Tasting Notes: Private Landbrauerei Scheuerer: Moosbacher: Weissbie

Private Landbrauerei Scheuerer: Moosbacher: Weissbier (Germany: Hefeweizen: 5% ABV)

Visual: Cloudy ripe banana yellow colour. Massive white bubbled head. Some small bubbled carbonation.

Nose: Overripe banana. Wheat. Peppery. Orange skin. Grapes. Palma violets.

Body: Tart grapes. Slightly sour. Peppery. Palma violets. Bitter. Banana sweets. Slightly dry.

Finish: Banana sweets. Peppery. Greenery. Some bitterness. Bitty hop bits. Dry. Cut apple.

Conclusion: Well this is interesting. The aroma initially seemed quite standard, if good quality, hefeweizen. You know the routine – banana, peppery, an odd but not unheard of extremity of orange skin showing some innovation, but not so much to mess with the base style.

And then….

Palma violets notes come into it, that call more to the pilsner noble hop style than I would expect, and after that a much more odd tart grapes touch in the aroma which only gets heavier and really gets going when you sip the main body. It is fruity and lightly sour in a way that I really was not ready for.

It then becomes a tad more familiar again with the peppery, wheaty character of a weisse, just tarter and with those green grape notes mixed in, now with sweeter grape touches as well.

Does it work?

Kind of. It is refreshing, which is good for this summer heat. It is different, so not what I came to the beer for, but it is reasonable. The fresh, slightly sour grape against the pepper and bitter character actually calls to mind the lighter side of the gose – the Goslar made version where it is mainly a salted wheat beer rather than the heavily sour monster some interpretations are.

There is a cut apple freshness later on which really reinforces the green fruit imagery, and little of the banana backing that the aroma hints at – a choice I respect but I kind of miss the expected banana notes.

Not one I will return to much but a refreshing yet gripping wheat beer.

Background: Independent Spirit got a new batch of German beers in, including some breweries I had not seen before, so I grabbed a bunch, including this one – of which I had to look up what that first letter of the “Moosbacher” was as I was not 100% sure with the typeface. I went with their hefeweizen as it was one of the first beers that got me into finding out that there was more to beer than I thought. Also this also has a pop cap, which is something I always like. They are just fun. Not much else to add, went with Metallica: 72 Season as backing music – a pretty darn good Metallica album, glad to see they still have them in them.

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Tasting Notes: Elusive Brewing: Midnight Oregon Trail

Elusive Brewing: Midnight Oregon Trail (England: Black IPA: 5.8% ABV)

Visual: Black, a half inch of coffee brown creamy head with a mix of tight bubbles within it.

Nose: Dry roasted peanuts and chestnuts. Wholemeal bread. Charred wood. Burnt toast. Sour dough. Grated chocolate.

Body: Dry. Grated black chocolate. Sour dough. Malt chocolate. Slight sulphur. Moderate bitterness. Subtle grapefruit.

Finish: Black chocolate slabs. Bitter cocoa. Moderate hop bitterness. Slight sulphur. As warms grapefruit comes out. Peppery. Pineapple.

Conclusion: I was wondering how a West Coast BIPA would work. As gone into in more detail in the background BIPAs tend to be more malt led, while West Coast tend to have an out of the way malt body. So, you see the conflict, right? I mean they both like the bitterness so hopefully we will see a lot of that, but I was confused.

It is quite dry, so we have that kind of attenuated character a west coast can have. Definitely not as full on attenuated as most west coast IPAs I’ve tried, but it gives a familiar mouthfeel along the Black IPA side and a satisfactory way to deliver the bitterness into the finish.

The bitterness is lower than expected, satisfying but not intense. Possibly this is due to balance from the malt making it seem restrained rather than any actual lower bitterness, hard to say.

The malt is, as mentioned, dry, but with that still quite chocolate filled, but in a bitter black chocolate to more neutral chocolate malt drinks kind of way, rather than anything sweeter. Along with that it has kind of sulphur touch, mouth filling backing character. It kind of works, not as dry as you would expect, not as sweet as you would expect and not as bitter as you would expect, but trying to walk the difficult balance between all those expectations.

As it warms slightly another familiar west coast style element starts to come out – the grapefruit hop character, which actually comes out clearer here than in standard Oregon Trail, which always seemed more earthy leaning to me. Here it comes out pretty cleanly and gives a nice fresh release from the bitter character.

