Bottle from Tor Beers at The Golden Lion, Todmorden. Clear golden with a healthy glow and a small bubbly-frothy head. Hoppy, but has quite a lot of carbonation so this is apparent in the palate too. Very easy to drink.

Cask @ Victoria Tap, Manchester. Golden with a creamy head. Hoppy with some bitterness, although fairly flavourless in design. Texture is fine though.

Bottle from House Of Trembling Madness. Black body with a small beige head. No visible carbonation. Patchy lacing. Aroma of cocoa powder and liquorice. Flavour of coffee and dark chocolate. Medium to full body with a slick mouthfeel. Soft fizz. Dry and bitter.

750ml job. High Peak Wine and Beer. Pours heavy. Clear gold. Sits flat. Slim ring of white. Nose has a whiff of cardboard. Some Sherry like notes. Well oxidised. Taste is sweet and gluey. Heavy dull mouthfeel. Little to no carbonation. Boozy finish. When they say “well cellared”, they actually should have said overly cellared.

Panda at home, thanks to Kenneth, 24/04/24. Deep mahogany brown with a decent lasting beige head. Nose is dried fruit rinds, herb, caramel, fruit cake mix, dusty hop notes, dates. Taste comprises airy dark malts, toffee, dates, figs, raisins, cocoa sprinkle, dusty hop back notes. Medium plus bodied, fine carbonation, light drying close with a light kiss of alcohol. Decent sipper ... no wow but a well balanced easy sipping barley wine.

Bottle from House Of Trembling Madness (tasted July 2023). Hazy ruby/brown body with a dense beige head. No visible carbonation. Faint lacing. Aroma of toffee, earth, copper and stewed pear. Flavour of caramel, blood orange and an astringent, rusty finish. Medium to full body with a slick texture. Very soft fizz. For me, this doesn’t quite gel like most other Torrside strong beers. Maybe it’d mellow after some time in the bottle.