enough of all this talk.  Time to test this 8.7% ABV double IPA.  I have built this brewer and beer up so much now it had better not be crap.  To be honest though with this cold it will have to be potent for me to smell or taste anything.  However, this is a really nice beer.  It has a lovely fruity aroma of mango and pineapple.  There is a sweet malty boozy base over which the tropical fruit flavours swirl around before you reach a somewhat bitter finish.  A perfect double IPA even with impaired senses so another 10/10 beer from me.        

Cheers.

             

12 Beers Of Xmas No.2 - Ogham Ash

For my second beer I am heading to Wales.  Back in the 80s Welsh beer was either 'Feeling Foul' (Felinfoel) or Skull Attack (Brains SA).  I actually liked Double Dragon but today I wouldn't cross the road for it.  Nowadays it is Tiny Rebel and The Celt Experience that I get excited about when it comes to Welsh beer.  When I saw this 10.5% ABV Celt Experience Imperial Russian Porter available from Ales By Mail I knew I had to try it.

Ogham is some secret code initiated amongst the druids of Gaul it seems, bestowed upon the poets of primitive Ireland and Wales.  The transcription reflects tree folklore where the sequence of the letters reveal the archaic 'seasonal calendar of tree magic'.  Ash is a tree whose mass, height and deeply imbedded roots are all metaphors for the spiritually minded reflecting mastership and power.  I don't really understand it but a beer has to have a name and they managed to fit all of this information onto the label which is quite a feat in itself.  More interesting perhaps and something it doesn't mention is that the ash gives off a sugary substance and it has been suggested that this was fermented to create the Norse Mead of Inspiration,a mythical beverage that bestows knowledge and intelligence.  Ha!  That will do for me.

This particular beverage I'm sure can do all of that.  It is rich, black and potent.  A boozy inherent sweetness that comes from the strength but does not totally dominate over the rich flavours of coffee, dark chocolate, dark fruits and liquorice that come from the hops and seven malts that are used to create this magical beer.  Yes it is boozy but it is also flavoursome and warming and I wish I had a couple more bottles of it.  This beer easily scores top marks from me.      

Cheers.

12 Beers Of Xmas No.1 - Cluster's Last Stand

I woke up this morning aching all over after fighting the beginnings of a cold for the last few days and I was wondering how I was going to survive the 12 Beers Of Xmas.  I even thought of swapping days 1 and 3 so I could start with a 330ml bottle rather than the ambitious 660ml.  The Anadin kicked in though and I am raring to go!  

The pictures will get more festive as I go along perhaps!  The 12 Beers of Xmas is going to be much bigger this year I sensed so I had to visit the Bitter Virtue in Southampton, a stupendous bottle shop, to add one or two special bottles to the ones I already had.  This one took my eye as it was a collaboration between the infamous Stone Brewing Co and the Smuttynose Brewing Company of Hampton in New Hampshire, which I am familiar with from my travels to New England.  The bottle does not indicate the strength or beer type but nothing ventured nothing gained.

The beer apparently recreates an original, right-after-Prohibition Ballantine IPA recipe as found in Mitch Steele's book on India Pale Ales (Mitch has been Brewmaster at Stone's since 2006).  The hops are mainly English.  The American Cluster hop is combined with the English Brewers Gold and East Kent and it is dry-hopped with the English Bullion.  An interesting combination.

This beer poured a clear golden colour and Untappd suggested it is an 8.6% ABV American APA although the Smuttynose website suggests 8.3% ABV.  The aroma is a little perfumed and fruity and my wife had first taste.  She liked it but thought it might be a little aromatic for me.  Not so.  Yes it is a little aromatic but there is so much more to this beer too.  There are tropical fruit flavours with pineapple particularly evident.  The beer is sweet and syrupy but there is a dryness and peppery edge to the finish that I particularly loved.  It is also warming and boozy which is something I needed tonight I think to keep my cold at bay.    

A very nice beer to start with and one of just a few of my twelve that is not a darker beer.  My wife gives it a 7/10 but I am much more generous and it gets a 9/10 from me.  

Cheers.  

My Twelve Beers of Xmas

Last year the guys from the Beer O'Clock Show encouraged their followers to choose a dozen beers for Christmas and drink one each day beginning on December 20th and ending on New Years Eve.  It was such a success they have done it again and I think there are many more taking part in this bit of festive fun this year.  Everyone seems to have spent countless hours deliberating which beers to select and there are many classic beers that have been chosen already as you can probably imagine.  It really is easy to take part.  Buy twelve beers and drink them.  Add your comments on their website and/or follow it on Twitter #12BeersofXmas.  If you are a blogger then you can also write a review of each beer too so we can all imagine the finer points of the beers you are enjoying.

