6.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Cask, gravity at The Letter B at Straw Bear Festival, Whittlesey, nr Peterborough Saturday 11th January 2014 Pours dark, dark brown. There is a strange taste at first a bit like a soft drink, perhaps cola or cola mixed with cream soda. I don’t really get the vanilla (if there is any) but there is a creaminess and its fine. I don’t mind it this but is not as good as the other offering i.e. Big Ass Black Bear. A6 A4 T6 P3 Ov13 3.2
Tried
from Cask
on 12 Jan 2014
at 05:31
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Cask, gravity at The Letter B pub at Straw Bear Festival, Whittlesey, nr Peterborough Saturday 11th January 2014 Black with just a few stray tan bubbles clinging to the edge of the glass and staring onto the black abyss. Roasty with some liquorice actually quite a bit of liquorice, but there is very little sweetness. At first I found this quite hard to get on with but trust me you need to perservere with this and it eventually rewards. The bitterness is not unlike a Latvian ’bitters’ spirit I had some years back called Riga Black Balsam, I enjoyed that and I enjoyed this, very good. A7 A4 T7 P4 Ov14 3.6
Tried
from Cask
on 12 Jan 2014
at 05:28
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Draft at Pigs Ear Beer Festival 2013 - London. Pours clear, light brown with a fine, creamy cap. An engaging aroma of chai and gingerbread. Light sweet flavor with more gingerbread, low bitterness, vanilla pod. Light bodied with fine carbonation. Finishes with brown bread maltiness, ginger and chai tea. Nice, but you have to enjoy chai to like this beer.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Jan 2014
at 06:44
5/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
Cask (handpump) @ Earl of Essex, 25 Danbury Street, Islington, Greater London, England N1 8LE.Unclear medium amber orange color with a small, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, wood, smoke, moderate hoppy, pine, orange - citrus. Flavor is moderate sweet and bitter with a long to average duration, peat, smoke, caramel. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is flat. [20130327]
Tried
from Cask
on 31 Dec 2013
at 03:28
6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Cask at Pigs Ear beer festival 2013, Hackney, London. An amber coloured pour with a medium white head on top. Malty, caramel aroma. Tastes malty, caramel, dark fruit, slightly sweet and boozy. Not bad.
Tried
from Cask
on 23 Dec 2013
at 02:20
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle picked up from Bachanalia, Cambridge, Sunday Tuesday 17th December 2013 consumed Sunday 22nd December 2013 Dark brown in colour with a plug of soft chocolate in the neck of the bottle (yum!) now this is interesting as I was told by the chap at Bachanalia that this beer had neither bananas or chocolate in it, it was purely brewing techniques which created such flavours, but certainly in this bottle was a plug of chocolate, we scooped a little out and ate it. Well as you might expect this is chocolatey and fruity with a nice bite, it isn’t that bananaey but there is a little bit of a nod to ut there. Really like this and seems to be a lot better in bottle than cask from the ratings below. A6 A4 T8 P4 Ov14 3.6
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Dec 2013
at 09:26
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle picked up from Bachanalia, Cambridge, Tuesday 17th December 2013 consumed Saturday 21st December 2013. Dark amber a little cloudy, there is a white very fine bubbled head atop. Wasn’t really aware of what to expect, but nice that this is a jolly decent and hoppy IPA. Good bittersweet IPA the bitterness is buzzy and clingy and hangs around for some time. Streaky citrus cuts through but there is a pithiness also and a jolly dry finish. Grapefruity throughout with a nice juiciness. Good beer. A6 A4 T8 P4 Ov15 3.7
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Dec 2013
at 10:36
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Gravity dispense at Pigs Ear, 03/12/13. Hazed dark chestnut brown with thin beige edgework. Nose is cinnamon, spice, toffee apple, brown sugars, fruit loaf. Taste comprises cinnabon rolls, brown sugar, light coconut, spice. Light to medium in body, soft carbonation, drying finale. Interesting stuff, plenty of flavour for the ABV.
Tried
on 19 Dec 2013
at 14:13
7.8/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle picked up from Bachanalia, Cambridge, Tuesday 17th December 2013 consumed the same day. Bottle No:172 Pours pitch black with mid/large sized tan head, thick in the mouth with lots of burnt sugar and mollasses. A little bitterness, sticky, oily. Some very intense liquorice infused bonfire toffee but tangy also. This is better when left 15-20 mins, this is actually very nice. A7 A5 T8 P4 Ov14 3.8
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 Dec 2013
at 12:21
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Gravity dispense at Pigs Ear, 05/12/13. Lightly hazed golden amber with thin light beige edgeing. Nose is light booze, nutty, vanilla, marzipan streak, caramel fudge. Taste comprises vanilla, toffee, tropical notes, hoppy backbone, light booze. Medium bodied with bite, moderate carbonation with a touch of booze. So so Barley Wine - holds little depth.
Tried
on 13 Dec 2013
at 13:14