Full-bodied real ale that has a fine texture with a great tasting bitterness.

Bottle from Ica Nær, Årvoll. Golden with an off-white head. Lightly hoppy aroma with malt and a hint of fruit and caramel. Less sweet than expected with some bitterness. Ok ale, but not exciting.

Bottle courtesy of Glen ’Imdownthepub’ consumed at mums, Worcester 18.05.12 Thanks Glen! Pours black, pitch black with tan head. Strength is apparent but it is also pleasantly warming. More subtle and less in yer face than many Imperial Stouts. Roasty with chocolate and some late coffee. Very enjoyable. A7 A4 T8 P4 Ov15 3.8

Brown 500ml bottle best before 28th Nov 2008, drank 13th Feb 2008. Poured into a vase shaped ’Old Speckled Hen’ pint glass. Another Brit beer that looks like a dark Dort or a light Alt. Old gold in colour with a thin no-head, which makes me think of these two aforementioned German styles of beer. Very un-German in the aroma, more hops and barley than is evident in Germany. A typical English ale smell. Crisp dry and tart in the taste, nothing overpowering, just a good beer. The beer has something about it, difficult to place, but it has both depth and a presence which few 4.7% beers have. I like the normal Black Sheep on cask, it is a regular guest beer in bars around where i live. This is good too and I will look for it on cask.

Brown 500ml bottle, discovered two of these in one of my stash piles that I had not checked for a while, best before 28th Sep 2007, drank now, as I review, 26th Sep 2007. Poured into a pint sleeve, the label says drink at 13 degrees C. I am doing just that. Good colour for a pale ale? (I think its a bitter) Light terracotta with a firm white head, a fine looking beast. Malty, hoppy, yeasty mix in the smell, add sweetness from seaside rock and you are half way there. Solid more than exciting taste, bitter yet a sweetness is in there too, complexed and complicated. It grows on you as you get used to it. This beer is very drinkable, the sweetness and bitterness mixture seems to blend well. As the beer warms up it becomes even more complexed both in taste and aroma.

A little bit fizzy. It mostly has a bitter taste but there’s a slight sweetness to it as well.

Dec 2006: A Saint Barabara’s Day lunch, first course, 4 pints of Black Sheep (I wont tell you what else I drank). Very lively, but once it settled down, it looked a treat, off white foaming head on a body of pure delight, a fine amber brown. The hop aroma isn’t overly strong, but is there if you search for it. Well balanced taste, a true bitter in every sense. Taste stays for a while, a mid-sweet-mildly-bitter flavour. Very drinkable. 2011 Update: 1st course at this years Saint Barbara’s function, only 3 pints this time. Still a well balanced easy drinking session bitter: ideal before the onslaught of the wines and port which followed.

Aug 2006 from BA: Dark Ruby Red, with a thick creamy coloured head which I poured into a Palm Tulip glass, this allowed the flavour and aroma to stay in the glass more than if I had just poured into a normal British pint sleeve glass. Burnt Malt and Hops come to the fore in the smell. The taste is strong on malt, but not overpowering, a slight fizz, but not gassy in any way. The throat holds the flavour (if you let it) and the mouth feel stays, this is not a watery beer. Very drinkable and must be tried with Wensleydale Cheese, they come from the same valley in Yorkshire.

Refrigerated bottle poured into a trappist glass. Pours translucent medium brown with small beige head. Little lacing, medium/light body, medium/low carbonation, and molasses aroma. Taste is roasted malt, a little molasses, and a finishes wee bit dry light bitter. More complex as it warms.