Bottle courtesy of Hogtownharry: Poured a medium cloudy yellow/beige color ale with a medium foamy head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of english dry hops with a floral component is dominating and quite enjoyable. Taste is a mix between some malt that is quite dry as well as a hoppy finish with a dry aftertaste. Body is above average with low filtration and low carbonation. I have really been digging the English hops lately and this was very rewarding.

Cask handpull at Ship & Mitre, Liverpool. Copper colour with lasting beige head. I expected a bit of pear fruit to be honest. Instead this is a pretty standard bitter, some caramel, some hop. Fine, it’s just that it’s a bitter and after an hour or so at this pub, I do get bored of bitters.

Bottle courtesy of Hogtownharry: Poured a medium reddish color ale with a big foamy head with great retention and excellent lacing. Aroma of malt with a hint of sweetness is weaker then expected but still enjoyable. Taste is comprised of medium caramel malt with some weak candi sugar and an interesting yeasty finish. Body is probably thinner then it should be with some great carbonation. I always thought that Burton beers had something Belgian about them so it is great to have the opportunity to drink this beer but it still seems something is missing for it to be a great dubel.

2 draught pints at Redbones on 3/6/07, about 27 hours from initial tapping.
Very strange head formation/retention. Extremely aerated, large-bubbled, dark-tan head is initially large, but fades steadily to partial cover, leaving only marginal lacing and a slight film on the glass. Deep, cocoa-powder black liquid shows a medium clarity with maroon tints on the edges. Beer is bright, despite its very dark color making it look not so.
Served very, very cold to start (the heat was broken in the bar area), there wasnt much discernable aroma. But of course, letting it warm, proved advatageous as always. Eventually, bakers chocolate, light cocoa powder and bits of creamy-sweet malt and vanilla emerge. Moderate fruitiness (esters of cherry, apple, strawberry) lightens the mood significantly while the slightest edge of roast/coffee nips at the finish. Strong doughy yeast is rather bland and quite noticeable. Moderate oxidation really highlights the black malts giving some slight ashiness and madeira. Sweet base malts stick with the aroma, however, and never allow it to get very dry and certainly not astringent or overly dull. Medium strength of aroma, no alcohol or flaws (other than the fair bit of yeastiness, but that’s to be expected, somewhat).
What I got from the flavor, above all else, was a sense of "wow, this is like a toned down Imperial Stout". It’s pretty sad that, with the current brewing trend mindset towards "big beers", I think of this as a toned down Imperial stout instead of just a stout. It’s as if Imperial stouts have become the standard and lower gravity stouts are just a variation of those. Ok, moving on.
It really does portray everything pleasant about this style. Light nuttiness, with creamy vanilla-honey and caramel malts, all well-integrated and soft on the palate, open things up, growing quickly chocolatey (dark chocolate, cocoa powder) and with light vanilla liqueur-like flavors emerging on a finish that is brushed with lightly salty char. Really nice interplay of soft/crunchy textures and sweet and dry flavors. With extended warming, strong fruitiness emerges in the middle mixing with vanilla that gives it a very distinct cherry-vanilla flavor. Contrast this with the chocolate and you’ve got one heck of a fun drink. What it dosent have is any palate fatiguing sugariness, hop bitterness/acidity, syrupy maltiness or harsh/strong alcohol. Of course, conversely, it’s rather watery, especially with the moderate oxidation it shows at this point. But you know what? Who says wateriness is a flaw in beer?? Especially mid gravity cask conditioned, sessionable beer. I’ll certainly vouch for it being a desirable aspect. Loved this stuff, could drink it all day. Lots of nutty/bland yeastiness apparent that was rather unwanted, but very solid other than that.

Nice deep amber colour,Very sweet and strong, at first clawing but grows nicly if savoured as you should at 10% cask at bow ... deep amber orange .. light dry hop nose ..soft sweet syrup ... juicy hop ... stick at 3.4

Deep Black.Smokey and biscuity with a vey slight blackberry hints. Cask was more ambery in colour

Bottle at home ...Deep brown,with a loase foam off white head. Roast malt coffe with a long coffee linger2.5 cask at JDW winchester ... deep brown .. bubbly tan head ... light smoke choclate nose ... very fruity ... littltle plum ... little chocolate ... little soft coffee.

Cask at The Old Manor, Bracknell (JDW). A pale gold colour with a good white head, lasting to the bottom of the glass with lots of lacing; citric hop aroma; full creamy flavour with a hint of apples; good long bitter finish. Refreshing, and definitely with an appley (but not cidery) feel.

Cask condition, handpull at Wenlock Arms. Leaparsons has stolen my interesting fact about this being named after a form of tennis which has a Greek name, which we were told about at the pub. Copper coloured bitter with bubbly off white head. Bit of citrus with some bitterness. Pretty good citrus actually. Nice enogh bitter.

Cask conditioned gravity dispense at Merton Winter Beer Festival 17-02-07. I was expecting a darker looking beer but it actually poured looking more warm golden , tasted much smoother than I expected and nothing like the 10% monster that it was, yes there was a sticky sweetness to it but overall it was dangerously drinkable and at the end of the Saturday night I found myself quite easily slipping one of these down.