Tasting Notes: Elusive: Sunken Knave : Overboard

Elusive: Sunken Knave : Overboard (England: Old Ale: 6% ABV)

Visual: Very dark brown to black. Moderate sized browned head that doesn’t last long.

Nose: Raisins. Brown bread. Light chalk. Malt chocolate.

Body: Slightly sour. Sour grapes. Vinous. Sherry soaked raisins. Slight chalk. Brown bread. Slight yeastie funk. Malt chocolate. Light sulphur.

Finish: Raisins. Sour grapes. Vinous touches. Sour red wine. Slightly chalky. Slight yeastie funk. Slight smoked cheese. Light bitter hop character. Cocoa dust.

Conclusion: I oft bemoan that some beer styles are so under-represented these days. Oft while I buy my 2000^th west coast IPA, So I admit I may not be helping there. I am a hypocrite some times, I know it. Anyway, the old ale style is definitely one that deserves more love, and here we have one.

This, made in conjunction with Sunken Knave who I can’t wait to try more from, utterly nails it.

It has that slight vinous sourness – a part I love and is oft ignored by the more mainstream takes on old ales, then it layers that over a maltly, slightly malt chocolate body. It also expresses dark fruit but does not rely on them as the main core. The sourness keeps it feeling fresh and yet solid.

There is this mix of sour grapes and sherry soaked dark fruit that feels so rewarding to explore, with light chalkiness and bitterness underlining the whole experience.

Do I like it? I’m on my third can I have bought and I’m only just letting it survive long enough for me to do notes on it. Yes I like it. There is a slight yeast funk that works really well with the sourness, and seems to give a light smoke like, sulphurous touch, very mild – but just enough that it adds to how this beer just nails everything I want from an Old Ale.

Another great Elusive beer, and I can’t wait to see what comes from Sunken Knave after this.

Background: Initially I grabbed this as it was an old ale and you don’t see enough of them these days. Later I found out Sunken Knave is a new brewery trying to bring focus back to traditional British beer styles, and classic recipes to try to gain them the kind of respect that the traditional Belgian beers currently have. Which you know what, I am behind. I love the craft beer movement and the new beer interpretations, but my problems with more traditional British beers in the old days were never the beer styles, but how so often the most dull versions were the ones available. A focus on the traditional British beer styles with an emphasis on quality sounds just the thing we need these days. I am looking forwards to seeing Sunken Knave’s solo work, hopefully soon. It also helps that Elysium, the main brewer for this is one I have gained massive respect for over the past year or so. Anyway, not much else to add. Grabbed from Independent Spirit and drunk while listening to Bikini Kill: Pussy Whipped. One of their albums I had not heard before.

Tasting Notes: Emperor: Arbor: Jabba The Nutt

Emperor: Arbor: Jabba The Nutt (England: Imperial Stout: 10% ABV)

Visual: Black and still body. Thin brown head that quickly vanishes.

Nose: Walnuts. Vanilla. Dry roasted peanuts. Coca. Crushed bourbon biscuits.

Body: Smooth and creamy. Vanilla fudge. Slight alcohol warmth. Dry fudge. Riesen chocolate chews. Good thickness. Slightly milky.

Finish: Chocolate cake. Bourbon soaked sponge. Bitter cocoa. Watered down blended whisky. Slight crushed peanuts. Riesen chocolate chews. Walnut.

Conclusion: Ok, one, this is really good. Two, this is far less nutty than I expected. There is some influence there but the barrel ageing (At a guess bourbon barrels but it doesn’t say) has a lot more influence here with lots of vanilla and toffee notes. Thus I am torn between the fact that I am definitely enjoying this, and the fact that it doesn’t stand out in a distinct way in the big stouts stakes.

It is remarkably well made, and I am definitely grabbing another can, but it doesn’t have that spark that makes it stand out so much I say “This is a top imperial stout and a must have”. However it is smooth but with enough texture that it feels creamy and so has good weight. Similarly there is some bitter cocoa but generally leaning towards the sweeter end of the imperial stout scale and that mix makes for a noticeably nuanced and rounded beer.

