Jeffrey Hudson Bitter - Oakham Ales (4.2% ABV)

JHB is an English Bitter that boasts numerous awards, and is named after some short guy who used to work for King Charles I... Who comes up with these names?

Beer pours a pale, clear straw colour with a frothy white head. Basically, it looks like your average lager...

... But smells nothing like lager! Strong citrus hops; definite orange and grapefruit. Plenty of floral aroma as well. Light malts are also detectable underneath, but this is clearly all about the hops.

Like the nose, the citrus hops are prominent straightaway - loads of grapefruit and orange - with a gentle malt honey sweetness underneath. There is also some herbal and grass notes in there too. JHB finishes clean, dry and crisp with a moderate dose of bitterness which leaves some pine hop flavours lingering on the palate. Very nice.

Light/medium body with a highly quaffable feel to it. Refreshing, with great construction and balance, this is a great effort from Oakham Ales. It's unashamedly hop-heavy with a thin malt base, and is all the better for it.

 

Guinness Foreign Extra - Guinness (7.5% ABV)

Everyone loves Guinness... don't they? Well, It is probably the most famous brew in the world, and for good reason. However, they have a secret weapon in the shape of their 'Foreign Extra' which packs a healthy 7.5% ABV. It's very popular with the Nigerians, apparently.

Appearance is almost black, as you'd would expect, with a mocha head which sticks to the glass like glue. Head is really thick and creamy.

Really strong on the nose. Roasted malts and tons of booze give off a fruit cake and sherry aroma. Plenty of prune and raisin in there to give plenty of sweetness, with hints of coffee in there too.

Upfront taste of roasted malts with an intense coffee flavour. Mid-palate gives off syrup-soaked cherries, prunes and raisins, before a moderate hop bitterness on the finish to balance. Dry finish with a sweet sticky malt and hop flavour lingering on the palate. Heat from the alcohol is prevalent throughout and is borderline overpowering.

A tad thin, but at the same time slick and smooth, this brew packs a full body and lots of warmth. Astringency levels err to the side of 'puckering' and carbonation is as it should be

I'm not sure whether not I should love this or just be moderately impressed by it... It is very different to 'vanilla' Guinness and the booze is a little on the high side. Having said that, it is a well constructed beer with a ton of flavour and great for a cold winter evening. I may just have to try 4 or 5 of these in single session to make up my mind; in the mean time, have 4 stars.

 

 

London Porter - Fullers (5.4% ABV)

I'm slowly working my way through Fullers' lineup, and I have embarrassing never tried their infamous London Porter. I've heard nothing but good things about this one, and its been sitting in my cupboard for several weeks an I've finally decided to crack it open

I looks great. Dark - almost black - with a ruby hue. Nice thick mocha coloured creamy head offers a ton of lacing and great retention.

The nose offers up almost pure dark chocolate, with background notes of cherries, coffee and a sprinkling of dark fruits. Really great bouquet; so far so good.

Wow. This is something special. First thoughts on swigging this beast is the slick, creamy feel on the palate. Great mix of roasted flavours (pale, crystal, brown and chic according to the label) give you a whack of dark chocolate and cherries (cherry chocolate?), which develops into a mildly nutty mid-palate and a ton of complex dark fruits. Rich and sweet. Finishes with a wave of mild hop flavour and bitterness to cleanse the palate. Tons of lingering flavour from pretty much all of the above. Superb...

Creamy, smooth, slick, rich and full bodied. It doesn't get better than this. Carbonation levels are perfect and astringency levels are very low, but enough to clean the palate and leave it gagging for another mouthful.

This is quite simply the best beer I've ever had. It ticks every box and puts all other stouts and porters to shame. Like dark beers? This needs to be top of the list for you.

 

Old Growler - Nethergate Brewery (5.5% ABV)

Old Growler from the Nethergate Brewery is an English Porter brewed in my home county of Essex. Not tried any of their beers before, so here goes...

Appears a very deep, dark brown with a chestnut hue. Very little carbonation results in a lacklustre head, which only offers mild retention and lacing.