The main disappointment, apart from not being as bitter as my withered taste-buds would like, is that it does not match the FANTASTIC early aroma. There is a huge dry roasted, nutty and nut oil character that is delectable, but doesn’t even hint at similar in the main body. If this had shown up more I would have been ecstatic.

As is, it is good, not GREAT, but good, and with the dearth of black IPAs right now I will 100% take good.

Background: The existence of this beer first excited and then confused me. Excited as, well Black IPA and West Coast IPA, two of my favourite styles that are being used a lot less these days. Confused as well, how does west coast black IPA work? My understanding of West Coast IPA is high bitterness, citrus notes and more notably out of the way malt base and generally quite attenuated. My understanding of Black IPA is quite dark malt led, high bitterness beer. So, yeah how does those two very different attitudes to malt profile work together? Maybe there is already a set style definition, but I was intrigued to see. While not on the front of the can the back text mentions this was a collaboration with “The West Street Alehouse”, so if I am ever in the area I may have to check them out. I have tried and done notes on the standard Oregon Trail and found it good if not top tier west coast IPA style. This was grabbed from Independent Spirit, and drunk while listening to a bunch of Depeche Mode – a friend was telling me about how varied and good some of their lesser known tunes were so I decided to have a little listen to find out and this seemed like a good time.

Tasting Notes: Newton Park: Crater Lake Cold IPA

Newton Park: Crater Lake Cold IPA (England: IPA: 5.8% ABV)

Visual: Clear, light pale straw to yellow colour. Large loose white bubbled head. Some small amounts of small bubbled carbonation.

Nose: Flour. Fresh lime. Lemon cakes. Dry. Prickly hops. Crushed salty rocks.

Body: Dry. Good bitterness. Lime. Light honey sweetness. Gherkin touch. Light Apricot. Vanilla. Clean mouthfeel.

Finish: Dry. Good bitterness. Gritty hop feel. Light honey sheen. Light gherkin. Lime.

Conclusion: Ok, I’d never run into a Cold IPA before this one, but if, as I think from a bit of googling, this is representative of the general style then they have my interest. If this is also representative of the general quality I could expect them I am 100% on board for this becoming the next big thing – hopefully pushing out the NEIPA craze. If you had not heard of the style either, imagine something between a lager and a west coast IPA – as a West Coast IPA fan that could either be completely for me or heresy, and as you have probably guess I am plopping down on the completely for me side of the line.

Oh, spoiler warning for the rest of the review there.

It is nicely dry, as you would hope from the west coast side of things, but slips down much easier than most of those, with that lager style giving a soothing feel as it goes down.

There is soft lime and lemon citrus notes, and a hint but not more than that of the American apricot hops – not the full intensity or range I would expect from the best West Coast IPAs, but that is a high bar of comparison to clear. It works well as a lovely fresh hop character to give enough fresh fruitiness against the dry character and decent hop bitterness. A nice balance.

There is that note I see in good IPAs that I can only describe as a gherkin touch, kind of a light sour undertone, subtly done – it sounds like a horrible thing when said like that but it really works to give a nice twist to IPAs like this. One day I may work out a better descriptor.

The body is mostly out of the way, (in a West Coast style one might say), though with a lager smooth sheen. The main sight of it is in a dry honey sweetness, but even that is understated. In general between the west coast and lager influence it is a gentle mouthfeel more than a flavour.

Overall, generally one I love. Balanced between bite and easy drinking. It dodges the curse of West Coast IPAs in England not living up to the USA ones by not technically being a west coast IPA, despite wearing their influence obviously. Any which way, this is lovely character and I highly recommend you get your hands on one before it vanishes, even if that means less for me.

Background: Been meaning to do notes on this one for a while now, I’ve not been doing as many notes recently but this one definitely needed a slot. First reason for this is Newton Park is, at least for a while, shutting down – as are many British breweries at the moment so wanted to slot at least one in before they went. Second of all this is a Cold IPA, an unusual style I had not encountered before, using lager yeast but aiming for an IPA style. Sounds like an IPL, but from trying it, this definitely seems to earn a place for a style as itself. Finally, well I enjoyed it, as you may be able to tell and wanted to get the message out a bit so people had a chance to grab it before it vanished. Anyway grabbed a few cans of this from Independent Spirit, of which this is one. Went with Electric Callboy: Tekkno for music while drinking – a mate introduced me to them and it was some fun high energy backing for the booze.