My selections have been made and as usual I have come up with twelve beers that I have largely never had before.  So with no further ado here is my lineup for this year.

Saturday December 20th - Cluster's Last Stand (8.6% ABV) 

I woke up this morning aching all over after fighting the beginnings of a cold for the last few days and I was wondering how I was going to survive the 12 Beers Of Xmas.  I even thought of swapping days 1 and 3 so I could start with a 330ml bottle rather than the ambitious 660ml.  The Anadin kicked in though and I am raring to go!  

The pictures will get more festive as I go along perhaps!  The 12 Beers of Xmas is going to be much bigger this year I sensed so I had to visit the Bitter Virtue in Southampton, a stupendous bottle shop, to add one or two special bottles to the ones I already had.  This one took my eye as it was a collaboration between the infamous Stone Brewing Co and the Smuttynose Brewing Company of Hampton in New Hampshire, which I am familiar with from my travels to New England.  The bottle does not indicate the strength or beer type but nothing ventured nothing gained.

The beer apparently recreates an original, right-after-Prohibition Ballantine IPA recipe as found in Mitch Steele's book on India Pale Ales (Mitch has been Brewmaster at Stone's since 2006).  The hops are mainly English.  The American Cluster hop is combined with the English Brewers Gold and East Kent and it is dry-hopped with the English Bullion.  An interesting combination.

This beer poured a clear golden colour and Untappd suggested it is an 8.6% ABV American APA although the Smuttynose website suggests 8.3% ABV.  The aroma is a little perfumed and fruity and my wife had first taste.  She liked it but thought it might be a little aromatic for me.  Not so.  Yes it is a little aromatic but there is so much more to this beer too.  There are tropical fruit flavours with pineapple particularly evident.  The beer is sweet and syrupy but there is a dryness and peppery edge to the finish that I particularly loved.  It is also warming and boozy which is something I needed tonight I think to keep my cold at bay.    

A very nice beer to start with and one of just a few of my twelve that is not a darker beer.  My wife gives it a 7/10 but I am much more generous and it gets a 9/10 from me.  

Cheers.  

Sunday December 21st - Ogham Ash (10.5% ABV) 

For my second beer I am heading to Wales.  Back in the 80s Welsh beer was either 'Feeling Foul' (Felinfoel) or Skull Attack (Brains SA).  I actually liked Double Dragon but today I wouldn't cross the road for it.  Nowadays it is Tiny Rebel and The Celt Experience that I get excited about when it comes to Welsh beer.  When I saw this 10.5% ABV Celt Experience Imperial Russian Porter available from Ales By Mail I knew I had to try it.

Ogham is some secret code initiated amongst the druids of Gaul it seems, bestowed upon the poets of primitive Ireland and Wales.  The transcription reflects tree folklore where the sequence of the letters reveal the archaic 'seasonal calendar of tree magic'.  Ash is a tree whose mass, height and deeply imbedded roots are all metaphors for the spiritually minded reflecting mastership and power.  I don't really understand it but a beer has to have a name and they managed to fit all of this information onto the label which is quite a feat in itself.  More interesting perhaps and something it doesn't mention is that the ash gives off a sugary substance and it has been suggested that this was fermented to create the Norse Mead of Inspiration,a mythical beverage that bestows knowledge and intelligence.  Ha!  That will do for me.

This particular beverage I'm sure can do all of that.  It is rich, black and potent.  A boozy inherent sweetness that comes from the strength but does not totally dominate over the rich flavours of coffee, dark chocolate, dark fruits and liquorice that come from the hops and seven malts that are used to create this magical beer.  Yes it is boozy but it is also flavoursome and warming and I wish I had a couple more bottles of it.  This beer easily scores top marks from me.      

Monday December 22nd - Ot The Explorer (8.7% ABV) 

My wife is out tonight so I get this one all to myself.  She is not a particular fan of IPAs though so that's probably not a bad thing.  For day two I headed to Wales and met up with some Celtic druids.  Today I am in the Netherlands and drinking a beer in praise of the king of all Dutch beer hunters - Ot Louw.  Ot likes them bitter apparently so this double IPA is packed with American hops (Colombus, Simcoe and Centennial).

    

I took to Dutch beers in a big way over the summer during my World Cup of beers.  The best of these was an imperial passion fruit white IPA (7.8% ABV) and yes it is as good as it sounds!!  This beer was not 100% Dutch as it was a collaboration between Ilkley Brewery and the two Dutch brewers of Rooie Dop and Oerseop and this was more than good enough to win my golden pint award for best collaboration of 2014.  It also meant I was determined to add a beer from Rooie Dop into my 12 Beers of Xmas and this one from Beer Hawk sounded perfect.

