On Cask at The Rose & Thistle, Frimley Green dispensed into a UK pint glass (Jan ’12). Deep dark brown in colour, reddish at the edges with a good white frothy head. Smells of Belgian yeasts, dried dark fruits and spices. Taste is fruity, some orange, spices, dark fruit, prunes, toffee/caramel, slightly toasted/roasted, and again that Belgian yeast flavour comes forward, but perhaps not as much as on the nose. Mouthfeel was good, quite a full bodied beer for 4.6% ABV, fairly complex and not one to rush, but not heading into the ’chewy’ category in anyway! Not bad when held up against a lot of the typical bland British Xmas beers where a bog standard recipe has seemingly been tweaked up 0.3/4 ABV !!!

Cask at The Betjeman Arms, St Pancras station London last Christmas. An attractive dark brown/ruby coloured pour with a medium white head on top. Aroma of dark fruit and spice. Tastes of dark fruit, oranges, spice, slight bitterness. Pretty good Christmas ale.

Cask at The White Horse, Exchange Square, London. Pours clear brown with a foamy, white head. Light Belgian yeast aroma, with some candi sugar. Light to medium sweet flavor, candi sugar, faint toast, bread. Medium bodied with fine carbonation. Light dry finish, light yeast and candi, mild cocoa, caramel, and toast. Very nice.

Cask (gravity) @ 27th Pigs Ear Beer and Cider Festival 2010, at The Round Chapel in Hackney, London, England.Clear medium to dark red - brown amber colour with a small, fizzy, virtually none lacing, fully diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, caramel, dark malt, dark fruit notes. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration, dark fruit, dark malt. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is flat. [20101202]