Tasting Notes: Original Stormtrooper: Goon Squad

Original Stormtrooper: Goon Squad (IPA: England: 5.5% ABV)

Visual: Clear with just the slightest bitty haze to the yellow body. A large white mound of large bubbled head that leaves lots of sud remains.

Nose: Orange zest. Crisp hops. Lemon juice. Slight gritty bitterness. Slight crushed rocks. Fresh. Cake sponge. Light malt drinks.

Body: Bready feel, moderate bitterness. Lemon cakes. Sugared orange jelly sweets. Crushed rocks air. Slightly thicker feeling middle, but moderately dry in general.

Finish: Orange – a mix of blood orange and tangerine. Solid gritty bitterness. White bread feel. Drying.

Conclusion: Now, I have repeatedly said that in general the UK doesn’t match the USA when it comes to West Coast IPAs. It makes sense really, they have home court advantage. Ones in the UK almost always seem to not quite get all three aspects that I adore – the dry, well attenuated body, the heavy hop bitterness and the layers of complex hop flavours on top of that. They seem to manage two of the three ok, but always seem to miss at least one.

This one … does pretty well actually. I feel that, as they probably have a wide net of potential buyers from the definitely not Star Wars imagery, they are holding off on going fell bore with the harsher edges of the West Coast IPA style, so not to put people off, but even with that said this is a very solid take.

What this nails is the fruity hop flavours, lots of orange notes, from sugared jelly sweets to blood orange to tangerine – it is very well layered around one simple concept for the most part and very enjoyable. It also leans into lemon notes with fresher lemon juice to sweeter lemon cakes. That cake sponge aspect seems to come through quite a bit – which leads us onto how well this manages a dry attenuated base.

It is pretty well done there, not super dry, but with enough attenuation that you can recognise the style. There is a bit more malt showing than normal, some sweeter notes giving a slightly thicker mid body than I would expect, which matches with the bit extra weight of mouthfeel that aforementioned cake sponge character adds but nowhere near east coast style malt levels or sweetness. So, a bit more malt led than expected but generally dry and out of the way so pretty well done.

Finally, the bitterness! Also pretty good – me, I could do with more, I want a west coast that kicks, but I am aware I like silly bitter stuff – this is still solid. Not full USA West Coast, slightly toned down, but still enjoyable.

Overall, yep as you may have guessed a very solid beer and a pretty good take on the style. No complaints here.

Background: This was part of an x-mas present pack of Stormtrooper beers from my Sister and her family, many thanks! I decided to do notes on this one first as I am such a sucker for West Coast IPAs. Like a huge fan. Shocking I know. What did shock me when I saw this was all the stormtrooper Star Wars imagery, how the heck did they either a) afford that? Or b) get around Disney’s lawyers? Turns out it is pretty simple, this is not Star Wars themed. They instead got the rights to use the Stormtrooper armour, which exists completely separately from Star Wars – so it looks Star Wars linked, but is not. Clever marketing. The glass used came with the pack, which, while pretty, all the images on it did make it hard to look at it properly for the visuals section of this guide. Went with The Cybertronic Spree: Ravage as music for drinking to – more sci-fi themed tie ins made sense – a fun 80s feeling bunch of metal from a band that cosplays as transformers. Because of course!

Tasting Notes: Augustiner: Oktoberfest

Augustiner: Oktoberfest (Germany: Oktoberfest Marzen: 6.3% ABV)

Visual: Bright yellow gold clear body. Medium sized white bubbled head. Lots of small bubbled carbonation to the body.

Nose: Brown bread. Light bitterness. Light peppery character and light sulphur.

Body: Banana syrup. Brown sugar. Palma violets. Touch of malt drinks. Brown bread. Dry toffee. Peppery.

Finish: Palma violets. Lightly oily. Toffee. Light peppery character. Malt chocolate. Lightly earthy.

Conclusion: This is probably the most robust Oktoberfest I have had – it has a slightly higher abv that most of the style that I have encountered and you can feel it in the more malt led body, with toffee and banana notes against a light peppery bitterness, enhanced by just a touch of oiliness.

It means that it isn’t as clean and easy drinking as most Oktoberfests, but also means that I am really enjoying it. I dunno how well the extra weight and abv would go down drunk in litre steins at the festival itself, but had here in my room it is exactly what I am looking for.

It gains a lot of bready character in there as well as time goes on. Early on it has a palma violets style that calls to the more Czech hops and banana from the malt that makes it quite sweet, but as time goes on it builds on the peppery notes that exist, and with that bready character and a light earthiness it becomes much more savoury late into the game.