Lots of chocolate cake, that aforementioned cocoa, but you know what I am not getting much of? Nuts. Which is off for a Walnut Whip Imperial Stout. There are kind of nuts here and there but not heavily so – more from the toffee and vanilla notes as mentioned – It is still remarkably solid in all the main elements, maybe more nut influence would have shoved it up there as a special one, but as is it is very good but doesn’t quite stand out.

So a polished, super well crafted base of a beer that just needs some small tweak to stand out.

Background: Emperor are a very well regarded small brewery that is dedicated to making the best Imperial Stouts they can. They are mainly seen in collaborations, but I have managed to get my hands on a few cans of their self made stuff over the years. They don’t always meet their ambitions but they tend to be good enough that I check them out whenever I can. Arbor are a very solid brewery which I have had many a good time with over the years, so was hoping for a good beer here. Also the name made me snigger so much because I am childish. Go figure. This is described as a “Walnut Whip Imperial Stout” made with wheat, oats and lactose on top of the normal ingredients and is aged in 15 oak barrels of an unstated style for a year. No actual nuts listed, again, go figure. I still have no idea how Disney have not sued Emperor’s brewing shitless, but glad they have not. Went with Typo O Negative: October Rust for dark backing music for a dark heavy beer. This was another beer grabbed from Independent Spirit.

Tasting Notes: Elusive Brewing: Baker’s Dozen: Portents of Doom NZ BIPA

Elusive Brewing: Baker’s Dozen: Portents of Doom NZ BIPA (England: Black IPA: 6% ABV)

Visual: Black. Thin brown slightly creamy head that leaves suds.

Nose: Blueberry. Vanilla toffee. Pineapple. Peach. Milky coffee. Grapefruit.

Body: Chocolate. Nutty. Blueberry. Bitter coffee. Slight cream. Grapefruit. Nettles. Tingling hop character. Bitter hops. Vanilla toffee. Slight strawberry.

Finish: Very nutty. Slight earthy hop character. Peppery. Grapefruit. Great bitterness. Bitter coffee granules. Slight charcoal.

Conclusion: Sometimes it feels hard to draw the line between a black IPA and a heavily hopped stout. This is not one of those times. This really shows how a good Black IPA is recognisably different.

It does have the bitter cocoa and bitter chocolate you would expect from the more bitter end of stouts, that I will admit yes, but smooth with a toffee character that feels very familiar to an IPA fan in its implementation.

Similarly it feels more than just bitter, prickly hops, though yes it also has that. There is a mix of slightly sweet yet fresh pineapple and tart grapefruit that makes the intense bitter malts easier to drink despite the added hop bitterness used liberally.

There is a subtlety to the fruit as well, a blueberry note that very much surprised me to find for example. I never associated that with NZ hops before, but while it is subtle it is delicious and definitely here. There is a lot of the tarter NZ character, but that blueberry really stands out for making this beer, well, stand out from the crowd.

It has lovely dark malt bitterness, great hop prickle and bitterness, a freshness that makes it easier it drink and shows the NZ hops wonderfully. Also blueberry. A lovely BIPA, definitely worth it.

Background: First up, this is not one of Elusive’s many, many West coast IPA variants they have done recently. Instead it is a new Black IPA, another IPA style I adore and feel is often under-represented these days. YAYZ! A New Zealand hopped Black IPA at that, I love NZ standard IPAs, so a black IPA take definitely had my interest. I don’t know much about the collaboration partners. Baker’s Dozen. Will have to see if I can find out more, a quick google suggests they have won a bunch of awards for their beers – but these days that doesn’t always mean much. Their line up looks cool – mainly described as hop forwards cask ales. Will have to keep an eye out for them. This beer’s had a complicated tasting history. My first can I started doing notes on aaaand, knocked the darn glass over, spilling a good 75% of it. Bugger. Not done that for a while. So I grabbed another can. And drank it before I could do notes. This is the third can, now finally having notes done for it. Also I’m typing this on a new keyboard as the beer went all over my old one and utterly fucked it. Between the two tastings I listened to two different History Of Guns Albums, Apophenia and Flashes Of Light – pretty much their entire line up is free at the mo on bandcamp, so I grabbed a bunch of LPs I had not heard before. This was another beer grabbed from Independent Spirit. Repeatedly, due to that spilling.

