Cask pint on 20th Dec 2014: The Crown Inn, Oakengates. No mention of XT brewing on the pumpclip, annoys me. Anyway the beer poured a slightly hazy golden colour with a full head of white foam. The aroma was semi-fruity and leaning towards a bread maltiness, hints of citrus too. The flavours were a lot more citrusy than the nose intimated and the taste was almost tart at first. The malts arrived later to calm the beer down nicely and although the hops gave a good dry finish the beer seemed a good blend of flavours to me.

Cask, handpump at St Aldates Tavern, Oxford in company of Grace after works Christmas meal, Thursday 18th December 2014. Pours dark brown with a scattering of light beige bubbles. Pleasant stout that offers a good fruity bite and jolly good hoppy bite amongst the dark roasty malts. Really likeable. A6 A4 T7 P4 Ov13 3.4

5th December 2014
Pigs Ear. Cask. Clear deep amber beer, few pale tan bubbles. Palate is light and semi dry with just modest fine carbonation. Mild dark malts, little dark chocolate. Mellow dark.fruits. Light dry finish with a little chocolate lingering on. Okay.

Cask at the pigs ear festival... Dark amber... Small white head... Soft sweet Light orange nose... Soft fruits... Light sweet orange... Light peach fruit

2nd December 2014
Pigs Ear. Cask. Almost clear gold beer, small white head. Palate is light and dry. Good fine carbonation. Smooth and light pale malts, dry. Bitter floralness. Orange and grapefruit citric peel bitterness. Floral bitter finish. Good robust bitter - golden blond.

Cask, gravity dispense at Oxford Beer Festival, Oxford Town Hall, Thursday 16th October 2014 me and Loz in the company of Grace & Ian I know that I am particularly fond of XT and the Animal series but this was a corker. I love how the English hops really shine here, there is a little toffee to start with but then it’s lots of marmaladey citrus flavours and a good hoppiness throughout. Soft in mouth with a white sticky head, orange/Amber in colour, good clarity. Excellent stuff, hats off to Russ and Gareth and the team for showcasing a pure English beer in such a way, intrigued though as to why it’s called Zebra? A7A4 T8 P4 Ov15 3.8

V284 c5 Cask, from brewer’s own stall at the Thame Food Festival. Light and slightly murky amber. Strong taste of sweet caramel clashes somewhat with a heavy bitterness. it’s lifted by some apricot in the finish but it’s not one of XT’s finer moments. Still quite drinkable though.

Bottle at Craig’s. Pours light gold with a thin white head. Aromas of light lemon. Taste is sweet, more lemons. Ok.