8.1/10
—
Appearance 9
Aroma 6.5
Flavor 9.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
Cask at Smithfield, Derby. Pours almost black with a small tan head and good lacing. The aroma is mainly roasted malts plus some biscuits, cake and shortbread. Roasted malts to the fore again in the mouth where it is sweet with a creamy texture and depth. Plenty of ginger and chocolate too together with alcoholic strength. Some liquorice strands come through later leading to a quite boozy finish. This is excellent ! Plenty of flavour but retains the stout base beautifully.
Tried
from Cask
at
Smithfield
on 27 Nov 2025
at 14:15
8.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 8
Cask at Smithfield, Derby. Pours a very dark reddish-brown with minimal cream head and good lacing. There’s vanilla and cake in a heady aroma – plus some hints of chocolate. Chocolate much more prominent in the mouth, along with roasted malts, dark fruits and cake. There’s a creamy texture and later some traces of butter and liquorice. Finish is fruity and slightly dry. This is excellent.
Tried
from Cask
on 11 Jun 2024
at 22:08
6/10
Tried
on 11 Feb 2024
at 17:46
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Cask at the Nottingham Beer Festival 2023. Deep brown colour with a tan head. Aroma and taste are malty spiced and slight sweet golden syrup. Medium body
Tried
from Cask
on 13 Oct 2023
at 21:11
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
24/8/2023. Cask at the 44th Peterborough Beer Festival. Everybody needs a dirty Bob said the lady as she served me this beer. Pours dark mahogany maroon brown with a small frothy beige head. Aroma is ashy, roasted malt, treacle, dark chocolate, molasses. Medium sweetness, moderate developing bitterness. Medium body, average to soft carbonation. Bitter finish. Decent beer, so she was probably right...
Tried
from Cask
on 28 Aug 2023
at 11:58
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Cask at Smithfield, Derby. Pours golden yellow with a small off-white head and good lacing. Rather a subdued aroma – just some hints of marmalade. The main feature in the mouth is the hoppiness. At the starts it’s traditional hops, before the focus switches to floral. Plenty of bitterness but with some underlying sweetness. Hints of corn, grains and biscuits too. Bitterness wins out at the finish. Not exactly the sort of beer I’d normally go for, but this is really rather good.
Tried
from Cask
on 18 May 2023
at 22:57
5.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 6
Cask at Smithfield, Derby. Pours a hazy lemon yellow woth minimal white head. Not much of an aroma, just some vague yeast and hop notes. In the mouth it is sweet and chewy. Quite a bit of citrus in the flavour, along with mango and grapefruit. Some hints of banana not otherwise not much wheatiness present. Finish has sticky citrus. Not bad, but an acquired taste I think.
Tried
from Cask
on 09 Dec 2022
at 22:46
7.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8
Cask at Smithfield, Derby. Pours almost black with a small beige head with a maroon tinge. Aroma is mainly roasted malts, but with some hints of cola. In the mouth it is somewhat vsweet and has a rather cloying texture. Malts again dominate the flavour, but with some crunchy beets, porridge, dandelion and burdock and hints of treacle. Finish has a little bitterness. Very nice, but one to be sipped slowly !
Tried
from Cask
on 09 Aug 2022
at 20:17
7.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Cask (gravity) at Smithfield, Derby. Pours a very dark reddish-brown with minimal beige head. Nuts and liquorice to the fore in the aroma. In the mouth cherries and oats are upfront, plus roasted malts and some hints of dark fruits. Finish is quite fruity. This is rather nice – the cherries aren’t overdone and the oats can be detected.
Tried
from Cask
on 29 Jul 2022
at 21:42
8.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 10
Texture 8
Overall 8
Cask at Smithfield, Derby. Pours a dark chocolate brown, but with a reddish tinge. Minimal head. There’s a lovely aroma of burnt treacle and toffee. Much the same in the mouth, but there even more flavours come through. Parkin, treacle, molasses and oats on a bed of caramel. Chewy with some sweetness there as well. Finish is sweet and sticky. Marvellous !
Tried
from Cask
on 20 Nov 2021
at 21:00