Tasting Notes: Elusive: Triple Oregon Trail

Elusive: Triple Oregon Trail (England: IIPA: 10% ABV)

Visual: Pale, light yellow gold. Thin white head that leaves suds. Slightest haze to the body.

Nose: Jelly babies. Apple chewy sweets. Orange juice. Lightly resinous. Peach. Grapes.

Body: Oily. Kiwi. Resinous. Pineapple. Slightly dry but sweet. Peach. Medium hop bitterness. Quite thick. Fruit syrup. Vanilla fudge. Lightly sherbety mouthfeel. Mandarin orange. Jelly sweets.

Finish: Jolly rancher hard sweets. Grapefruit. Resinous. Oily bitterness. Light charring. Mandarin orange. Drying. Good bitterness.

Conclusion: West Coast – triple – IPA. An interesting mix. Triple IPAs are generally fucking malt bombs in order to get their high abv going. West coast IPAs tend to be well attenuated and dry with high bitterness. Not an impossible match, but always an interesting one.

This opens so jelly sweet like in the aroma, so the first time I encountered it I was worried it was going to forsake the west coast IPA style. It was very fruity, very jelly sweets. However it did have a good resinous note, so there was a promise of a good hop range, but I was worried it was going to end up much sweeter than I wanted and more east coast style.

So, luckily I was wrong. The body is kind of fruit syrup sweet, but despite that manages to still have a dryness that lets the bitterness play. It is lovely and resinous and oily in the body, leading into a bruising kick of hops in the finish. It isn’t super attenuated, but they definitely have enough that you can still call it a west coast.

The body somehow keeps some of those jelly sweets and fruit syrup flavours despite the dryness, with lots of pineapple and peach freshening it up nicely.

The finish is where it really nails it. Bitter, resinous, now with grapefruit freshness rather than the pineapple style which makes it sparkle more, and west coast dry rather than jelly sweet. Which all gives the perfect end to a bitter, resinous, oily punch.

I’ve respected and enjoyed most of Elusive’s varied takes on Oregon Trail, but this takes the difficult to do west coast TIPA and made it work and with that gained my respect so much. It nailed it so well.

Background: I love me some west coast IPAs and Elusive have done a solid range of different takes on them. I, however do not think I have encountered a west coast Triple IPA before. I would have to search to check, but I think this may be a new one on me. Well, depending on definition – at 10% ABV it lines up with few west coasts I’ve had that call themselves double IPAs or just Imperial IPAs, but any which way sounds fun. Grabbed from Independent Spirit a few times before I finally did notes on it, I kept returning so I already knew , barring a horrible batch accident, that I was going to have fun with this one. Decided to go for some lovely Sisters Of Mercy: Floodland as music to back it, I knew I was going to have a good time, so some cool tunes would make it all the more cool.

Tasting Notes: Ilkley: Mary Jane

Ilkley: Mary Jane (England: English Pale Ale: 3.4% ABV)

Visual: Pale, clear, light gold body. Some small bubbled carbonation. Thin white dash of a head.

Nose: Flour. Dry bitterness. Kumquat. Sharp lime. Sour dough. Dry lemon.

Body: Nettles. Prickly. Lightly oily. Palma violets. Dry orange. Slightly peppery. Lemon juice.

Finish: Flour. Dry bitterness. Peppery. Lightly oily. Light raspberry. Carrot and coriander. Lemon juice.

Conclusion: This beer took a while to grow on me. Initially it seemed to suffer from the curse that affect many more hopped, moderate abv beers, where they can come across too dry and so the bitterness becomes too harsh and the flavours less evident.

Over time a dry, pleasant lemon note comes out, along with other, still dry, citrus notes. It grows to a very pleasant lemon juice style that is very drinkable and works brilliantly against the harsher bitterness elements.

