Bottled. Pitch black color, beige longlasting head. Aroma of red wine, figs, dried plum, dark chocolate, alcohol and some mild spices. Flavour is wineous, dark ripe fruits, som coffee, black currant, chocolate and som alcohol.

(Keg at Pikkulintu Ruttopuisto, 20230527) The beer poured amber and cloudy. Its head was medium sized and white. Aroma had toffee, malts, prunes, dark fruits and caramel. Palate was medium bodied with medium carbonation. Flavours were toasted malts, caramel, grass, toffee toasted bread, and bitterness. Aftertaste had toasted bread and bitterness. A tasty malty brew.

Draft. A cloudy amber beer with a lazing beige head. The aroma has notes of fruit, flowers, caramel, and malt. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt, caramel, fruit, and flowers, leading to a bitter finish.

Pours a quite hazy amber colour with about two fingers of pillowy white head; Pretty good retention and very nice lacing. Average intensity in the aroma, with nice malty depth (biscuity, toffee, lighter caramel) followed by rather vivid fruity notes of blood orange (mature, jam-like) with lighter citric hints. Taste notes follow the aroma closely, though lacking definition/precision. Medium sweetness and medium bitterness, both a bit amped up compared to style standard; good balance in the mouth and a not perfectly clean sweet edge in finish/aftertaste. Body close to medium, with light to medium carbonation; quite easy to drink as the style demands.

Challenger-hopped bitter by one of those breweries that paved the way for the craft beer movement to invade the United Kingdom, though they have been taken over by new owners in 2008; at Tilquin English Beer Festival. Off-white, loosely moussy, opening and largely dissolving head, deep copper-brown-hued amber robe. Aroma of crackers, buttered scones, peach kernels, toast, grass, butterscotch, dried apricot. Lightly sweetish onset, restrainedly fruity, dried apricot again, very soft carb, slick caramelly, toasty and bread-crusty maltiness with bitterish edge, the bitterness strengthened by a long, leafy, herbal hop bitterness (mugwort, dried dandelion); ends dry and sufficiently, though not harshly bitter with lingering minerally effects. Lovely quencher, dry but rounded, bit atypical for a bitter perhaps but in any case a very good one.

West Coast-style APA by this pioneer of English postmodern style craft brewing (no longer run by the same people though), referring to the popular Star Wars series The Mandalorian. At Tilquin English Beer Festival. Egg-white, frothy and thick, cobweb-lacing, stable head, near clear orange blonde robe with deep, warm old-golden glow. Aroma of yellow grapefruit, crackers, wormwood leaves, unsalted peanuts, olive oil, orange pith, pink peppercorns, green pear, dandelion. Dry-fruity onset, some unripe apricot and green pear but generally clean, moderately carbonated with slick, oily body; hard-caramelly, cracker-like, bit toasty maltiness under growing hop bitterness, floral and citric at first, then quickly turning peppery and wormwoody, with a long rooty tail – but remaining well in balance with the inherent sweetishness of the malts. Very decent and very true to the original American IPA and APA style I love – this is the way!

Draft @ Tilquin English Beer Festival '23.
Couleur pâle, col blanc.
Arôme sur un bouquet de grains concassés, malt pâle et pils, rétro-nasal houblonné fruité oscillant sur les agrumes - old school Californie avec un côté pamplemousset et léger résineux en rétro-nasal.
Palais est tout aussi léger, malt pâle, léger caramel voire pointe de biscuité avec une bonne dose de houblons sur les agrumes.