Hillstown Brewery The Horny Bull

The Horny Bull

 

Hillstown Brewery in Randalstown, Antrim, Northern Ireland

  Stout - Imperial Regular
Score
6.68
ABV: 7.0% IBU: - Ticks: 18
Created for their ‘Beer Fed Cattle Project’ at Hillstown Farm, an Imperial Stout which is strong and full bodied with exceptional depth, flavours enjoyed are coffee and chocolate and fruity hops and notes of roasted malt.
 

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7
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle @ Torben Mathews tasting. Nice creamy head with excellent duration. Color is black. Aroma and taste are roast malt, chocolate, cocoa, coffee and hops. Sweet roasty chocolate finish.

Tried from Bottle on 02 Nov 2017 at 11:26


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle. Pours black with medium light brown head. Aroma is roasted malt, prunes, soy sauce, sweet licorice and hints of dark chocolate. Taste is light to medium sweet and light to medium bitter. Body is creamy and light chalky with soft carbonation. Finish is long and mostly bitter.

Tried from Bottle on 01 Nov 2017 at 15:50


4.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4.5

Bottle from Producers’ own stall at NEC Good Food Festival 2016 - Deep reddy black body, thin off white head. Nose doesn’t have the usual burnt notes of an imp, more of a false coffee, redcurrant - cake fruit thing going on. Taste is astringent, and a bit acidic. Not a good effort.

Tried from Bottle on 03 Jun 2017 at 04:03


7
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Bottle at home in Northern Ireland, picked up from Crumlin Tesco. A jet black coloured pour with a a dark tan head, loose. Aroma is robust dark roast rustic, tangy plum, dark choc. Flavour is composed of dark choc, plum pudding, woody raspberry. Palate is medium bodied, oily, moderate carbonation. Pretty good.

Tried from Bottle on 24 Feb 2017 at 17:00


4.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5

Bottle from the brewer’s own stand at the Good Food Show at Birmingham NEC. Black with a thin beige head. Dominated by vegetable notes. Chicory in particular. Little grassy and roasty notes sneak around the edges but the chicory is killing this. Like camp coffee but with more of the camp and less of the coffee. Something wrong with this bottle maybe, but as it’s fresh and direct from the brewery I’m happy to rate it as I find it. Which is not very good.

Tried from Bottle on 28 Nov 2016 at 15:58


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle from Tesco, Enniskillen [150516] 3/8/8/4/17 4.0
Pitch black, dark tan head dissipates
Aroma of dark chocolate, rich dark malts, soft mellow roast, soft cereal, chocolate cereal, touch of dark fruits
Taste of rich dark quite sweet malts, dark chocolate, very mellow, no aocolhol, lots of chocolate, rich dark malts, hint of liquorice, just great
Palate - Very soft carb, medium body, soft sweet, smooth. Finish of soft dark malts, sweet dark chocolate
Overall - Great beer, yummy soft dark malts, taste close to some of the strong sweet Scottish stouts. Top NI beer I’ve tried so far.

Take #2
Bottle from Tesco, Enniskillen [200816] 3/6/6/3/13 3.0
Not as good this bottle...much more dark fruits in the nose, vinous, some oxidation. Taste has some sour dark fruits in there, dark chocolate has gone, mainly dark fruits, vinous. On the turn, still drinkable, but not as good. Shame it doesn’t seem to be consistent as tip top is a really good beer.

Tried from Bottle on 27 Aug 2016 at 11:22


5.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5

330mL bottle, pours black with a small tan head. Nose brings out notes of licorice, a little cocoa and some roast. Flavour is surprisingly weak for a 12% stout - there are notes of light licorice and light toasted malt. I wanted to like the currently only imperial stout in Northern Island, but this is quite shite. Nothing really offensive, but pretty weak and unexciting.

Tried from Bottle on 01 May 2015 at 04:02


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Pours a deep black color, topped with a fairly small tan colored head. Mild roasty aroma, pleasant caramel notes, some coffee and soury notes as well. Start is sweet with chocolate, slightly soury in the back, lightly roasty with mild bitterness. The alcohol level (12%) in really masked, so it has none of that alcohol feel. Smooth and easy to drink. Nice.

Tried on 26 Jan 2015 at 12:46