Bottle @ home. Clear a bit pale golden color, huge fizzy foamy white head. Smell and taste wheat, quite sweet, a bit herbal perhaps. Average body, firm carbonation. Meh.

Craft beer from southern France, bottle from Bier en Plezier in Almere, already two months over its best before date now (and bought last month with a discount because of this). Creamy, fairly thick, regular, pale yellowish beige head, hazy dark bronze robe with burgundy hue, blackish but still more or less translucent. Not unpleasant aroma of nut shells, candied fig, fresh blackcurrant or blackberry, orange peel, ’natural’ iron, coffee grounds, cocoa powder, brownies, toasted bread, cinnamon, pear, damp forest floor, cardboard, blue grape, dust. Sourishness (blackberry) and sweetishness (raisin, pear) in the mouth, the latter less outspoken than the first but both subdued, umami accent, spritzy carbonation numbing the tongue a bit at first but calming down after a while, initial basic and roasted barley sourishness continues while a nutty, toasted, pleasantly bittersweet malt body builds up, coffeeish touch in the finish providing roasted bitterness, traces of caramel and toffee as well, peppery hop accent in the finish adds spicy, leafy and floral bitterness and ensures enough dryness against the malt sweetness; I believe I can feel a sign of warming alcohol as well, but nothing disturbing. Coffee grounds aroma lingers retronasally. Nothing too spectacular, but even past its recommended period of consumption, still a unexpectedly nice beer, which finds good balance of sour, sweet and bitter. In terms of style, I’d say this is more a porter than a stout, with certain Belgian influences but still coming across as Anglo-Saxon. Enjoyed this.

Clear medium amber colour, small foamy beige head, dissipates quickly but thin layer remains, light lacing. Sweet malty nose, nutty, brown sugar, caramel, light but manifest cinnamon. Taste is medium sweet and bitter, malty, toffee, with retronasal light smokiness, average duration. Medium body, oily texture, average carbonation, aftertaste is mild sweetbitter, roasty, caramel, cinnamon returns in the finish. A pleasant surprise from the south of France.

Clear medium amber colour, small frothy off-white head, recedes quickly, fair lacing. Aroma is malty, caramel, bit smoky, bit basement. Taste is medium sweet and bitter, malty, toffee, smoky notes, medium duration. Medium body, watery to oily texture, average carbonation, dry bittersweet finish, bit husky, smoky and spicy notes. Peculiar because of its smokiness which I didn’t expect.

Keg at Craft Beer Rising 2014 - Brick Lane, London. Pours clear, very pale yellow with a white cream topping. Nice sweet dough character, general pale bread, faint straw. Light in body with average carbonation. Sweet finish with further pale bread, low bitterness, mild grains. Pretty OK for a BdG. Enjoyable.

Opaque deep brown colour with red hue, medium-sized frothy tan head, diminishing slowly, light lacing. Aroma is roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate, brown sugar, cloves. Taste is medium sweet and bitter, coffee, chocolate. Light to medium body, watery to oily texture, soft carbonation, malty aftertaste, chocolate and light spicy notes in the finish. Overall it lacks some body and depth but a good effort.