Gravity dispense at the Quinns Head, Twickenham Stoop, 15/12/13. Had a lit up collar even on the cask! Clear dark amber/light brown with a moderate beige head that thins to edgeing. Nose is dark fruits, toffee, tobacco, brown bread, brown sugar. Taste carries less depth than the aroma with dried orange, bready malt, light spice and dark fruit. Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, dry closure with light bitter notes. Been a good few years since I’ve had this dull offering but a rate is a rate !

Clear 500ml bottle claiming to be a Hardy & Hansons beer brewed in Bury St Edmunds by Greene King: poured into an Abbot Ale glass tankard at home on 17th Dec 2013. Taken with a meat platter of Wiltshire Ham, German Peppered salami and a Pork Pie! Good looking beer, huge head of lightly tanned foam on top of a clear mid-mahogany body. Malty feel to the aroma with a toffee apple hint. The taste is also malt led, with a fruity trace. There is a mild Christmassy spiciness but not enough to get excited about. Originally a 5.0% ABV beer I believe, it needs that extra alcohol and the oomph it would give to this OK brew. This is just better than average for a mass produced UK Winter brew, but it could be so much better if they’d kept too the higher alcohol level IMHO.

500 ml. bottle. Clear, amber colour with a golden tint. Small, off-white head. Sweet aroma with toasted malts, caramel, nuts and fruits. Taste is light sweet. Medium body with a creamy texture and an average carbonation. Short, dry finish with a herbal bitterness and toasted malts. Pleasant - and that’s it.

Cask @ The Stapleton Tavern, Stroud Green. Marmalade orange, fairly sweet malts with a boring bitter finish.

Cask @ The Ship, St Cuthberts Street, Bedford. Clear reddish-brown. Big but thin head, like kids’ shampoo. Astringency in the aroma, along with forest fruit. Taste is sulphur and astringency mixed with bittersweet. More complex than I would have thought; small slow sips are merited. Still, a bog-standard Christmas beer which is nice enough but fails to excite.

Bottle from Havnens, Vejle. Clear dark amber with an off-white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel and light nutty. Flavor is medium sweet and moderate bitter. Dry and light bitter finish. 291113

50 cl bottle @ home, BBE 10/2014.
Aroma has harsh malty tones, some butter, English hops and toffee. Flavour has grass, harsh grainy tones, some toffee and English hops. Like a mixture of bulky German pils and bitter. Drinkable.

bottle at home ... copper ... bubbly off white head ... soft spiced metalic nose ... soft fruits ... bitter metalic malts ... light fizz ... poor