I would say it is more exciting early on, but the change in style over time makes it much more manageable to drink while still keeping hints of what came before.

Its not perfect, it could get rough over time i’d guess, but it is the most interesting Oktoberfest I have had so far.

Many thanks to Tony for getting me it!

Background: Over the years I have managed to try five of the six mainstays of the Oktoberfest, however the sixth – Augustiner, has always eludes me. I was this many years old when I found out that is because the Augustiner Oktoberfest is not generally imported into the UK, if you see it, it is likely someone manually brought some crates of it over. So, anyway shortly after finding that out I found out Tony was over in Germany for … Oktoberfest. So I pleaded with him, and he kindly brought me a bottle back. Many thanks, you are a prince amongst people. This is that bottle. Music wise I went with Godspeed You! Black Emperor: G_d’s Pee AT STATES’S END!. Yes that is its real title.

Tasting Notes: Elusive: Pomona Island: Rippin’ Rick

Elusive: Pomona Island: Rippin’ Rick (England: IIPA: 8% ABV)

Visual: Clear yellow, with just a slight bitty haze. Thin white bubbled head.

Nose: Musty malt drinks. Pineapple. Grated choc lime sweets. Chocolate eclair sweets. Granted choc orange to orange zest. Crushed nettles.

Body: Orange zest. Lemon cakes. Sugared lemons. Nettles. Earthy touch to the core. Slight bready character. Thick mouthfeel. Pineapple.

Finish: Malt drinks. Sugared orange. Good bitterness to greenery. Turmeric. Pineapple. Lightly fresh. Grapefruit.

Conclusion: This is a very satisfying beer. The double IPA malt load gives it a lot of weight despite how dry the flavours are for that west coast style. The malt is much more evident than normal, in a way that gives a malt drink choc orange/lemon/whatever set of notes that show up semi regularly behind the hops. The notes may make it seem that they are a bigger deal than they really are though. They are a competitively subtle set of notes, but it alters and informs a lot of citrus flavours in the beer so it is worth noting. It is never heavy, just a slight chocolate malt drink, kind of dry ovaltine like note that shows in the malt character, which heads into a more bready weight.

The bitterness is solid, not an assault – but I may be a bit blasé about bitterness levels these days, so keep that in mind if you are not a hop head. Still, solid bitterness is good. It had enough pop to it to give a nice hop punch.

The citrus character from the hops is lightly tart, mainly showing as orange and lemon notes which gives a lovely freshness to the whole thing, but with sweeter pineapple and tarter grapefruit doing some work at the edges.

It is nothing new, but it is a solid west coast IPA given bit more weight from the thicker mouthfeel that the extra abv a double IPA gives it, and with that a touch more evident malt.

What I am saying is I am enjoying.

Background: Elusive and Pomena are breweries I’ve had a few from recently, they haven’t managed to get into my fave brewery category but both are good enough that I’ve returned to them a bunch of times – so when they collaborated to make one of my preferred IPA styles – West Coast IPA, BUT DOUBLE – I decided to grab it and give it a go. I am always charmed by Elusive’s 8 bit style can images anyway and I am that easy to sell to. Grabbed from Independent Spirit (yes I know, you are shocked) this loads up on Simcoe (an old fave), Columbus and Amarillo hops – leaning more old school in the USA hops which sounds good to me. Or older school. I’m old now I lose track of what is considered “old” in beer terms. Get off my lawn. Music wise I went with Kill Mirror Image’s new EP KLL MRR IMG. Bias warning, I know one of the band members, but also it rocks.

Tasting Notes: Sureshot: Dunblobbin

Sureshot: Dunblobbin (England: IPA: 6.5% ABV)

Visual: Cloudy apricot to yellow. Moderate mounded white head.

Nose: Peach. Green grapes. Fresh fluffy hop notes. Cream. Peach melba.

Body: Lightly oily. Milky. Good bitterness. Greenery. Palma violets. Hop oils. Vanilla. Peppery. Peach. Grapefruit and pineapple.

Finish: Good bitterness. Peach. Light fatty butter. Palma violets. Aubergine.

Conclusion: This is a weird beer. I know, a Mr Blobby themed beer being weird, who would have thought it? But yes, it is weird – if I sit and just sip this beer I am really enjoying it – but if I examine it and try to analyse why I am enjoying it so much it seems quite simple, and I’m finding it hard to pin down what elements actually make it work so well.

