Cask at The Park Tavern, Eltham. Copper coloured pour with a white head. Nose is toffee apple, red fruits, malts. Taste is orchard fruits, toffee, malty bittersweet action. Nice.

Dark and hoppy

Cask @ The Guildford Arms, Edinburgh [031113]
Very dark brown, thin white head
Aroma - Dark caramel, some liquorice, dark fruits
Taste - Dark caramel malts, soft dark sugars, touch of treacle, bit of a mish mash, better in big gulps
Palate - Medium body, sweet malts. Finish dry, bitter peppery finish
Overall - Wasn’t sure about this one, bit of a hit and miss

Cask at Willow Walk, London. It pours deep ruby, with a beige head. The nose is roasted malt, dark fruit, leather and faint blackberry jam. The taste is roasted malt, charry, wood, astringency, dark fruit, subtle vinegar, vinous aspect and tangy jam, with a very dry finish. Medium body and soft carbonation. Not bad, but something just doesn’t taste right about it.

Cask, handpump at the Hop Pole, Aylesbury, Bucks 02-11-09 Pours dark amber with a mid sized off-white head. Quite a big fruity, malty beer, that is tasty, tangy, quite bitter and a touch dry at end, likeable stuff. Chatted to Vale about this yesterday thinking that this was the November special (but then saw Glen’s rating) but informed that it was a seasonal beer. Informed that whilst fairly similar to last years brew the recipe (malts) were slightly tweaked from last year. Its also worth noting that this beer was created initially as a dark, stronger (but quite different in my opinion) variant of the VPA. A6 A5 F7 P3 Ov12 3.3