Tasting Notes: Blindmans: Siberia

Blindmans: Siberia (England: ESB: 4.7% ABV)

Visual: Slightly copper brown. Loose bubbly beige head.

Nose: Vanilla. Dry hops. Nettles and light wood.

Body: Vanilla toffee. Good bitter back. Very malty. Slight ginger snap. Liquorice below. Tingly texture.

Finish: Bitter. Malt loaf and butter. Light dry ginger. Even lighter aniseed air.

Conclusion:  A Christmas beer that goes against the usual tradition of having a heavy and or dark beer for the entry. Instead we have a beer with a light sparkle, maybe ginger in nature.

I’m not quite sure for the reason of the Siberia name, outside of snow=Christmas theme.  Despite that it’s not bad, a sweet set beer with a nice balance between tingle bitter and sweet.

In the fact it also has a very light liquorice touch to the body and aniseed air to the finish.  Both of which somehow manage to be subtle enough to not interfere. Impressive as usually the flavours get on my nerves, especially in lighter beers.

Later on the bitter dominates, though without becoming heavy set, it does result in simpler final few mouthfuls though and can get a bit samey.

Definitely better than average and a good solid bitter. Not fantastic, but that slight ginger tweak means I’m more likely to have a pint than not I would say.

Background; Drunk at the royal oak. The oak had been closed for a while and we were enjoying it being back.  I have no real major attachment to blindmans brewery but I find that they tend to be a reasonable pint.

Tasting Notes: Marstons: Pedigree

Marstons: Pedigree (England: ESB: 5% ABV)

Visual: Mahogany to honey. Decent whitish froth of bubbles of a head. Moderate carbonation made up of very small bubbles.

Nose: Honey. Mellow British hops. Grapes.

Body: Honey. Bitter and sweet mixes. Slick texture. Lots of the clingy British hops in evidence. Dough. Golden syrup. Slight fizz mid body. Light peanuts on the middle as well,

Finish: Slick, like honey spread over your tongue. Hop oil and bitterness. The bitterness is the longest lasting element, solid but not overpowering. Peanuts.

Conclusion: Marstons can often be peoples first exposure to non crap beer.  It used to have a red and white colour scheme, maybe attempting to gain popularity my matching the English flag.  Any which way, it is a solid red these days so I can’t take the piss if it was.

Martson main appeal I feel tends to come from its very slick and quite thick texture, which tends to be backed by a solid bitterness.  Revisiting Pedigree I find the remembered texture still very much in evidence, it’s a thick sheen over your tongue that holds on well, Similarly the mix of the traditional Fuggle and Golding hops style is unmistakable, it has what I would think of a stereotypically British hop character; Thick and slightly heavy, with a clinging touch.

In fact this is what often is thought of as a hop characteristic for a casual drinker in Britain due to its prevalence in the more popular ales.  Oft people are unaware of the more showy hop varieties available elsewhere.  It’s a pity as these hops provide solid bitterness but not much pizzazz. Because of this it is quite hard to get excited about a beer that has it as its main characteristic.  The telling weight and thickness of the brewery are put to better use in some of their other beers.

This, their mainstay is somewhat dull. It does however carry nice grape and honey sweetness alongside the hops. A memorable beer for where it stands in my drinking history but not a special beer.

Background: Marstons is a popular brewer with a lot of my friends, with the term “A Marstons Moment” being used to refer to a gathering where Marstons is served.   They have always been a good stand by I’ve found, if not in the top league. Their Owd Rodger however is a thing of beauty by my recollection. May have to add it to my list of things to review one day. This beer was drunk with the family over Christmas, hence the odd choice of glass which was pretty much all they had.

Tasting Notes: Braydon: Gert Ale

Braydon: Gert Ale (England: ESB: 4.8% ABV)

Visual: Light chestnut influenced red with a thin sheen of creamy bubbles.

Nose: Creamy, Light bitterness and peanuts.

Body: Liquorice. Black cherry. Creamy and bitter. Reasonably thick texture. Condensed cream. Peanuts and a sweet treacle touch.

Finish: Potatoes and light bitterness. Dry feel. Black toffee.

Conclusion:  Back to previously unknown breweries as part of the “Order random stuff from the bar” principle.  Generally the first beer you have from a brewery colours your perception of them, what their house style is, and influences how you look on their later ales.  Bit of a pity really, as what I can tell from this beer is that they didn’t move far from the template when they brewed it and didn’t bother giving it much life either. So from this my first impression is that their house style is to be as middle of the line as possible

It’s a solid thick textured beer of treacle and bitterness, that comes in a tad sickly at the finish at times and lays the creaminess on a bit much for the style.

So what I am saying is that it is a bit dull, a bit off, with pretty much only its decent handling of bitterness to make it stand out. Not a terrible one, but not great.

