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

Old notes from Nov 2014 - Brought from the brewery on my Welsh road trip earlier this year. Pours a very black colour with a small brown head that diminishes quite quickly. Aroma of power full roasted chocolate with a taste of chocolate, with a hint of caramel coming through the more you drink. Overall a unusual brew, as you don't come across many black bitters. I enjoyed it but would pass on a second bottle.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

500ml bottle [courtesy of Grumbo - cheers Graham!]. Clear, dark, mahogany colour with ruby shimmer and average to huge, frothy, moderately lasting, minimally lacing, off-white to beige head. Toasty malty and yeasty fruity aroma, hints of toffee, red and dark berries, a touch of liquorice, minimally waxy overtones. Taste is toasty malty, hints of liquorice, toffee, a touch of dark caramel, hints of dark fruit, plum, dark berries, a touch of red berries, whiffs of instant coffee. Watery texture, minimally dry palate, medium to coarse, prickly carbonation. Nice composition, slightly overcarbonated (maybe stored too long) - nice.

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

20/12/2020. bottle bought direct from the brewery. Pours very dark brown with a frothy off-white head. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, toffee, liquorice, ash, dark fruits and light berry notes. Medium plus sweetness and light bitterness. Medium body, slick texture, soft carbonation. Sixth beer I've had from this brewery and first that I can say I enjoyed.

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

Bottle from Abbey Grange Hotel, Llangollen. Brown with a thin head. Has sweetened dark malts with just a hint of roasted available.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4

2nd June 2018, cask half-pint at the Abbey Grange Hotel, next to the brewery. Black pour (as the name might suggest) with a tight foam pillow on top. Looked lovely, sadly that was the best part, looking at it. Weak bodied and watery, it may well have had some malts within the brew and even a hop or two, but it didn't appear to have much of anything really. A big, big disappointment. Cracking hotel by the way.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 3.5

500ml bottle, beer gift from Richard. Bubbly beige head, deep dark brown body, crocheted lacing. Mid-sweet malty aroma, earthy. Caramel and a disturbing farmyard touch to the taste character. Slightly sour bittersweet end. Not in its best condition, I guess. (Shared with djoeye and Finn, Tromsø 31.01.2018).

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4

Flaske 500ml spandert av Rune. Delt med ham og djoeye i WCveien 31 Jan 18. Dyp amber. Høyt tett skum med litt farge. Tynn teppelacing. Aroma av fjøs & krydder. Smaken som aromaen. Uvariert.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 3

Mom brought this one back from a trip to Wales. +++ Sampled from a 500ml brown bottle this beer poured an almost black color with an enormous foamy tan head that lingered and left decent lacing. He aroma was egg white, yeast and some vague bitterness. The flavor was bitter with black food coloring, wood, bread crust and an off note. Medium length finish. Medium body. Not good.

Shrewsbury Oktoberfest 2017

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bottle from Porters Deli in Llangollen. Despite several days to settle and a very careful pour, this still emerged as a disturbingly murky, cloudy brown colour, although at least it had a nice beige head and a light fizz. Although the body is a little thin, the chocolate, plum and raisin flavour is decent. There’s a hint of roastiness in the mildly bitter finish. Overall it’s OK.