Nose offers up plenty of roasted malt, with complex fruits and a ton of sweet, syrup flavours. Quite similar to port wine.

Initial prickly carbonation on the tongue, but flavours give you lots of roasted malt, brown bread, loads of complex dark fruits, and a syrup sweetness to sticks to the palate. Can't detect a great deal of hop flavour in there, and any bitterness that might be there only makes a fleeting visit.

Carbonation at the front end is off-putting, but the full body and smooth texture give this a pleasant mouthfeel. Good clean flavours, but there is something missing from this... It just doesn't seem to pack enough flavour and as a result, it feels off balance.

Not a bad porter. I think I would come back to it, but not in the near future

 

Brakspear Oxford Gold - W.H. Brakspear & Sons (4.6% ABV)

An organic beer from Brakspear with an unassuming label. Never had this before, but I know Brakspear won't disappoint me.

Pours a golden caramel colour with a soapy white head. Head eventually drops to a thin layer, but some decent retention and lacing is on show.

Nose offers up lots of yeasty, bread aromas along with fruit esters: tropical fruit predominantly, along with some citrus. Slight toast to the malt gives a strong whiff of sweet caramel, and there is a faint hint of floral hops in there.

Plenty of flavour on first taste. There is a decent creaminess to it, complimented up front with a healthy dose of honey sweet malt. Yeast and bread flavours are there too, but the hops slowly come to the fore and hit you with a medley of tropical fruits, tons of grapefruit, mild spices and resinous hop flavour.

Good finish with a moderate level of bitterness and a bit of sourness from the grapefruit. Malt sweetness also sticks to the palate to give some balance at the end.

Medium/full bodied with a decent creamy texture and great carbonation levels. Clean and crisp, with a low level of astringency, this is a well balanced offering from Brakspear.

Good rounded brew overall, but may not be to everyone's liking due to the heavy grapefruit flavours, but I enjoyed this one

 

Tribute - St Austell Brewery (4.2% ABV)

My first brew from St Austell, and i have heard good things about them. This brew captures the essential character of Cornwall, apparently...

This brew pours a crystal clear amber colour and produces a thin white head which quickly drops to a thin layer.

Nose gives off a complex mix malt goodness.  Toasted crystal and pale malts give off a burnt toast, and toffee sweetness.  Herbal hops and a slight cream note at the back.

Lots of toasty flavour, burnt toffee with a biscuit flavour give a decent malt backbone to this before the hops kick in; pine, herbs, complex citrus (definite pineapple) develop into a clean, bitter and mildly sour finish.  A hint of stewed, wet leaves slightly spoil the party, but nothing too drastic.

Mouthfeel is medium to full-bodied with a smooth creamy texture thanks to the perfect carbonation.  Dry in the finish, very clean and refreshing with a good level of balance

A very good beer overall and one I will try again.  All I need to do now is find some more of their brews to try!

Old Peculier - Theakston (5.6% ABV)

One of my favourite brews which is ever-present on the supermarket shelves, and for good reason.

This beer looks great - deep, dark mahogany with a cherry & ruby hue and a foamy mocha head which offers some retention and lacing.

On the nose, there is plenty of toasted crystal and chocolate malt giving off a sugary sweet aromas.  Complex fruit character with background hints of cocoa and coffee.  No discernible hops that I can make out.

This is a tasty brew indeed.  Tons of toffee sweetness up front, along with coffee, molasses, liquorice and bitter dark chocolate.  Fruity mid-palate of raisins, cherries and plums coats the palate, before being cooled off by pine hop flavour and mild bitterness and very little astringency.
Beautifully balanced.  The hop profile is hardly going to keep you interested for long, but it compliments the big malt flavours perfectly!

Gentle, light carbonation throughout.  Smooth texture with a full body, Old Peculier goes down a treat. The alcohol provides sufficient heat to the palate to make its presence known, but it is well masked at kept at bay.
A masterful brew that has no faults.  Looks good, smells good, tastes good and feels good...