Background: Braydon is a brewery from Chippenham (or “The Democratic Peoples Republic of Chippenham” as it is oft called for no reason I can ascertain). Gert is south west slang (specifically Bristol), known best for its use in the phrase “gert lush” which seems to mean very good. Allegedly gert by itself means very or big.  Listen, don’t blame me, I’m a Northerner, I didn’t make this shit up, we just say shit like “ee by gum” which makes much more sense. Anyway, it’s a beer, I drank it.

Tasting Notes: Fullers: Jack Frost

 

Fullers: Jack Frost (England: ESB: 4.5% ABV)

Visual: Mahogany red, toffee bubbled head that is solid and of decent size.

Nose: Quite a big dose of blackcurrant. Malty and quite syrupy. Slight pistachio nuts in there mixed with fruitcake.

Body: A solid bitterness, impressive considering how sweet the nose is. Blackcurrant juice is there but subdued. Raisins. Quite thick texture and decent amount of malt.

Finish: Fruitcake, chocolate. Slight bitter hop character. Fortified wine. Slight grapes and blackcurrant again.

Conclusion: Every time I have this beer I’m surprised. I always remember liking it, but when I look at that somewhat gimmicky and gaudy label I think “Nah, I must be getting it confused with some other Fuller beer I enjoyed”

However each time I am wrong. This Christmas (Yes its June I know, shut up) beer plays well to the heavy fruitcake style that Fullers does well.  The nose may not have helped dispel my first impressions, being slightly sickly sweet, but the main beer is much more solidly built. The blackcurrant is but one element to the robust beer. It is still quite sweet, but managed to not get sickly.

It is still going to be sweeter than a lot of Real Ale fans are going to prefer, but it’s a charming beer to me.  Not a classic of complexity like say their 1845, but it does play with a lot of flavours from the same toolbox.  A fun seasonal beer, and underneath the sweetness a darn solid one as well.

Background: Yes it’s a Christmas beer. Yes I’m aware Christmas was over about six months back.  Then again considering how late all the winter beers were released this year I’d say I’m only keeping up with their schedule.  Oddly I didn’t pick this beer up on my recent trip to Fullers brewery. I just happened to have it around so thought it would be a good time to bring it out.  Also yes, I know, that’s a half pint glass, I broke the pint glass a bit back and I’ve yet to be non lazy enough to get a new one.  I’m terrible I know.

Tasting Notes: Oakham: Akhenaten

Oakham: Akhenaten (England:ESB:4.9% ABV)

Visual: Clear grain gold with virtually no head of bubbles.

Nose: Orange, hops and syrup, slight citrus fresh. Gooseberries.

Body: Sweet with a backing of stable but strong hops. Orange and syrup. Light fudge, grapes, lemon curd and vanilla. Tingles on the tongue.

Finish: Lime, greenery and growling hops into lasting charred bitterness and sour lime juice.

Conclusion: Fantastic sweet and almost grape and wine feeling beer with a huge hope effort that counterbalances nicely.

Very much a mix of old and new, with the traditional grape and old recipe elements that call back to the Egyptian theme so prominent coming into direct clash with the new wave hop attack. Contrary to all you would expect this results in something wonderful.

Full flavoured and really plays with what can be done with the style, brilliant crafted – the sweet and hops are matched in perfect harmony.

So two beers at the festival so far and both are top notch.

Guest Taster: Dylan

Nose: Sweet/ sharp and sugary. Sweet fruit texture- elderberry.

Body: As with the nose, elderberry is very dominant. Very crisp, sharp but with a smooth tangy aftertaste.

Finish: Very Pleasant fruity beer leaving a tangy aftertaste. Very Good.

Random Quotes

“A well crafted son of a gun”

“A taste we should never forget – the old style ale”

Tasting Notes: Freeminer: Harvest Ale

Freeminer: Harvest Ale (England: ESB: 4.8% ABV)

Visual: Clear varnished mahogany with a brownish head.

Nose: Lots of wheat chaff seed, Milk chocolate and ash. Hops and some cream.Wood shavings and malt drinks.

Body: Decent hops, slight sourness. Cherry. Solid malt. Barley. Toffee,grain and milk chocolate.

Finish: Lime, malt chocolate. Light bitterness. Grapes. Ash, seeds.

Conclusion: An amazingly solid pint. Despite being part of the Co-op range,it manages not to follow Tesco Value lager into the “own brand are excrement” range.

Solid flavours, good sturdy body. An old style pint done with clear distinct flavours and a lovely lasting finish. Very harvest infused flavours they are too.

A brilliant balanced pint, wished I’d picked up a few more when I had the chance.