      

Rooie Dop was born in 2012 by Mark Strooker aka The Dude.  He experiments in a wharf cellar in Utrecht and the big batches are then brewed at De Molen in Bodegraven so until he gets his own big plant he is a bit of a gypsy brewer.  They are already exporting to twenty countries and doing collaborations all over the world so The Dude must be a busy man.  

Enough of all this talk.  Time to test this 8.7% ABV double IPA.  I have built this brewer and beer up so much now it had better not be crap.  To be honest though with this cold it will have to be potent for me to smell or taste anything.  However, this is a really nice beer.  It has a lovely fruity aroma of mango and pineapple.  There is a sweet malty boozy base over which the tropical fruit flavours swirl around before you reach a somewhat bitter finish.  A perfect double IPA even with impaired senses so another 10/10 beer from me.      

Cheers.

Tuesday December 23rd - Ola Dubh 12 Year Special Reserve (8.0% ABV) 

For my fourth beer I am heading north of the border.  Tonight it is our local CAMRA social evening and it is my turn to drive so this beer is a lunchtime check-in.  The alternative is to open it when I get back in around midnight which I do not fancy doing particularly.  So the brewery today is one of my favourites from Scotland.  Harviestoun have now been brewing for over 30 years and have now grown to a 60-barrel plant.  I particularly love their Old Engine Oil and for today I am sticking to the black stuff.

Old Dubh (Gaelic for 'Black Oil') is a black beer matured in whisky casks and it comes in three variations.  Old Dubh 12 (8.0% ABV) is matured in old casks of Highland Park 12 year old single malt scotch whisky.  You can also get Old Dubh 16 and Old Dubh 18 and I think these are self-explanatory.  Highland Park is an award-winning distillery from the Orkney's and the Highland Park 12 won a double gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2007.  

I am not a whisky drinker, in fact when I visited a Scottish distillery I was unable to finish the free sample!  Having said that though I did love the smells of the distillery.  The addition of whisky notes to beer though is something I have not had a problem with in the past and I have high hopes for this particular beer.

I don't want to mention this damn cold on every post but if this beer doesn't kill a few germs then nothing will.  It poured black and thick and there is definitely an earthy peatiness to the aroma even to my limited senses along with a distinct booziness.  I particularly love the chocolate notes in this beer.  This is proper dark chocolate and not your milky stuff.  The finish has a distinct earthy bitterness from the whisky which my wife did not like at all.  For me though this beer is another Christmas cracker and it gets a 9/10.

Cheers.  

Christmas Eve - Santa's Darkside (4.4% ABV)

This beer was not chosen for it's recognised excellence in the world of beer unlike many of my others in my 12 Beers.  My boy has to leave a bottle of beer out for santa each year and the name and picture on the label is more important than anything else.  My suggestion for the beer to leave this year got overwhelming approval so this beer is already a winner.

I think this is my first beer from Naylor's Brewery in any form.  Naylors began in a pub in 2005 and they moved to a new site a year later.  In 2009 they expanded further but remained where they still are, in the village of Cross Hills in North Yorkshire between Skipton and Keighley, where there is also a shop and bar on site.  Good brewing country indeed.

I'm not sure what kind of beer Santa's Darkside (4.4% ABV) will be but I'm expecting a dark wintry beer.  It looks black in the pic but it actually poured a nice dark brown and it gave off a distinct aroma of toffee.  My wife was a bit bored by it.  A little bitter she said but felt that any taste quickly disappears.  Bah humbug.  It's certainly not as malty as I was expecting.  There are caramel notes in there for sure but a spicy hoppy bitterness comes through in the finish that is a little dry.  I think it needs more dark malt in there but it's a pretty decent bitter.  More of a brown ale than an old ale really but drinkable.  I would give it a score of 6/10 and I hope santa appreciates the remains of it later on.

Cheers.

Christmas Day - White Stout (7.2% ABV)

When it comes to bottled beer there is nobody better than Durham Brewery as far as I'm concerned.  It has been quite a few years since I first picked up some of their strong bottled beers for the festive period and Christmas Day is never complete for me now without one or two of their beers.  They have brought out a few new beers this year which I am keen to try but I could not find any of these locally but I could find an old favourite so this is my choice of beer to accompany my xmas lunch.       