St. Peter's Organic Ale - St. Peter's Brewery (4.5% ABV)

Nothing pretentious about this brew; A pale ale in a traditional bottle, so no bombastic flavours - just a nice English Ale to enjoy!

Pours a clear, golden orange with an almost non-existent head.

Nose is subdued but offers up some floral hops and some yeasty bread notes.

Taste of light malt with some bread & honey develops into a mildly hoppy finish with oranges, grapefruit, nettles and a hint of bitterness.  Not a great deal going on here, but it's very clean and refreshing.

The hop flavours are not as pronounced as you would expect, but its still enjoyable.

Medium bodied with a good texture and there is very little astringency or carbonation.  Leaves the palate coated and feeling refreshed

Well, its about as complex as a Kinder Egg toy and the malt / hop profiles are subdued, but I enjoyed this as its very refreshing and quaffable.  Give me 4 or 5 of these on the bounce and you won't hear me complain

Spooks Ale - Shepherd Neame (4.7% ABV)

Shepherd Neame... Purveyor of standard beers... This is what you are often presented with when reading their tasting notes;

This beer scared the shit out of me!

'Malty and hoppy with a bitter finish'

Really?  Aren't all beers like that?
However, this Halloween ale has a more robust profile (according to the tasting notes anyway), so it should not be as forgettable as their non-seasonal brews...

Looking at the glass upon pouring, there is a big soap-suddy off-white head with a ton of lacing throughout.  Dark amber in appearance, with some mild opacity, there are lots of spooky bubbles rising to the surface...

Nose offers up a complex mix of fruit (plums definitely), roasted malt with a caramel and sugary candy note.  Hops?  Nah; can't smell any to be honest, but it smells alright nonetheless.

On tasting, there is a harsh blast of carbonation which isn't the best way to be introduced to a beer, but the flavour does then come through:  First you get that plum flavour, then roasted malt with a cracker & biscuit flavour.    Some caramel sweetness in there as well.  This is followed up by nuts, dried leaves and earthy hop flavours.  Finishes slightly dry with only a mild linger of malt ; bitterness is hardly there - mild at best.

Body is light and thin which is disappointing... It does get some creaminess as it warms up, but it still fails to provide a sufficient texture.  Astringency levels are Ok, but that initial harsh carbonation is a let-down.  Despite the above, it feels balanced and clean.

Rear of the bottle states 'Huge citrusy, hoppy Bitterness'... You lie, Shepherd Neame!  However, the flavours aren't too bad and provide a welcome change of formula for SN.

Greene King IPA Gold - Greene King / Morland Brewery (4.10% ABV)

Greene King (in the UK at least) is synonymous with the IPA brand and, until now, the only beer of theirs that I would have been able to name, would have been 'IPA'.  So IPA Gold is their relatively new foray into the bottled beer market.  Hopefully it is better than boring old 'IPA'.

Very clear and vivid appearance of golden caramel.  Decent white foamy white head offers only mild retention and lacing.

Aroma is... interesting: Lots of stale hops - slightly vegetal - and some skunkiness.  However, there is mild redemption in the form of honey, complex tropical fruits and some faint malt sweetness.  Faint whiff of lager at the back.

On initial tasting, there is a confusing muddle of flavours, with no real balance.  There are definite tropical fruits in there, with some citrus pith.  Malts give you some honey sweetness and corn flavour, before a frankly unpleasant metallic dryness strips the palate clean and lingers for far too long with more stale hops.
Not the best taste in the world... Tasting notes on the bottle mention spice, but it was about as spicy as a Korma, although there was maybe a touch of white pepper.

Body is medium, crisp with smooth carbonation - thumbs up in this department... However, as mentioned, that metallic/stale bite at the end just makes you wince, and the wacky balance doesn't help either

To be honest, I am not disappointed in this, as I was half expecting this to be crap and it was.  I'm not sure who this would appeal to, but I won't bother with it again.