It still has some flour like dry character which can get a bit sticky, so not perfect, but it has improved massively from my first impression. It also gets some soft raspberry and other lightly tart flavours helping to round it out.

Overall, not bad, not stand out but doesn’t fall to the worst of the flaws this style that it could have – it flirted with them early on but managed to move away from that to something pretty decent.

Background: Another beer from the X-Mas visit up to see the family. Crap, I have been rubbish at putting these notes up. By memory Ilkley have been pretty good at doing more traditional British beer styles, but it has been a while since I tried anything from them, so they may have pivoted focus since then. Erm, not much else to say. Chilled up north, checked out what new bars had opened since I last visited. Had a good time.

Tasting Notes: Wold Top: Marmalade Porter

Wold Top: Marmalade Porter (England: Porter: 5% ABV)

Visual: Opaque black. Some small bubbled carbonation. Cinder toffee hued inch of a head that leaves suds.

Nose: Cocoa dust. Marmalade. Jif lemon. Crushed nuts.

Body: Quite thick. Chunky marmalade. Sour dough. Lime jelly. Nettles. Lightly prickling. Toffee. Light charring.

Finish: Crushed bourbon biscuits. Lemon on pancakes. Marmalade on white bread. Lightly earthy bitterness and hop character. Vanilla toffee. Cocoa dust. Peppery.

Conclusion: This really does have a tangy citrus character, and all of it done by the hops from the look of it rather than by messing around with adding extra ingredients to the porter. I am impressed with it so far.

There is a mix of marmalade, lime and lemon all showing themselves over the dark and lightly charred body. Lots of cocoa dust shows itself top and tail, but mid body there is a just a dark charred character that gives weight behind the tarter citrus notes.

It makes for a very solid, weighty beer, but with a remarkably tangy character to it. It reminds me a bit of the brighter hop styled black IPAs that I have enjoyed over the years, though this leans more into the thick, porter side of things.

Around that base there is a grounding earthy hop character – this beer is never super sweet, with only some toffee notes doing the work on that side, and the chocolate character coming across more as bitter cocoa dust than anything sweet – but the bright tangy citrus definitely benefits from a moderate earthy bitterness to contrast and ground.

Overall a solid, quite thick porter with lovely fresh citrus for something unusual without abandoning the base beer. A very nice slow sipper.

Background: Gosh darn been just over a decade since I did notes on a Wold Top beer, and same as last time I was back with the family up north and they had got some beers in for me to enjoy while there, of which this was one. Many thanks. Last beer was pretty good as well, the Wold Top Gold. Was quite interested in this one, called a Marmalade Porter as it is, but with no added ingredients, so I presume everything done with the hops. I approve. I like extra ingredients as a treat, but I respect a brewery that tries to fun things with just the standard four as it shows a real level of skill and knowledge.

Tasting Notes: Abbeydale: Old Ale Vintage 2023

Abbeydale: Old Ale Vintage 2023 (England: Old Ale: 8% ABV)

Visual: A darked amberish coloured body with darkened yellow edges. Large off white mounded head.

Nose: Lightly wheaty. Peppery. Sultanas. Crushed Blackpool rock. Cake sponge.

Body: Peppery. White bread. Wheat. Sultanas. Smooth body against a light wheaty feel. Brown sugar. Light cream. Madeira cake touch. Light caramel.

Finish: Wheaty. Peppery. Bitter. Lightly earthy. Brown bread. Madeira cake. Sour dough.

Conclusion: Ok, this is a classic style old ale that is well made. End of notes.

Wait, I need to do more or I won’t get paid. SHIT!

Ok first impression were a tad wheatier and more peppery on the nose than I expected. The expected dark fruits are there, but with savoury spice against it. No real alcohol burn despite the higher alcohol. The rough edges feel deliberate flavour choices rather than alcohol burn.

The body is surprisingly smooth – the peppery flavour gives a rough edge to the flavour choice, but booze wise this is incredibly easy to drink for an 8% – continuing the impression from the aroma. They dark fruit is the main deal here, with lots there – however first there is a wheaty, lightly creamy front you work through that makes the dark fruit something you reach and discover rather than it instantly being shoved at you.