White Stout (7.2% ABV) is a beer I only tried for the first time earlier this year and I could just put the link to that review here and say good night one and all.  However I won't because it is worth a second review.  Untappd describes it as an American Pale Ale so firstly let's talk about the categorisation and the name.  This beer is nothing like a stout as in the modern meaning of the term.  Two hundred years ago porter brewers had not hijacked the term and a stout beer was simply a strong beer.  Durham have recreated this style with modern American hops (Colombus) and Maris Otter malt.  So yes it could be described as an American Pale Ale and there are plenty of sweet tropical fruit notes which you would expect.  Mango and mandarin notes are detectable before a spicy bitterness kicks in along with some soft aromatic notes which all leads to a beautifully rounded bittersweet finish.  This beer gets top marks from me yet again and I am delighted to say that my wife loved it too.  She has excellent taste.   

Cheers.       

Boxing Day - Chimay Bleue (Grande Reserve) 2014 (9.0% ABV)

Christmas would not be the same without beer from Belgium and for my first Belgian beer this year I have gone for a large corked bottle of Chimay Bleue.  Chimay is the largest of the Trappist breweries and probably the most famous.  It was founded within the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Scourmont in the Belgian municipality of Chimay back in the 19th century and the beer has been available in bottled form since 1885.  Annual production is now in the millions of litres and about half of their output is exported.  

Chimay comes in three colour-coded forms.  These are, in increasing strength, Rouge (7.0% ABV), Blanche (8.0% ABV) and Bleue (9.0% ABV).  The Grand Cru versions come in the Bordeaux-shaped bottle and this year I chose the Grand Cru version of the Bleue which is known as the Grande Reserve.  After removing the wire cradle the cork is carefully removed with a champagne-like pop.  It is advised to let the beer breathe after opening. This allows some of the natural carbon dioxide produced during bottle fermentation to dissipate.

This beer is a classic dark ale.  The has a gorgeous vinous fruity aroma.  This carries through into the flavour in a big way.  Initially it was a little fizzy (I didn't let it breathe!!) but this does disappear afterr a while.  It really is Christmas cake in a glass and it was indeed first brewed as a Christmas beer which explains the presence of a 'vintage'.  Lots of rich heavy fruit flavours along with some caramel and despite the strength it isn't particularly boozy.  Very drinkable, quite dry despite the richness and quite a spicy hop character in the finish.  It is a beautiful beer that I never get tired of drinking.   

        

Cheers.

Saturday December 27th - Kasteel Tripel (11.0% ABV)

I'm staying in Belgium today because Christmas is not complete without a Belgian tripel.  This particular one is from the Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck.  I know nothing about the brewery or this particular beer so I've done some reading.  The brewery has been owned and operated by Xavier Van Honsebrouck, the fifth generation of Van Honsebroucks in Ingelmunster, since 2009.  The history of the brewery dates back to 1865 but it was in 1900 when Emile Van Honsebrouck, the son of the founder (Amandus) moved to the current location in Ingelmunster where they built the Sint-Jozef Brewery.  It was renamed to the family name in 1953.

Plenty of history behind the name then and this particular beer, a potent 11.0% ABV Tripel, was launched in 1995 although the recipe has recently been changed to include more aroma hops and there is certainly a strong aromatic aroma with fruity and floral notes to the fore.  The tripel is my favourite Belgian beer style but this one doesn't really grab me as much as I was hoping.  My wife thought I was giving her a strong cider to drink.  It is probably a little too carbonated too.  

The beer is a pleasant looking blonde and after experiencing the strongly aromatic aroma and remembering I am not drinking a cider the first thing I detected was a sweet malty base which was a little biscuity.  The fruity notes consist of apple and oranges with some pear drops in there too.  In the finish there is a gentle floral bitterness but this never takes control with the fruit maintaining a strong presence throughout.  Not a bad beer but there are better Belgian tripels for sure.  This one would get a 7.5/10 from me I think.      

Cheers.

Sunday December 28th - Brutal India Pale Ale (6.0% ABV)

Back over to the US for this IPA from Rogue.  

Monday December 29th - Gales Prize Old Ale (9.0% ABV)

This corked bottle of the much loved old ale from the former Gales Brewery is 10 years old.  Fingers crossed it has lasted well.

Tuesday December 30th - Cantillon Geuze 100% Lambic Bio (2014) (5.0% ABV)

I have never tried this famous lambic beer before.  Yet another corked bottle.

Wednesday December 31st - 12/04 Barrel Aged Traditional Porter (8.5% ABV)

This substantially sized bottle from Brew By Numbers should help me see in the new year.

After that little lot I will be ready for 2015.  Each beer will be reviewed when they are consumed so check back each day. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

        

Golden Pints 2014

The year is coming to a close so it is time to post my Golden Pint Awards for 2014.  The year did not always go to plan as I was struck down with labyrinthitus which meant missing my local beer festival.  Luckily I was able to rearrange my visit to Manchester which was scheduled for May but eventually took place towards the end of September.

Each winner is accompanied by a little explanation as well as some close seconds listed where applicable.  

