Bristol United Brewer's Colaboration 2012 Smoked Porter

Lots of people in the mix here, a who's who of the south west brewing scene really.

*intake of breath* Collaboration beer brewed by  Arbor Ales, Bath Ales, Bristol Beer Factory, Great Western Brewing, RCH & Zero Degrees, with the bottle coming from Bristol Beer Factory and the cask was from RCH. *phew*
This was brewed for the 2012 Bristol Beer Festival, so my bottle has been sitting around for a while obviously then, but I actually drank this back in June.

Pours so dark, lovely depth of inkiness with a great lingering head. Coffee, chocolate and cream aroma, and plenty in the mouth too.
Rich, almost a strong toffee, kinda burnt element, a little oily but the creamy part balances it. Its not as smokey as I was expecting, perhaps that has dissipated with age?

Purple Moose Brewery 'Dark side of the Moose' and 'Snowdonia Ale'

Another two from the North Wales brewery Purple Moose, a porter with the excellent name of 'Dark Side of the Moose' and a pale ale called 'Snowdonia'.
The bottle label calls it a pale ale, and its won several awards under the bitter banner, it does seem to be putting a toe into the golden ale camp to my mind. But whatever it is, is it any good, thats whats important.

The Snowdonia pours a nice golden yellow, a small head that reduces but lingers down the glass.
Aroma is light citrus, little hoppy. Its body is on the lighter side also, not to thin though, and I get lemon,  small bittering hoppyness, creamy with a certain juicy quality.
Very drinkable, if I had more than one bottle I certainly would have quoffed it much quicker,and with its 3.6% abv this certainly puts it in the sessionable arena.
On the down side it doesn't have much to distinguish it from similar beers, on cask I would hope it had more body and fruit to make it a more rounded beer.



'Dark Side of the Moose' is 4.6% abv, 500mls.
Dark reddy brown, creamy chocolate and some fruit, I would say blackcurrant but its not as acidic as that.

Its smooth, delicious with raisins and rich tea biscuit coming on, good body, some spice and then sweet stickyness. 
Nicely dry, a bit metallic in the finish also, but I liked this porter.




Many thanks to my friend Doug and his family for these Purple Moose beers, cheers mate.

Atlantic Discovery Rich Cornish Porter

This was another of the bottle's I bought in May on our Cornish holiday, from the Atlantic brewery its one of their Discovery range. These are their 'fine dining ales' produced in collaboration with chef Michelin starred chef Nathan Outlaw. 

This range also includes a smooth blond beer with elderflower and lemon; a pale ale with lime, chilli and ginger; and a red Celtic bitter with cinnamon and orange. All have food matching advice, and the Rich Cornish Porter was supposed to go with stronger meats, venison, beef or wild boar.

I'd been waiting for suitable meals to try one of the 'dining ales' i've accumulated, including the Blond Beer above, and another two, some Sharps/Rick Stein bottles.

For a change on a Sunday roast we had beef, normally its chicken or pork, the last time we had beef the kids were not keen on it, but we tried again this time slow cooking brisket. That turned out fantastic if I do say so myself!

Onto the beer itself.
Lightly carbonated, perfect for the style, small head that soon faded away though.
Its body is light to medium, not to thin just right.
This porter is brewed with blackcurrants and molasses, and you certainly get a rich sharp fruity aroma.
The blackcurrants follow through in the taste, sharp, with the dark malts giving it body, nice bitterness, all went with the rich meat really well.
Overall its a nice porter on its own, and it went very nicely with the roast beef.

Brewdog Alice Porter

Another welcome addition to the Tesco shelves is Brewdog's Alice Porter. Its a 6.2% abv 330ml bottle of a 'Baltic Porter', looks stylish with an off red colouring, kinda looks the colour of some of my autumn  raspberries currently growing in my plot.

This looks almost black in the glass, held up its the darkest of browns at the edges topped with a great light creamy brown head.

Its aroma is a little muted at first, you notice more as you further in. I got some deep fruits and caramel, coffee, and later the vanilla beans come forward alongside some alcohol.






Medium body, and a herbal taste is one of the first things i notice, coming with caramel and coffee again, those rich fruits, and chocolate although only a little bit. There's a woody bitterness and it lingers.


This was very good, i really enjoyed it. And it surprises you initially as your expecting the usual Brewdog assault with flavours in your mouth but its calmer than that and therefore you prolong the pleasure. 