Maybe it is my brain trying to reject the fact I seem to be really enjoying a NEIPA style IPA.

Ok, let’s dig into it – the aroma is an obvious plus for it – a huge amount of peach in a mid 2K USA IPA kind of way. There is crisp bitterness there, but not an overpowering amount of hops, which actually calls a lot to east coast style in my mind despite the obvious NEIPA influences.

The body is creamy, showing more of the NEIPA influence but with an oily hop character that makes me smile. It is not quite “Dank”, as is probably no longer the cool term but fuck it, I’m old, but it is a nice call in that direction. Along with the slightly aubergine like savoury notes it really does remind me of mid 2K IPAs, but not as bitter hop heavy as those used to be.

There are hints of fresher grapefruit and pineapple notes that give it some pep, and below that is a gentle east coast style sweetness – no one element says “Banger” but combined together I am really enjoying this.

Without the scary pink blob can images, this would still be a good beer, and one I will probably revisit and enjoy once more if I can.

Background: Ok, if you are not British then those weird pink abominations on the can may confuse you. That is fine. Keep your innocence. You deserve it. It is a cursed image. Anyway, yes I grabbed a can of this because it had Mr Blobby on it. Yes I am easy to sell to. Yes I bought it because of that despite just insulting its existence. I am a complex and confusing entity. Anyway, turned out it was actually pretty good so I grabbed another can from Independent Spirit to do notes on. It is a hazy IPA, which, ok, not my favourite style so bias warning there. Music wise I went back to some Rage Against The Machine – the self titled album. Current world status is making me listen to them more at the mo. Oh, the brewery and beer? You want to know about that? Looks like Sureshot was started by an ex head brewer and founder of Cloudwtaer – so that is a heck of a good heritage for your new Brewery. The beer is double dry hopped with one of my favourite hops – simcoe – so I had high hopes at the start for it.

Tasting Notes: Holy Goat: Blood Eagle

Holy Goat: Blood Eagle (Scotland: Fruit Flemish Red: 6.66% ABV)

Visual: Hazy cherry-aid red to black cherry centre. Reddened off white medium sized head.

Nose: Cherry yogurt. Wheat flecks. Sour red wine. Black currant and crushed red grape skin. Thick. Strawberry. Brown bread.

Body: Tart. Sweet plum. Sweet red wine. Sour cherry fizzy sweets. Sticky gummed brown paper. Lightly fizzy. Fizzy lemon sherbet. Peppery bitterness. Rye crackers. Black cherry.

Finish: Sour cherry fizzy sweets. Sweet plums. Light tart raspberry. Gummy – Gelatine sweets in general. Brown bread. Bourbon air.

Conclusion: This is very rewarding, with thick gummy brown paper style take on the sticky, sour red Flemish ale at the base but has been filled in every inch with some twist and turn that makes it stand out.

The fruit is the most obvious twist, as you might expect, sweet plums are there, but the sour notes and tart fruit notes are more evident. There is a raspberry freshness and sour black cherry, often in a slightly artificial style that calls to the sour gelatine fizzy sweets that exists. It is gummy in its thickness and the flavours really vinous with lots of red wine and red grape notes hanging around even as the main fruitiness is waning.

Around that is a peppery, slightly bitter character into a brown bread grounding. Savoury in general, slightly spicy, and slightly spirity in a bourbon to rye style. It is a mix of lower grounding notes that bring you down from that tarter flavours, and tells of the alcohol still present there.

So much to examine as you can probably tell, and while the flavours are wide ranging they never clash. If I had to criticise it I would say that the gumminess builds up over time to become very sticky at the end, and a bit too present, but this only becomes an issue at the very end when the more savoury gumminess tends to dominate and the fruitiness lightens.

Overall a very impressive and fun to examine sour beer.

Background: Oh, Holy Goat, I have had a few of these before and have been blown away by them, so I really needed to pull my thumb out and actually do notes on one of them. This one is, ok deep breath, based on a Flanders Red and a British stock ale, fermented with wild yeast, blended with an amber sour that had been aged in rye whisky barrels, then added in blackcurrant and redcurrant that had been used in a prior Flanders red, then a mix of smoked and unsmoked plums – with the smoked plums done on red wine staves – were added in. Follow all that? Because I think I got lost somewhere. Anyway, grabbed from Independent Spirit, this was drunk while listening to Laura Jane Grace and The Devouring Mothers: Bought To Rot.