If you want to check out the Golden Pint Awards made by others then click here.

Best UK Cask Beer

Saison - Langham Brewery (3.9% ABV)

This is always the most difficult category for me.  I probably consume over 200 different pints during a year and a number of these stand out.  This particular beer was launched around the time of my local beer festival which I could not attend so it wasn't until a Meet The Brewer event at the Dolphin & Anchor, Chichester that I got to try it.  At just 3.9% ABV it is massively hopped with a blend of German malts and the Belgian yeast gives it the typical banana/clove aroma.  It is intensely bitter and dry and I had to have a few pints of it just to make sure I loved it.

There are some very close seconds in this category.  These are (in no particular order) Siren Craft Undercurrent (4.5% ABV), Tiny Rebel Urban IPA (5.5% ABV), Marble Lagonda IPA (5.0% ABV), Oakham Scarlet Macaw (4.4% ABV), Dark Star NHA Pale (5.5% ABV), Revelation (5.7% ABV) and The Art Of Darkness (3.5% ABV), Flipside Russian Rouble (7.3% ABV), Wild Beer Madness IPA (6.8% ABV)  and, of course, Magic Rock High Wire (5.5% ABV). 

Best UK Keg Beer

Smog Rocket - Beavertown (5.4% ABV)

In 2013 I only consumed one keg beer.  This year my consumption went up fourfold so I still have little to choose from in this category.  However, I have had this winning beer in both bottle and can also in the past year and I love it so much.  A very worthy winner.

A close second here and certainly worthy of a menton is the Saltaire Triple Chocoholic (4.8% ABV) which tastes exactly as you would expect.  Gorgeous. 

Best UK Bottled or Canned Beer

Hoxton Stout - Redchurch (6.0% ABV)

Plenty of choice in this category.  This year I discovered canned beers again and all of the Beavertown cans are fabulous and all could have been worthy winners especially the gorgeous Gamma Ray.  I have enjoyed many lovely bottled beers particularly from Weird Beard, Bristol Beer Factory and Durham Brewery but this stout from Redchurch that I had recently was absolute perfection.        

Best Overseas Draught Beer

No trips abroad this year and no overseas draught beers consumed over here.  Therefore no winner.


Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Beer

Ruthless Rye IPA (2014) - Sierra Nevada (6.6% ABV)

Plenty to choose from in this category too but this one particularly hit the spot for me.  Plenty of tropical fruit flavours but with some spicy notes too leading to a bittersweet finish.  Perfect.     

Best Collaboration Brew

De Passis - Ilkley Brewery / Rooie Dop / Oersoep (7.2% ABV)

I've had a decent number of collaborations this year and quite a few of them have been a hit.  I had some lovely beers during my World Cup of Beers while watching the football over the summer and this winner was the only one to achieve my top rating and it is a three-way collaboration between Ilkley and a couple of Dutch brewers.  You can read my review of it here.  

Best Overall Beer

Saison by Langham Brewery

Hard to choose between all of the above because they are so very different.  However, the local choice wins it for me.

Best Branding, Pumpclip or Label

Ilkley Brewery

For the second year  running I give this category to Ilkley.  As I said last year, I like breweries to have a branding that has a common look and feel across their range and the Ilkley Brewery achieves that with labels that also have a classy look.  When you see them you instantly know it is Ilkley.

Best UK Brewery

Marble / Beavertown

      

I could not choose between these two and they win for different reasons.  My visit to the Marble Arch in Manchester was the highlight of my trip up north and I enjoyed trying a few from their fantastic range and Marble Dobber remains one of my all-time favourite beers.  To that list I can now also add Marble Pint, Lagonda IPA and Earl Grey IPA too.  For Beavertown it was their range of canned beers that I was delighted to try this year.  I was already a fan of Smog Rocket and there is not a single beer in their portfolio that I would not choose if I saw them on sale anywhere.

Best Overseas Brewery

Sierra Nevada

Sierra Nevada never disappoint and the two beers I've had from them this year have both been first class.  I did discover the beer from a few Dutch micros this year too, particularly De Molen, and I will try and get more from these in 2015.  Perhaps they will challenge for this award next year.    

Best New Brewery Opening 2014

Naked Beer Company (West Sussex)

For the second year running it could have been a new Cornish craft brewer that won this award as I did enjoy the Firebrand Graffiti IPA (5.0% ABV) when I tried it.  However, just to prove Golden Pints can be bought I give this to the local micro that offered me their beers to try and review.  You can read the review here but I was impressed enough to give them this award too.    