Newcastle Brown Ale - The Caledonian Brewery Company (4.7% ABV)

My first review in a week, thanks to a potentially lethal dose of man-flu (I was literally at death's door!), but thankfully I am feeling better now.
Newcastle Brown, or 'Newky Brown' as it's more affectionately known, is an ale that you can buy in pretty much any pub in these parts... Unfortunately, it is always served in a bottle at ice-cold temperatures. Well, regardless of what the bottle says, I did not drink this ice-cold, but only slightly chilled.
On a separate note, I have just noticed that this bottle is 550ml, as opposed to the standard 500ml.  50ml free!  Sweet!

Anyway, the appearance is obviously brown, although auburn would be a more poncy term to use.  Wispy off-white head with no real retention or lacing.

The nose is a tad off-kilter; slightly skunked hops with hints of wet leaves and some very mild floral notes.  Quite earthy overall, with some toasted malts coming through gradually.

The taste gives you plenty of those earthy hops.  Again, its got tons of wet leaf with some spice and very mild citrus.  Malts are not overly prominent, but do enough to balance with caramel sweetness and faintly detectable milk chocolate.  Mildy dry and bitter finish with not much linger at all to be honest. There is a mild metallic bite at the back and something odd which I cannot put my finger on.... Maybe stale wheat??

Mouthfeel is slightly watery.  No real or texture to this, but it is strangely enjoyable and easily drinkable.  Body is light/medium with decent balance with a inoffensive carbonation level.

Plenty of earthy flavours, but its got no real depth or complexity to it.  I wouldn't call this bland, but it fails to get the taste buds tingling.  However, I did enjoy it - with a tinge of guilt.  Very good for getting pissed whilst out on the town.

McEwan's Champion - McEwans (7.3% ABV)

McEwans have been a brewery that I have often seen whilst perusing the supermarket shelves, but I have never bothered to pick up a bottle of their beer I am ashamed to say... until now that is!
I don't know why I never bothered to try it; perhaps it was the boring label, or the picture of Captain Hook holding a pint glass aloft.  Anyway, here goes!

Appearance is good - thick, creamy off-white head holds well and offers lovely thick lacing.  Beer is a dark ruby brown with some bubbles coming up from the bottom

The aroma punches you in the nose with the sweetest of sweet malt, with plenty of caramel and some light roast.  Vanilla, cherry and spicy notes are hidden beneath the malt, and it's all accentuated by plenty of booze!

The taste of crystal and chocolate malt washes over the palate at the front end... Really sweet, rich and warming thanks to the booze.  Plenty of complex fruit including raisins and cherries in the middle, with a slightly woody note.  The sweetness is balanced out nicely with enough bitterness and a whack of spice and leafy hop flavour to finish off this very tasty beer.

Full-bodied, chewy texture and a smooth, mildy astringent finish.  Carbonation levels are good

A very good beer.  Maybe too sweet for some, but I believe there is sufficient bitterness in there to give plenty of depth and balance to make this a regular resident of my beer cupboard

Pumpking - Wychwood Brewery (4.2% ABV)

Belated Happy Halloween!  I picked up this Pumpkin beer from ASDA, and it doesn't even appear on the Wychwood website!  But hey, it's Halloween so I feel obliged to give it a go, even though I have never tried Pumpkin, but I'm pretty sure I hate it.
Typical Wychwood artwork on the label, with a maniacal Pumpkin presumably on his way to eat some children...

The appearance is a deep burnished, golden honey.  A wispy off-white head pops up, and sticks nicely to the glass.

Nose gives off some lightly toasted malt, with plenty of caramel sweetness wrapped in some booze.  Dried fruits with some hops complete the aroma.  No Pumpkin that I can make out...

Taste starts off with a pretty weak malt base.  Caramel, fruit cake and a lightly toasted character are the underlying flavours, but its all quite subdued and watery.  Oranges, apricot and... some mild 'squash' notes are there... must be the pumpkin.  Finishes with a dry harshness and pine hop bitterness

Body is medium, but thin and feels unbalanced.  The finish is just too dry and bitter, and masks any lingering malt or hop flavour.  Too bad...

My first pumpkin beer and, to be honest, if I had to blind taste this, I probably wouldn't have picked up that it was a pumpkin flavoured
A decent ale from Wychwood, but offers nothing new to the shelves.