Bottle shared with D&C at the 1st Ipswich bottle share (West Country themed). Pours a hazy orange/brown with almost no head. Aroma is malty, fruity with caramel and alcohol. Quite heavy sweetness, medium bitterness. Medium body, oily texture, and virtually no carbonation. Had hoped for better from this.

Bottle shared with D&C at the 1st Ipswich bottle share (West Country themed). Poured a clear dark brown colour with a small off-white head. Aroma is malty, roasted with coffee and hint of chocolate. Medium sweetness and bitterness. Medium body, oily texture, low carbonation.

Bottle shared with D&C at the 1st Ipswich bottle share (West Country themed). Poured black with a very small beige colour head. Aroma is roasted, chocolate, malty. Light sweetness, quite heavy bitterness. Medium bodied, slick texture, average carbonation. Finish is dry and bitter.

Bottle shared with D&C at the 1st Ipswich bottle share (West Country themed). Poured golden with a decent sized bubbly white head. Aroma is fruity, citrus, straw, touch of caramel. Light/medium sweetness, medium bitterness. Finish has a citrus/bitter edge. Not bad.

Cask at GBBF 2016. It pours darkest brown with a small beige head. The aroma is rich, soft, bitter- sweet, roasted malt and chocolate powder. The taste is bitter, roasted malt, lots of charred wood, burnt toast, liquorice and some astringency with a very dry finish. Medium body and fine carbonation. Too burnt and astringent in my opinion. I had hoped for more.

Cask at GBBF ’16, day one, 09/08/16. Dark mahogany brown with a beige head. Nose is roast malt, chocolate dusting, toffee, biscuit, light charr. Taste comprises tangy dark fruits, liquorice, light cocoa rub, pinch of spice. Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, moderately drying close. Adequate stout.

Sampled @ GBBF day 1. Very dark brown to black color, average sized beige head. Smell and taste malts, quite some dark roasted malts, malt bitter, lightly iron. Hmm ok beer.

Gbbf. Sehr dunkel orange braunes Bier. Geruch schokoladig süß malzig. Geschmack schokoladig röstmalzig, wenig Kaffee.

Cask at GBBF 2016 09/08/2016. An opaque black chestnut brown coloured pour with a loose dirty tan head . Aroma is black malts, toasted pine, citrus hop, American c hop,. Flavour is composed of woody charred malts, bitter pine needle toasted earthy malts. Palate is semi sweet, moderate carbonation, slightly thin. Potential black ipa.

Bottle obtained through a professional relationship, cheers Jeremy and Sabine! Mine simply says "Quantock Stag" without the "Royal", but I assume this is the same beer. Gusher, even quite strongly so, thick foam crept out of the bottle neck fifteen minutes after opening. Very heavily cobweb-lacing, egg-white, thick and stable head over an initially almost clear, warm orange blonde beer with slight pinkish hue, calmly sparkling. Herbal aroma of white pepper, lime zest, dried orange peel, fresh ’iron-like’ parsley and iron ’tout court’, nettles or other garden weeds, bitter honey, toasted bread, hints of soap, jute, dry tree leaves, slight caramel, green apple, roasted peanuts, some dried banana when warming up, unripe berries - this bouquet is like a walk through a meadow full of wild flora. Crisp, clean onset, spritzy due to high carbonation (not surprising seen the gushing), some dried fruits, a tad sourish in a very soft way but otherwise quite neutral with very low sweetness or fruitiness; overcarbonation numbs the tongue a bit but a firm, nutty and toasted, supple malt body comes to its full development after that. All the while, herbal, grassy and floral ’Euro’ hops linger in the background, waiting to burst, which happens in the finish - yet still in a well-mannered, balanced way; they provide a long, drying, very peppery and leafy ’noble’ bitterness as well as retronasal floral and herbal aromas. Quenching and appetizing, the gushing is a bit over the top of course, but other than that, this is a very enjoyable, balanced, drying ale. It is not far removed from the ever more elusive ’EPA’ style but clearly a lot more hop forward so I tend to disagree with the ’ESB’ qualification given here: this is one of those rare, truly ’English style’ IPAs, directly linked to the origins of the style. I guess (too) many people associate ’IPA’ with the lush, extremely aromatic American style these days, but we should not forget that the roots of this style, or at least its name, lie in merry old England, where all pale ales of the late 18th and 19th centuries received a firm hop dosis for storage, regardless of whether they were intended for export or not. This one is a good reminder of this historical fact. Recommended in that sense, even in spite of the gushing.