Pub/Bar of the Year

Inglenook Hotel, Pagham 

             

This pub was my local before I moved house in July and I have really missed my lunchtime stroll down to this pub to sample the beery delights from some of the top breweries in the UK such as Thornbridge, Magic Rock, Dark Star, Buxton, Marble, etc.  All of these top class beers can be enjoyed in one of a number of cosy areas with real fires and chairs you can just sink into.  You can read my review of this pub here.

Best New Pub/Bar Opening 2014

The Brooksteed Alehouse, Worthing

I love micropubs.  You can read my review of the Brooksteed Alehouse here.  It has quickly become my favourite place for a pint.  Another great place which opened this year is the Brewhouse & Kitchen in Dorchester.  They also opened up in Islington and next year there are two further openings planned (in Highbury and Bristol).

Beer Festival of the Year

Sussex CAMRA Branches Beer & Cider Festival 2014  

2014 was not a good year for festival visits.  I missed my local festival but I did get to enjoy this one in Hove which takes place in March.  You can read my review of the festival here but for both beer quality and selection it was absolutely fab and in fact it was one of the best beer festivals I have attended for many years.      

Supermarket of the Year

Waitrose

Their great selection of Locales beats all the competition around here.          

Independent Retailer of the Year

Cotteridge Wines, Birmingham

Winner for the second year running and after a visit in the summer they are even better than before.  I haven't found a retailer that comes close to them although I am glad to have discovered Trafalgar Wines in Brighton which is by far the best in my area.

Online Retailer of the Year

Yorkshire Ales

This year I have used Beer Hawk, Ales By Mail, Beer Merchants, Beers Of Europe and Yorkshire Ales.  The service from all of them has been first class.  Yorkshire Ales come top simply because they are impossible to beat at what they do.  If it is Yorkshire beer you want then they are the place to go.  All of the other retailers stock good quality beers but I do find it hard to find everything I want from just one of them.  

Best Beer Book or Magazine

'The World Atlas of Beer' by Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont

Most of my books are given to me as Christmas presents so I need to look back at what I received last Christmas.  I did receive three books for my birthday last week but I have not had a chance to digest these so these will challenge for the award next year.  

This winning tome was my favourite present from last Christmas.  A large, colourful and informative look at the best craft beers from around the world.      

Best Beer Blog or Website

BeersManchester / Look At Brew

My blog has links to all of my favourite bloggers and there have been a few additions this year but BeersManchester wins again simply because I enjoy the way Jim describes in detail everything he drinks and the places he drinks them in.  He was also kind enough to show me around the pubs of Manchester which was my beery highlight of 2014.  

This year I have added a joint winner though.  Look At Brew (Rach Smith) is a very well written blog which focuses on the Sussex beer scene.  Every piece is well researched and informative.  

Best Beer App

Untapped

Winner for a second successive year.  Keeps track of everything I drink and a valuable resource for things like the Golden Pints when I need to look back at what I have consumed over the year.  I like collecting badges too of course !!

Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitter

@BeerOClockShow

The Twitter mouthpiece for the Beer O'Clock Show podcast.  Always entertaining, often amusing and represent all that is wonderful about the friendly world of beer on Twitter.  It was a pleasure to meet up with Steve and Mark at the GBBF this year.        

Best Brewery Website / Social Media

Redwell Brewing

I really had absolutely no idea who to award this to.  However, I have followed Redwell closely this year following a visit last year.  Their website is first class, their Facebook posts and tweets are both informative and amusing and, most importantly, they are really nice people too.           

Food and Beer Pairing of the Year

A pint and a packet of Nobby's Nuts works for me.

That brings 2014 to a close.  A pretty good year for beer although I still haven't done a proper pub crawl around London and Brighton.  I will endeavour to put that right next year.

Happy Christmas and New Year to you all. 

Dark December Part 2

It has been another week of dark delights for me with a good selection of bottled stouts and porters mixed in with a couple of excellent dark beers down the pub.  The week began with a CAMRA meeting at my local, The Maypole, where there was only a single dark beer available.  Darkside (5.0% ABV) from Bartrams Brewery is one I have never come across and the ratings on Untappd were suprisingly low but I loved it.  Brewed near Bury St Edmunds it is considerably better than anything else that comes from what is predominantly GK territory.  This is actually a dark wheat beer which surprised me too as it was beautifully smooth with lots of chocolate and raisin flavours throughout.  All of the meeting attendees without exception enjoyed this beer too so it was unanimously a hit.

Thursday was my birthday and a trip to my favourite pub, The Brooksteed Alehouse in Worthing, gave me some delightfully hoppy IPAs so nothing dark there to enjoy.  On Friday however I had to go in to Bognor Regis where I popped into the local 'Spoons as I was sure they would have one or two darks to enjoy.  I wasn't wrong and I tried a Turners Porter (4.9% ABV).  Turners is a micro from the eastern half of Sussex and I particularly love their Ruby Mild.  This was my first taste of their porter.  The aroma was quite fruity but the taste was smoky, dry and bitter.  The dry bitterness took some getting used to but a little dark fruit came through in the finish towards the end to balance it out a little.        