Nethergate Old Growler

One of the new lines i picked up in my Tesco's. Also one of the '300 beers to try before you die' according to R Protz, so another tick there! 

This is a beer based on a 1750's recipe and has won many awards, although I'm confused if i have the 'Growler extra' version or not, the difference being 0.5% abv unless that only relates to the cask version perhaps.

The bottle is 500mls, 5.5% abv, its style is a porter.

Colour is almost black,with a small off white head.

There is a light chocolate and coffee aroma, plus some roasted malts in there. 
Its taste is on a medium light body that is very easy drinking, its got rich fruit but its not heavy hitting, but balanced well. There are also hints of pepper and as i got further down it was almost a sweet milky chocolate taste that was very pleasant overall. 

 

Samuel Smith Taddy Porter

I opened this on Boxing Day after a day visiting the in-laws and entertaining the kids. With them tucked up in bed i opened the Taddy Porter and hoped it was as good as their Oatmeal Stout.
It is almost black in the glass with a light chocolate creamy head.
The aroma is also a milky chocolate and coffee, lovely. This follows through in the mouth, wonderful smoothness, a slight burnt smokiness, more chocolate and coffee bitterness, and i felt it almost had a little cherry like sweetness.
Last time i beer shopped in Cardiff and picked this up they also had the Samuel Smith Imperial Stout amongst others, i think thats next on my list!

bigger picture here

Burton Bridge Brewery Santa's Christmas Porter

From the Burton Bridge Brewery, better known probably for their Empire Ale, is this xmas offering.

I like the label for a start, simple, good Christmas red and a nice Santa having a glug.
Pours a dark brown with a frothy creamy off-white head. Aroma of light coffee and malt, and a bit woody also. Reasonable mouthfull, not too thin, dryness with a light bitterness and hints of strong rich fruits. Overall its okay, nothing stands out in it but its quite drinkable.

bit of a beer round up no.1

I've been busy, or working nights, or the wife is using the computer, so a few beers over the last couple of weeks have escaped being blogged about so i thought a round up post was in order. 


Lets start with a goody.
Fullers 'Golden Pride'  (8.5% abv) was picked up at Waitrose a while back, a beautiful reddish brown colour with lovely aroma of berries and caramel. 
Full bodied in the mouth, a little oily too, warmth and reasonable amount of alcohol come through with flavors of sugars and rich fruit, a bit malty with a dryness also. Really good.




From Scotland and quite well known, and usually found in beer collection books, next was Williams Brothers Kelpie seaweed ale. I don't know if its the suggestion after reading books and reviews but the fresh sea breeze aroma really is there! A dark ale with a light salty chocolate taste, earthy aroma and taste also, this was a different beer one i would have again but not frequently i think, could become a little monotonous on the palate.
 







Fullers Chiswick bitter was a new one on me, and a very pleasant introduction was made. Small creamy white head, beautiful fresh orange pithy bitter aroma. Good malty and hop balance, crisp and some dryness also, lovely beer.



 



After really enjoying the Anchor Porter a while back i was quite looking forward to their Liberty ale that i bought at the same time. A yellowy orange in colour and good creamy head on top. Quite bitter but not a sharp fresh bitterness, its quite a heavy body in the mouth and lasts, ?some pine. I was a little disappointed with this, i was expecting to be wow'd like when tasting their porter or when i first had Sierra Nevada's Pale ale, but its still a good complex beer.





The last of the beers i picked up at the Cowbridge festival this year was Otley's O-HO-HO which i assume is their Xmas beer from the title. Thus i also assume it would be rich fruity dark ale like most other Xmas/winter ales, so was pleasantly surprised when i poured a fresh orange'gold coloured beer with a minimal head. Immediate light aroma of sweet oranges, like pulling satsuma's out of your stocking!! Dry, citrus hops, a crisp beer with hints of spice and a delight to drink. Made me rethink what a Christmas ale should be really, although i would be just as happy to drink this on a hot summers day, it would be a real thirst quencher i believe.

Bath ales Festivity

Bath ales do some good beers, Barnstormer and Dark Hare being two good examples, so i was pleased to see this on the Waitrose shelves on one of my rare excursions there.

Festivity is their porter, 5.0% abv, and they say 'We create this wintery brew using floor- malted Maris Otter barley and roasted chocolate malt, together with Challenger and Bramling Cross hops from Kent. These fine ingredients have helped to make Festivity the perfect seasonal ale.'