Then in the finish you get quite savoury peppery character matched to classic British hop earthiness, which is present but never descends to that dreaded soil like level.

Overall, easy to drink, hides the alcohol well but uses the rougher flavour edges to inform you that you are drinking something heavy. Very dark fruited and rich but with a lovely savoury balance to everything. A very good old style old ale.

Wait, hold on, I don’t get paid for doing these anyway. I could have given up after that start.

SHIT! Ah well, at least not a shit beer.

Background: By happenstance I saw this article from Abberydale and I was instantly sold by the line “So, rather than a thick, chewy, triple chocolate vanilla ice cream bourbon biscuit pastry IPA, whilst the craft beer world clamours for the freshest, most progressive and boundary pushing beers, we’ve produced… an old ale.“. I mean I do enjoy the gimmick beers, but they do seem to be coming increasingly omnipresent rather than the occasional treat, so the promise of a good old ale jumped out at me so I grabbed two bottles from their webstore to try – only 200 bottles were made so it is weird to realise I grabbed 1% of them. I meant to age one, but have drunk both already. Music wise I was intending to see GBH live shortly after so was listening to GBH: City Baby Attacked By Rats. However due to illness the gig was delayed, darn it.

Tasting Notes: Wylam: Revenge Of The Green Butt Skunk

Wylam: Revenge Of The Green Butt Skunk (England: IIPA: 8.4% ABV)

Visual: Cloudy lemon juice coloured body with large white mounded ice cream like head.

Nose: Resin. Grapefruit. Oily bitterness. Cannabis touch.

Body: Oily. Resinous. Black liquorice. Custard cream biscuits. Lots of hop oils. Sticky. Squeezed orange. “dank”. Slight smoke wisp. Vanilla custard.

Finish: Sticky. Kumquat. Resinous. Bitter. Grapefruit. Pineapple.

Conclusion: Often I have not been on board with the cloudier side of the IPA range – there is always an overhanging shadow of the NEIPA style and low hop bitterness which is generally not my thing. This is by far not the cloudiest IPA I have seen but initially I was nervous.

I should not have worried, as the name promises, this opens up resinous, oily and bitter. The aroma mainly just works with those notes, though with the promise of a grapefruit release hidden in there. It is when you take the first sip that things really start to get going.

It is the perfect balance between thick and dry feel – there is a vanilla custard weight but it still feels slight attenuated in a way that makes it sweet but not so much it gets in the way of a thick, oily, “dank” set of notes. The only bit that isn’t 100% for me is the oily liquorice coming out, but as it is done here I can live with it.

What really makes this beer work though is the finish. It is still oily, still bitter, but after a while that grapefruit that was there in the body and aroma, but temporarily absent in the finish, comes back with a bit of extra strength that grant a brief respite from the whole weight of the oily resinous hops that is delicious and really makes you both want to take a moment to appreciate it and also take another sip to enjoy that bitterness anew.

That release takes it from a good beer to an amazing one. Those fresher grapefruit notes, along with the slight extra sweetness from the higher malt allows it to manage much more oily bitterness that it would otherwise be able to do without getting rough and lets this beer go so much further.

An amazing DIPA, get it, love it.

Background: This is a beer I have been meaning to do notes on for a while. I have had several cans of this and each time they vanished deliciously before I could do notes on them. So, this time, another can bought from Independent Spirit, with a determination to actually do notes on it this time. This is a rebrew as a result of a poll of fans to see which DIPA special should be remade and I think the original was a brewed up version of what was originally an IPA. I could be wrong. Googling is not helping me here. Anyway, made with Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin and Citra, that is a nice set of hops. Went with Bad Brains self titled album for backing music. Yep still on an early 80s punk kick.

Tasting Notes: Elusive: BA Mince Pie Barley Wine

Elusive: BA Mince Pie Barley Wine (England: Barley Wine: 8.5% ABV)

Visual: Very dark brown body with red hints of held to the light. A rim of browned bubbles around the edge of the glass instead of a head.