Porters were the mainstay of my drinking at home this past week.  The first two were both from London.  The Street Porter (6.5% ABV), which for simplicity I will call Janet, from Hackney based Pressure Drop Brewing Company was a rich smoky affair with a good balance between sweet chocolate and bitter roasted coffee notes with a handful of rich dark fruit thrown in for good measure too.  The finish was smooth and bittersweet and this was definitely my favourite of the three described here.    

   

Redemption Fellowship (5.1% ABV) is a little different to the rich Janet above.  Redemption is a brewery I visited last year (read the review here) and they brew some fabulous beers especially the ones which require heaps of hops.  This particular beer I found a little on the thin side and didn't have much life to it either but the flavours were spot on.  Initially there were strong sweet chocolate notes and liquorice and raisin joined in along the way.  In the finish there was a little bitterness to complete the picture.  My wife thought it was very nice but understood what I said about the condition.  It is only 5.1% ABV of course compared to the stronger Janet so perhaps I was expecting too much.        

For my final porter I headed to Yorkshire and the home of Compo, Foggy and Clegg.  Summer Wine Teleporter (5.0% ABV) is brewed with ten different malts no less and this one is more smoky and bitter than the others.  There are touches of coffee, vanilla and burnt toffee in this one and it has more body than the Fellowship.  Another hit with the wife this one too (as they have all been to be honest).

To complete my week we have a couple of stouts.  Firstly I head up to Cumbria where Hardknott always come up with some interesting beers which rarely disappoint.  Dark Energy (4.9% ABV) is a lovely looking stout and the name comes from the term used by physicists to explain away bits of the universe they don't really understand because there doesn't seem to be enough energy in our great cosmos.  It's many years since I studied astrophysics and quite frankly I never understood it much anyway but this beer is also quite complex.  I found it a little sour initially with strong fruity notes, particularly blackcurrant, and there was a spicy edge too in the finish.  My wife hated it and I found it a bit of a challenge but it improved throughout with the sourness being balanced out by some burnt caramel and coffee notes.      

The final beer was one I had to fight for because my wife wanted all of it.  Welsh brewer Tiny Rebel is one I always look out for and Dirty Stop Out (5.0% ABV) is described as a smoked oat stout.  I may have to buy more of this for my wife because it was a huge favourite with her.  The aroma was quite smoky but the beer itself was rich and full bodied with plenty of dark fruit flavours and there was even some aromatic notes in the finish.  More coffee than chocolate in the main and the overall beer was simply lush.  Definitely the best beer of the week methinks.  I still hate getting beers like this in 330ml bottles though.  It's NOT enough!!     

This week I have a trip to Dorchester so I hope to find some dark beers down there that I haven't tried before.  There will also be more bottled beers to report on too of course.  It's certainly been a wonderfully dark month so far! 

Cheers.  

Dark December Part 1

I very nearly went ahead and purchased the Ales By Mail beery advent calendar this year.  The thing that stopped me was the reason why I avoid any sort of promotion that will send me a selection of beers each month.  I hate being surprised.  I do like a wide range of beer styles but some beers, especially at Christmas, are undrinkable as far as I'm concerned.  Herbs and spices are fine in Christmas cake and puddings but they can destroy a good beer.  I also didn't want to risk getting a beer that I had enjoyed or reviewed previously.  For those of you interested in reading an excellent review of the Ales By Mail calendar though should follow fellow beer blogger Justin Mason who is doing a superb effort at writing up a review of the beer each day complete with festive jokes.  Click here to read from the start.      

I then reverted to Plan B.  I would order 24 beers from Ales By Mail that I would choose myself and I would then use these as my own personal advent calendar.  Then I could write a review each day of each beer which would be personal to me.  I wanted a good selection of stouts and porters along with one or two seasonal beers that did not advertise the infiltration of cake ingredients and after a short time I had a basket of lovely sounding beers to enjoy at my leisure.      

By the time the beers had arrived however I had decided I could not bother with opening a bottle each day for the whole of December.  One reason for this is I like to visit pubs as much as I can up to Christmas and so some days I would not feel like drinking at home.  The second reason is that it would overlap with the Beer O'Clock Show 12 Beers of Xmas which I shall be taking part in.  This runs from December 20th and I will be opening and reviewing a bottle each day up to New Years Eve.  Anyone can take part in this.  Visit the Beer O'Clock Show website for details.             

