Cask at Picture House, Stafford. Pours golden yellow with a small foamy off-white head and excellent lacing. There’s mango, lychee and tangerine in the aroma – but it isn’t too overwhelmingly fruity. In the mouth it is sweet and quite juicy with flavours of tropical fruit, floral hops, oranges and melon. A hint of ginger and some bitterness come through later. This is eminently reasonable.

Cask at Sun Inn, Stafford. Pours a very dark reddish-brown with a medium sized foamy tan head and good lacing. The aroma has coffee, cocoa and roasted malts. In the mouth it is sweet and smooth with a creamy texture. Flavour has roasted malts, coffee grounds and berry fruits. A little bitterness comes through later along with some hints of red cabbage (in a positive way). Bitterness lasts into the slightly dry finish. This is quite nice – though a little bland.

On tap at Ebenezers, Crewe. Pours a very dark reddish-brown with a small scummy tan head and good lacing. There’s honey, cocoa and malts in the aroma. In the mouth it is sweet and smooth with a creamy texture, but also a little underlying sharpness. Honeycomb comes through strongly in the flavour, but there is also roasted malts, chocolate and hints of lactose. Sweetness lasts into the finish. This is decent.

Cask at Borough Arms, Crewe. Pours a dark reddish-brown with a medium sized foamy cream head and excellent lacing. It’s mainly roasted malts in the aroma, though there are hints of chocolate and lactose as well. In the mouth there is a little sweetness to start with before it quickly becomes quite bitter, with a smooth character. Initial flavour is roasted malts, dark fruits and raisins with cocoa coming through quite strongly later plus hints of nuts and liquorice. Finish is slightly dry. This is a decent robust porter.

Bottle from Linda Shop, Burton on Trent (not listed on Brewver), drank at home. Pours a dark brown with a medium sized foamy cream head and good thick lacing. Aroma is malts, cereals, rye, and stale bread, plus hints of raisins and cocoa. In the mouth it is quite bitter, but with a creamy texture giving plenty of malty sweetness too. Flavour has bread, rye, malts and caramel. Finish is quite dry. This is quite nice – interesting and different. Similar to kvass but with an alcoholic kick behind it.

Bottle at Hops, Crewe. Pours golden chestnut with a small frothy almost white head and excellent lacing (accentuated by the glass design). There’s malts, biscuits and honey in the aroma. In the mouth it starts off with a slight bitterness which gradually increases. Tangy citrus is immediately apparent alongside peel, dried fruit and Belgian yeast. Hints of banana, candy and pears come later. Bitterness lasts into the finish. This is a decent beer – it just pales in comparison to other Belgian Blondes.

On tap at Hops, Crewe. Pours almost black with minimal scummy tan head and good lacing. The aroma has malts, chocolate and biscuits. In the mouth it is quite sweet with a creamy texture. Flavour from the start is roasted malts, chocolate and coconut. But after a while some bitterness comes through along with some cocoa and traces of spice and honey. Bitterness lasts into the slightly dry finish. This is decent but it does take some time to get going.

On tap at Hops, Crewe. Pours almost black with minimal scummy tan head and good lacing. The aroma has malts, chocolate and biscuits. In the mouth it is quite sweet with a creamy texture. Flavour from the start is roasted malts, chocolate and coconut. But after a while some bitterness comes through along with some cocoa and traces of spice and honey. Bitterness lasts into the slightly dry finish. This is decent but it does take some time to get going.

Cask at Moon under Water, Wolverhampton. Pours golden yellow with a small foamy almost white head and good lacing. The aroma is basically citrus and elderflower. In the mouth it is quite sharp with a creamy texture, Flavour has floral hops, citrus, lemon and elderflower with some underlying malty hints as well. A little lime comes through later on as well and the finish is slightly bitter. This is reasonable but more a drink for a sunny summer afternoon rather than a wet February evening !