Can from local Polish shop – drank at home. Bit of a dichotomy here – on one hand it was definitely one of the beers I drank on my first visit to Latvia back in 1994. On the other hand I have no record of having drunk it before – i.e. since 2013 ! Even back last century it was by no means the best Latvian beer. Anyway, pours a light yellow with a huge white head (almost a gusher). There’s a faint malty aroma. In the mouth it is initially quite sharp and metallic but this gives way to a sweet fruitiness. Plenty of malts in the flavour along with berry fruits and hints of grains and hops. Not quite as poor as I remember it.

Cask at Hops, Crewe. Pours solid gold with a small foamy off-white head and excellent lacing. There’s grains and floral hops in the aroma. In the mouth it is sweet with a deep creamy texture. Flavours of malts, floral hops, peaches and biscuits plus some hints of citrus. After a while an increasing amount of bitterness comes through – traces of grapefruit too. Bitterness lasts info the slightly dry finish. This is quite nice.

Cask at Borough Arms, Crewe. Pours a dark chestnut with medium sized foamy off-white head and good lacing. There’s bready malts and fruity hops in the aroma. In the mouth it has subdued bitterness around a sweet core – though the bitterness does increase after a while. Plenty of hops and malts in the flavour plus some autumn fruits. Later there is an increasing amount of spice and hints of berries and dark bread. This is quite decent – a basic beer but well done.

Cask at Petersgate Tap, Stockport. Pours a very dark reddish-brown with a small foamy cream head and good lacing. There’s malts, rye and spice in the aroma. In the mouth it is sweet and creamy with a slightly watery texture. Flavour is mainly malts with some mixed hops and rye and hints of pine. More spices come through later alongside traces of lime and orange. Sweetness lasts into the finish. Not really my cup of tea but this isn’t bad and certainly unusual.

Cask at Midland, Stockport (not yet listed in Brewver). Pours a slightly hazy light gold with a small foamy almost white head and excellent lacing. The aroma is mainly malts plus hints of yeast and citrus. In the mouth it is quite bitter with a creamy texture and just little underlying sweetness. Flavours are floral hops and malts with traces of citrus and summer fruits. Bitterness lasts into the finish. This is quite decent.

Cask at Brewery Tap, Chester. Pours pale straw with a small foamy off-white head and good lacing. The aroma is mainly floral hops with hints of malts, apples and pineapple. In the mouth it is decidedly sweet, somewhat watery and just the merest hint of sharpness. Flavours are malts, floral hops and citrus with hints of berry fruits coming later. This is quite decent.

Cask at Square Bottle, Chester. Pours golden yellow with a small scummy off-white head and good lacing. The aroma is a mix of rough citrus, marmalade and floral hops. In the mouth it starts off quite sweet, but very quickly hoppy bitterness takes over. Initial flavours are mixed hops, strawberries and peel, but the berries are soon replaced by generic citrus and hints of grapefruit. Finish is slightly dry and sticky. This is reasonable but there’s not much strawberry in it.