[3/17] Bottle. Pretty fresh I s’pose. Golden amber. White head fades to a good coat. Aroma of grapefruit, passionfruit, mango, pine, mandarins. Big hop aroma yes, but oozy and refined rather than rambunctious. Lowish carbonation. Smooth, a bit of a depth charge feel to it even though there’s really no overt alcohol. Some bread and maybe peach but no caramel support the fruity hops. Bitterness is strongish but still only just prevails against the sweetness. No rough edges at all. Could be more exciting but really this is very good indeed. [3.9][4/18] Can. IMHO this dropped off by around May in 2017, so want to get to it. Lots of fruit - tropical, citrus, yielding to pine, peach and some white pepper. Not so much vibrant as oozing resinous hops. Just a little boozy at the end. Really good.

Pours gold with a large head.Nose shows grainy malt, hay, and stale notes.Flavours include hay, biscuity malt, bready notes and grainy malt.

Hawkers have gone back to the ’80s here with an early American-style IPA with loads of bitter hops and little in the way of nuance. There is some tangerine mixed in with the grapefruit in the aroma. There are very bitter hops plus some dry biscuit in the mouth. The palate is a little on the thin side too.

[12/16] Bottle. Black with a half inch tan head that’s soon a coat but never disappears 3+. Bourbon, mocha and spiced oak (vanilla, pepper) aroma. 7 Medium bodied. Fairly sweet bread and mocha. Not much in the way of roasted malt or deep rumbling fudgy flavours - everything’s toppy and spirit-related until the nice finish where bitterness mingles with the oaky spices. Heh. It’s a pleasant enough drink and I suppose I’ve come around to the barrel aged lurk a bit. Sometimes the original beer is transported to something quite different. Sometimes the beer has nuances picked out by sympathetic barrels. Sometimes it tastes like someone poured a stout into a dirty whisk(e)y glass. But too often it’s like this - an ineffectual stout put in spirit barrels to lend it flavour and character. But although the beer doesn’t do anything like enough of the work, the blend here is pleasant and the finish is good. [3.4] [10/17] Another from a subscription box. A little less toppy and a bit more fudgy. Much the same complaints.

Pours black with a tan head.Nose shows roasted malt, bready notes, caramel and biscuity malt.Flavours include heavy roast, cocoa, liquorice and toasty malt.

Bottle at Taps Beer Bar, Changkat, Kuala Lumpur. Poured a clear straw colour with a thin broken white head. The aroma is mineral, citrus, grainy with an acid citrus flavour and a dry crisp bubbly yeast, light fruit palate. Medium bodied with average carbonation.

Bottle at Taps Beer Bar, Changkat, Kuala Lumpur. Poured a crystal clear straw colour with a frothy white head. The aroma is Pilsner malt, light woody hop. The flavour is moderate bitter with a light crisp light malt, hop bitter palate. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Preferred this to the pale ale. The hops gave the beer a nice kick in the finish.

Bottle from Taps Beer Bar, Chamgkat, Kuala Lumpur. Poured a clear straw colour with a thin broken white head. The aroma is grassy hop, light pine needle, light citrus. The flavour is moderate bitter with a light crisp woody hop, light dry yeast palate. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Refreshing but the hop combination didn’t really work for me.

Bottle at Taps Beer Bar, Changkat, Kuala Lumpur. Poured a clear copper colour with a long-lasting frothy white head. The aroma is yeast, grassy citrus hop. The flavour is moderate bitter with a light crisp refreshing fruity, hop bitter, light pine needle palate. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Served too cold but the flavour came though as it warmed up.