Tasting Notes: Abbeydale: Wanderer West Coast IPA

Abbeydale: Wanderer West Coast IPA (England: IPA: 6.5% ABV)

Visual: Cloudy lemon juice at the edges to apricot skin main body colour. Thin, loose bubbled white head.

Nose: Lemon juice. Flour. Apples. Some prickly hop character and bitterness. Apricot.

Body: Peach. Good bitterness. Peach syrup. Apricot skin. Green feeling hop character. Slightly dry. Apples. Slightly resinous. Fudge.

Finish: Greenery. Good hop character and bitterness. Apples. Quite dry. Apricot skin. Slightly resinous. Kiwi. Crushed custard cream biscuits and a dry general custard touch.

Conclusion: I was surprised how cloudy this west coast style IPA was on the eye. Thankfully though there is no New England style IPA shenanigans going on here. It isn’t 100% in my preferred interpretation of of a west coast style, but it knows to make it bitter and kick a bit.

It is just slightly dry, not as much as you would expect from the style – there is a chewy fudge backing that shows the malt a bit more than usual, but still dry enough and it gives a base for a reasonably bitter and resinous character. Nothing too hardcore but, you know, bitter and resinous. That is what I am here for and they are doing the job right as long as they get that bit sorted, in my opinion anyway.

The bitter base is then a launch pad for a dry, apple character along with some dry apricot skin notes – a fruity but restrained experience. That said, there is a fruit syrup core to the whole thing that is sweeter and thicker than I would expect for the style, but despite that works pretty well here. It results in a sticky, fruity kind of hoppiness. Clinging but not so much that it gets harsh of dull.

While not a show stopper of an IPA this is a solid mix of bitterness, resinous character and fruitiness and does the job. It is just about dry enough for what I want, and gives a lot of flavour. Very solid indeed.

Background: Abbeydale used to be a brewery I knew for turning out more traditional ales. They seem to be experimenting a lot more these days. Their Wanderer series is bunch of different beers taking inspiration from things around the world – in this case the West Coast IPA which is a favoured style of mine. Single hopped with Citra, which is a classic of USA IPAs this was one I was hoping to enjoy a lot. Another one grabbed from Independent Spirit, I went back to the Animatrix album for backing music – I think I enjoyed the music from that even more than Animatrix itself.

Tasting Notes: Black Sheep: Riggwelter

Black Sheep: Riggwelter (England: English Strong Ale: 5.7% ABV)

Visual: Light chestnut brown coloured body with reddened hues. Middling sized brown froth head. Still.

Nose: Milky chocolate. Cocoa dust. Lightly earthy. Crushed peanuts. Light caramel. Raisins.

Body: Liquorice. Lightly earthy. Cake sponge. Milk texture. Light ginger bread. Light prickling. Greenery. Malt chocolate. Raisins. Light charring.

Finish: Gingerbread. Earthy bitterness. Greenery. Nutty. Bitter chocolate dust. Light milk. Bitter coffee remains. Peppery. Dry treacle.

Conclusion:This shows how earthy hop flavours, and even liquorice notes, both of which are so often a weakness in badly made beers, can be used in satisfying and robust ways.

I think a lot of it comes from the balance of the weight of the beer to its drinkability. This is weighty with a slight milky, creamy grip and thickness at the core but around that is a dry general bitter like feel. The slight dryness is what makes it easy to drink, the thickness adds enough to make the earthier bitter notes more manageable and less wearing that they can be in lighter beers.

There is a gingerbread and peppery spice throughout it – a savoury tingling set of flavours that complement the solid earthy bitterness well without contradicting them too much. It is a very traditional set of bitter notes but behind that the extra malt weight gives hints of dark fruit, raisins, and even manages to make that hint of liquorice feel like a welcome release rather than an off note. It makes for very much the heavier take on the traditional earthy British bitter.

If that earthy bitterness, even a strong ale take on such, does not appeal to you then this will probably not be one you find to your tastes. If, however it does not put you off then you may find, like I do, that this stands on the ideal point between a weightier ale, and a drinkable bitter. Old school but done right.

Background: When the parents came down to visit, as well as the beer from Christmas I mentioned in some previous notes, they also brought a box of Black Sheep beers for me. Many thanks again! Black Sheep are good brewery up north, named after the creator who was the black sheep that left the Theakston brewery to set up his own. Which makes sense. Anyway, this is one I had many times back in the old days, but had not revisited recently, so was looking forwards to trying it again. Went with Jack Off Jill again as backing music, Sexless Demons and Scars this time.