Tasting Notes: Mordue: Workie Ticket

Mordue: Workie Ticket (England: ESB: 4.5% ABV)

Visual: Light clear caramel brown with a low bubbled head.

Nose: Light treacle, liquorice and hops. Slightly sour. Lemon.

Body: Bitter, milk chocolate and coffee. Slightest acid sourness. Treacle. Caramel.

Finish: Coffee, some chocolate. Treacle, charring and toffee.

Conclusion: Somewhat porter like ESB, with a lot of coffee and chocolate elements coming in. A workable bitter with an interesting twist and lots of toffee caramel elements makes something that really should work out a treat.

As it is its serviceable and with a lot of potential but just doesn’t quite fly high. Still a bit different and fun.

Tasting Notes: Adnams: Broadside

Adnams: Broadside (England:ESB: 4.7% ABV)

(Note: Cask version is reviewed, the cask and bottle versions have different ABV (6.3% for bottle) and the bottle version has more intense flavour)

Visual: Burnished cherry red, steam and a beige head.

Nose: Lime, grain house, citrus and hops. Vanilla, cherries and malt.

Body: Lovely barley and hops, slight syrup/golden syrup and toffee. Lime. Bitterness builds slowly but never overpowering. Treacle, caramel and raisin.

Finish: dry and sweet, treacle, toffee and good bitterness. Slight chocolate, chives and liquorice.

Conclusion: A sweet and strong flavoured pint, lots of force and taste signifying something. A pint brimming with flavour, very darkened tavern style, and one that could easily be enjoyed with a faux medieval roast. I’ve got a lot of time for this drink.

A very well done full bodied traditional ale, with a sweet syrup body and decent bitterness.

Tasting Notes: Bath Ales: Rare Hare

Bath Ales: Rare Hare (England: ESB: 5.2% ABV)

Visual: Dimming sun orange red with a decent off white head.

Nose: Syrup, light sweet hops and lots of fudge. Sweet and subtle, custard doughnuts.

Body: Sugary sweet. Toffee, glazed doughnuts. Fluffy textured. Milk chocolate. A dessert of toffee meringue style. Marshmallows. Slightly fizzy. The sweetness is counterbalanced by solid malt back to keep it together. Touch of orange as you swallow, caramel and then some bitterness to keep it all together.

Finish: Slight bitter hops, more toffee and bitter chocolate. Candyfloss. Real bitterness comes in at the end.

Conclusion: With its irregular release schedule this beer lives up to its name. So what is this elusive hare?

Its main body is a strongly malted bitter with a range of sweet delicacies within it. None shift the main body instead adding layer upon layer of flavour, softening and rounding it.

After the 3 years of build up waiting for this beer to be released again it’s easy to be somewhat underwhelmed as it is still a standard ale, if very well done, however that would be unfair to it.

Its subtle sweetness and layered flavours are impressive, well managed and integrated very well. The bitter finish makes each new sip again appreciated for the returning sweetness.

Very well done, not a show off as you would expect from its rarity. If this was a regular beer it would be a brilliant choice for a “Pint of the usual”. As it is, enjoy it for what it is when it’s in for a week or two.

A Rare Update: Rare Hare on Tap

This is such a different beer on tap that I thought it necessary to add a little update here. It’s significantly more vinous and complex, placed side by side it would be difficult to consider they are the same beer.

The slight sourness was the first hint, as well as Madeira and toffee elements that now are added to the nose. Much more fruity on the body, with red wine and raisin, then a bitter malty chocolate finish.

Like most of Bath Ales, this seems to work so much better on tap. The wonderful mix of bitter, red wine and Maderia works very well.

Tasting Notes: Richmond Brewery: Stump Cross Ale

Richmond Brewery: Stump Cross Ale (England: ESB: 4.7% ABV)

Visual: Varnished brown with a decent frothy brown head.

Nose: Cinnamon, brown sugar and cream. Light almost coffee notes at the far end. Raisins and fresh cooked doughnuts then port. Smells delicious.

Body: Oak and fruit cake, digestives. Just slightly too carbonated. Chalk, touch of cherry at the front. Sherry.

Finish: Biscuits. Bitter hops and a slick feel. Good malt dose then cherries again. Dry chocolate.

Conclusion: Probably the best of the Richmond Brewery set, mixing the trademark chalkiness with a fruit and biscuit body.

This beer would be spot on if not for the slightly excessive carbonation which muffles the flavour slightly and gives a less pleasant texture. For the second half of the tasting note I had given it time to settle and get rid of some of the gas and it made for a much better beer.

It’s still a nice beer even so, and would be good as what Dylan calls a “table Pint”, eminently drinkable, especially after the fizz fades.

A decent sturdy pint and one that fits a good old traditional style without being dull. If only it had a bit less fizz.

(Note: The ever grateful thanks to my parents for providing this beer)