So I have settled on Plan C.  Drink as many dark beers as I can between now and Christmas and let you know about the dark delights that I have enjoyed (or endured) each week.  I began on December 1st with a suitably festive Advent Ale from Surrey brewer Hog's Back.  This dark winter ale is rich, warming and malty.  There are liquorice and chocolate notes with a bit of treacle toffee on top of a little spiciness.  An excellent start to the month.          

My first pub visit of the month was a CAMRA social and it was a real bonanza of rich dark delights which included an old favourite.  From the local Goldmark Brewery I began with their 3.5% ABV Ebony Mild at the George in the village of Eartham.  I have enjoyed this beer a few times from what is a relatively new brewery just down the road from where I live.  It is quite a traditional black mild with a nice roast malt character.  If you like milds then this will definitely be a beer for you.  I am happy to say though that it is no longer my favourite Goldmark beer.  Later that evening I was delighted to sample their new Black Lion Porter (4.8% ABV) at the best pub in West Sussex, The Wilkes' Head.  They were finishing off the remains from a weekend winter ales festival and this new beer has just been launched and, as with the mild, it is quite traditional.  It is very smooth and rich and laced with chocolate and dark fruits with a slight coffee bitterness in the finish.  Beautiful. 

This dark evening was rounded off in spectacular fashion with a pint of Timothy Taylor Ram Tam (4.3% ABV).  This is one of the closest beers from up north that I have come across that resembles a traditional Sussex Old Ale and I have not found this in a pub down here for quite a few years.  It is mild with a warming fruity body to it and it was as good as I remembered it.                         

Back onto the bottled stuff my local Morrisons is now stocking one of my favourite bottled stouts and at an introductory price of £1.89 I could hardly say no.  Hop Back Entire Stout (4.5% ABV) is certainly worth getting hold of if you are into the black stuff.  I do prefer it in cask but it is beautifully rich and smooth with a good bitter roast malt flavour throughout.      

Who remembers Arundel Old Knucker?  This rich, strong winter ale has been renamed Sussex Dark and I paid a ridiculous £4.95 for a bottle of it last Friday with a meal at a restaurant.  It was absolutely divine though so I will say it was worth it.  The perfect accompaniment to my venison, beef and horseradish burger.  The name may have changed but the beer is still a rich 5.5% ABV winter classic (although it is available year round).  Plenty of the usual flavours I am describing here with rich dark fruits and chocolate and a lovely bittersweet finish.  This was probably my wife's favourite this past week and it is so easy to fall in love with.  

  

Over the weekend I was able to break into my recent Ales By Mail selection in a big way with a couple of stouts to begin proceedings.  The first of these was astounding.  Hoxton Stout from newish London micro Redchurch.  It smells both fruity and smoky and the first taste is quite intoxicating living up to the strength of 6.0% ABV.  Rich sweet fruits give way to a coffee bitter finish but there are hints of vanilla and chocolate in there too.  For me this is a perfect stout and probably the best I have tasted for a long time.  My only complaint is that it came in such a very small bottle!!  

     

On the same evening I followed up this amazing stout with a Double Stout from Westerham Brewery in Kent.  At 5.5% ABV this was slightly less than the Hoxton Stout but pretty good nonetheless.  It was fruitier and more chocolatey than the Hoxton.  It is very smooth with not too much bitterness.  It did not reach the heights of the Hoxton but it still acheived a 9/10 on my scoring chart and it came in a 500ml bottle (hurray).

         

Last night I moved on to a couple of porters.  I had started the evening with a wheat beer which turned out to be very disappointing from By The Horns (Bobby On The Wheat).  I followed this up with a Discovery Rich Cornish Porter (with blackcurrant and molasses) from the Altantic Brewery in Cornwall.  It didn't look particularly good - not very clear and no head whatsoever.  The smell it gave off was not much better and the average rating on Untappd of 2.26 sent alarm bells ringing.  I was quite happy to let my wife try it first and it quickly came back.  Her comment was whoever thought of putting blackcurrant and molasses together got it wrong.  Absolutely disgusting was her overall veridct.  I did surprise her by drinking all of it (it was only a small bottle thank the lord) but the combination of sour blackcurrant and everything else was truly awful.  This is one beer that will not darken my door ever again.             

The plan last night was to just have a couple of beers.  Unfortunately ~I needed something that could make up for the awfulness of the first two.  Five Points Railway Porter (4.8% ABV) was chosen because this brewery has never let me down and this beer soon brought a smile to my face.  This was gorgeous with plenty of chocolate and coffee notes with a nice bittersweet character throughout.  

This was an excellent end to week one of my dark journey throughout the month of December.  With only one really duff dark it was a superb week and I'm looking for more of the same in week two.  

Cheers.