When I first met my wife, back in the 70’s, she was a nurse at a RAF Hospital in Germany. Cans of this beer were kept in a fridge for pregnant ladies and mothers of new born babies, to help them produce milk and keep their iron intake up. She used to sneak some out for me sometimes. This can is newer though and Whitbread have sold their sole to Inbev, having killed a few breweriers off themselves. 330ml can, best before March 2007, drank on 1st April 2007, so it is out of date. Poured into a Gordon thistle glass it looks fantastic, a very dark body with a huge foaming fawn head. The aroma is malt and more malts, burnt sugar and biscuits. Sweet and burnt toffee flavours mix with the malt taste, well it is a sweet stout, what was I expecting? Tastes linger, you would never guess this is only 3.0% in acoholic volume, not watery at all. A trip down memory lane for me, a pleasant one at that, I’ll have another in 30 years time.

Can. Dark brown with a tan head. Roasty aroma with some sugary malts. Sort of thin, metallic, with cheap coffee notes. Simple and industrial - not as good as the US/Caribbean XXX variant.

330ml can. Pours jet black with a medium tight head. Aroma is roasted malt and sugars. Taste is very sweet, roasted malt. Quite full for the 3%. Reminds me of a Brewdog Paradox.

Can. Opaque, dark brown pour witha dense, creamy and stick-to-the-sides-of-the-glass beige head. Dark malts, faint roast in the aroma, with some light caramel and lactic sugars. Very sweet flavor, prunes and light char, plenty more lactic sweetness, not much bitterness. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Sweet finish, perhaps too much sugar, really, with not enough roasty bitterness. Altogether not that bad.

Black with a lasting, light brown head. Caramel aroma with a touch of buttermilk. Caramel and toffee flavour