I've always thought the design of their bottles whilst individual slightly uninspiring, but the contents always make up, and this is no exception. A nice dark ruby brown, initially a light brown head but that soon dissipates. A wiff of smoke firstly, then creamy chocolate. Body is a good weight in the mouth, not light/thin but not to heavy either, and there is a nice earthy malt to it, chocolate and coffee. A slight bitterness that sits in my mouth but not overwhelming.
Its not an 'in your face' porter blasting you with flavour but its well balanced and very pleasant, if i get to Waitrose again, or better still visit my in-laws in Bath itself,  i would definitely get it again.

Bigger picture here

Anchor Porter Vs. Tesco Finest Traditional Porter

This is less a taste test, more a 'one bottle after another' evening.
I settled down to watch the new Star Trek movie finally and open up another in the latest Tesco Finest range. The Traditional Porter is produced and bottled by Harviestoun , Scotland and is 6% 330mls.
Colour wise its a very dark brown verging on black, nice light brown head that quickly goes. Aroma was chocolate and light coffee. Nice and smooth, again light coffee and chocolate malts, with a slight bitterness staying at the back of the throat. Enjoyable overall.

I then opened the Anchor  Porter  ,5.6%  355mls, and wow, what a difference, all round really. Immediate aroma is immensely enjoyable but i struggled to put a name to some of what i was getting. Creamy, sweet chocolate, almost treacly smell, lovely. Colour again is almost black with larger light brown head. Taste - quite malty, coffee bitterness but a full mouthful of flavour, sweet rich fruit. Extremely good beer, and i defiantly pick some more up when i next see them.

The Harviestoun porter was quite nice , nothing wrong with it but it is dwarfed by the Anchor, even with less abv it drinks much higher such is the flavour.

And the movie was quite good too.

Good times ahead.

Just before the weekend i had to go into Cardiff for a work thing which meant i could make a slight detour to probably the best (as in most varied selection) beer shop in South Wales that I'm aware of. Please feel free to correct me if you know of another.
On 97-99 Whitchurch Road is the Discount Supermarket which from the outside looks reasonable ordinary, little hint at the treasures inside.



Aside from the usual convenience shop fare and a large wine section, is a fantastic beer selection. Floor to ceiling shelves with a choice from all corners of these isles, including as high up as the Scotland's Orkney Brewery. Then there is the Belgian beers, German, many other European, and a good but small selection of US beers.
I picked up:
two from the Anchor brewing co. Porter and Liberty Ale
Orkney Brewing co. Red MacGregor

William Brothers Kelpie Seaweed ale
Timmermans Gueuze Lambic   -   this will be my first lambic beer btw.
Schneider weisse Tap 6
Samual Smith Oatmeal Stout
Marble Lagonda IPA
Leffe 9
and the Untapped Triple S  in my last post.

I then went to Dorset for the weekend to see family and friends, and my oldest friend Dougie kindly gave me three beers he picked up on holiday in Devon recently from the Teignworthy brewery. Cheers mate!!

Unfortunately i know am working three nights and then have the next few nights already booked up so all of these will have to wait until next week!!! To be fair thought one of these nights out is a small stag do which will be attending a beer festival so that pretty good compensation!

Sainsbury's London Porter

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference London Porter

From the Sainsburys Taste the Difference range, brewed for them by Shepherd Neame. When i saw the bottle on the shelf i was hoping, knowing that this range is brewed by established breweries, that it was by Fullers as i have yet to try their reportedly amazing porter. When i saw it was Shepherd Neame i was apprehensive, i've not always liked their output.
The London Porter is 5% and is a 'rich, dark beer packed with intense flavours of chocolate and spicy liquorice'


It has a big creamy off white head and a fair amount of carbonation is evident in its black body. Its aroma is of coffee and strong burnt malt, very nice. Taste wise i never found the liquorice but enjoyed the rest, the sweet maltyness, coffee and chocolate, medium body and the bitterness which grew as it warmed up. Really enjoyed this, and had it alongside a ginger cake i made earlier, lovely!!.

Penpont Porter

Whilst in Cornwall on holiday this May i was in a wine merchants scanning the beer shelves and at my feet were two unopened boxes, so i had a peek inside and found some new bottles from the Penpont brewery, a local Cornish company. Wish i picked up more of their range but i already had my arms full!.

A lovely and light in the mouth porter, good aroma of chocolate and coffee, lovely smooth drink, little aftertaste.
I suppose i say light in the mouth,  but it was very enjoyable
www.penpontbrewery.co.uk