Tap at Red Hill. Black with a crema-coloured head. Aroma of salted caramel, licorice, molasses, flowers - very agreeable but not all that hoppy. Silky texture. Milky toffee sweetness, licorice, spicy chocolate. Firm bitterness struggles a bit to emerge from the sweetness. Interesting and nice but lacks hoppy brightness.

Tap.Hazy pale yellowy orange with a small white head. Aroma is witlike with grapefruit as well as oranges, coriander and pepper. Light-bodied, slightly bready. A bit of grapefruit sourness, solid bitterness. Refreshing and nothing clashes.

Pours black with a dark tan head.Nose shows strong roasted malt and coffee along with some floral notes and booze.Big roasty and boozy flavours too, a little harsh in the finish. Some sweet malt presents itself underneath.Could use a bit more carbonation.

Props to this beer for its lovely head. The aromas are quite feint but varied, with coffee, chocolate, dried fruit, smoke and peanuts. The taste is something of a blunt instrument initially, with coffee predominant before the alcohold kicks in. There are also notes of chocolate and quite a lot of salt. The palate is slightly thinner than you’d hope, but overall this is a nice effort.

There’s loads of bubbles in the head, such that I had to spend about three minutes just pouring this into my glass. I love the look of the intense bubbles in the head. The aroma is predominantly banana, with a little toast and mild grapefruit. The taste has a stronger hop profile, with grapefruit and lemon, underpinned by banana with some spiced fruit on the side of the tongue. It’s a little watery, however.

Growler, 11C. Dark reddish brown with a small beige head. Fruity aroma and taste with toffee, gentle bitterness. A bit earthy with a touch of roast, chocolate and just a hint of smoke. Light bodied, low carbonation. Very refreshing. I’d call this a mild, but heh.

Pours red-tinged copper with a lasting head.Nose shows rich malt with lots of caramel, bready notes, toffee and some nutty characters. Also some resinous hops and soft grapefruit.Somewhat surprising flavours after that as the hops dominate initially in a bold, resinous and piny bitterness. Soon after the malt returns, with big caramel notes and some slightly darker characters. The alcohol does seem a bit solvent-like though.Body feels a little too syrupy.

Bottle, 9C. Clear amber with an inch of off-white head. High bead. Strong toffee aroma with some plums, bread, light spices. Sweet toffee, some berries, gingerbread. Bitterness is there, but doesn’t really match it. Like a big clean Irish red ale and not really my sort of thing.

[7/12] Black with a small tan head. Aroma is roasty with molasses, mocha, vanilla, anise, dark rum. Lots of chocolate and vanilla, some tar, prunes, balancing bitterness that creeps up a little. A little woody and slightly peppery at the end, too. Just short of syrupy with delicate carbonation. Classy drop. [3.8][5/14] Tan head is a coat that retreats to the rim rapidly. Somewhat rummy, which seems to be an Australian thing in big stouts. Coffee and bitterness a little more prominent than previously. Very solid stuff. [3.8][10/15] This year’s. Still a mite rummy in the aroma which I find a bit déclassé. Decent and lasting tan head. Seems slightly drier at the end. [3.9] [6/17] 2017 version. Head again lasts the journey. Aroma still doesn’t fully signal what’s to come. Seems tauter this year; cleaner with bitter chocolate, vanilla and mildly peppery bitterness. 7484 17[7/18] 2018 version. A little less pretty (although maybe the glass is too big). Aroma is subdued. But real presence and fine bitter chocolate and roasted flavours. 7384 16. Again, leaving score as (the kinda average it) is.

Pours gold with a large head.Nose shows spicy and herbal hops along with faint lemon custard and soft clean malt.Similar flavours, pretty much the same characters as mentioned above followed by a mild bitterness.Carbonation seems a little excessive.