Nose: Suet, basically mince pies. Carrots. Nutmeg. Cloves. Black liquorice. Chives.

Body: Light charring. Mead. Suet. White sugar. Peppery. Burnt charred meat ends. Brown sugar. Some cherries.

Finish: White sugar. Candy floss. Golden syrup. Suet. Black pepper. Lightly tarry. Brown sugar. Mince pies. Toffee. A general cheap whisky feel.

Conclusion: Ok, so definitely a lot of suet feel here, along with a whole bunch of Christmas spices and sugar dusting for a distinct call to mince pies without losing the rough edged and alcohol warming barley wine base. So, covers the gimmick without losing the base beer to do so, always a good start.

The bourbon ageing is there but feels more subtle compared to the big suet push. There is some toffee floating around in there and a general generic whisky air, especially in the finish, but there is little I can distinctly grab onto. It is a recognisable but nebulous vibe around the main beer.

It comes together into a beer that is quite dry and slightly rough edged – which is not always a bad thing. Here though, apart from the well delivered mince pie imagery, the rest of the beer doesn’t hang together as well. Not that is bad, just a bunch of elements that don’t really harm but neither do they enhance the core idea. It feels all a bit all over the place.

Does the core idea well, not special, but also not bad, just not focussed. I’d have it as a bit of fun, but not as more than that.

Background: It is that time of the year ago, waaay before Christmas but everyone has already shoved up all the lights. Prob less so by the time I actual pull my finger out and upload these notes. Any which way, I saw this Mince Pie themed barley wine in Independent Spirit , this time a special edition barrel aged in Heaven Hill Bourbon Casks for a year to add a bit special and thought, what the heck, treat myself. I may not be much for Christmas but I am a huge fan of its beers. For backing music I really got in the Christmas mood, nah just kidding, continued my exploration of 80s punk with Discharge: Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing. It is the sound of the season.

Tasting Notes: Mash Gang: Vault City: Only In Dreams

Mash Gang: Vault City: Only In Dreams (England: Low Alcohol: 0.5% ABV)

Visual: Hazy dark strawberry colour opaque body. Large reddened white tight bubbled head.

Nose: Strawberry. Kiwi. Lemon curd. Light greenery.

Body: Sour. Malt vinegar. Squeezed lime. Strawberry. Kiwi. Apples. Bitty mouthfeel.

Finish: Sour. Malt vinegar. Strawberry. Light chilli seed. Chipotle like smoke. Lemon curd.

Conclusion: I’m not super into this, but I am more into it than I was when I first poured it. So it is now clearing a low bar!

When I first poured I will admit this looked utterly lovely on the eye. On the nose it was pretty fruity, then when I got to sipping it had more a watered down malt vinegar presence which made up the main experience which was … not my kind of thing. There are a few fruit hints, but it felt very flat and empty. Not a good start, especially considering how fruity the aroma was – in the aroma there was such a range of fruit notes, including ones I knew where not used in making it, so the flat body was such a let down.

Over time it does get more fruity, with kind of kiwi coming from somewhere somehow, apple kind of fresh notes and of course, finally, we get that promised the lime and strawberry.

Like this it feels like a nice mixed fruit juice, with lots of bits you can feel in it, giving it a mouthfeel that really emphasises that. At this point only that watered down vinegar touch is there to hint at the call to a sour beer, with none of the complexity, attenuated character or other lovely characteristics that a sour beer can normally bring.

So, it feels kind of like a sub optimal and expensive fruit juicer mix, the only oddity is a bit of spiciness to it, but you could get that by just adding a drop of tobacco to your fruit juice. Not really worth the money – it has nothing there that just a good quality fruit juice could not do better and cheaper.

Background: So, Vault City tend to be pretty darn good with unusual sours, and Mash Gang , while more mixed, have a pretty good record with low abv beers. So a mash up between them to make a low abv odd sour is at least worth looking at I figured. I have to admit the shiny metallic can helped as well, it is pretty, if not the easiest to take pictures of so may not look as good in the pics here. Looking at the ingredients this is made with Strawberry, Lime, Chill and Vinegar. That last one I presume trying to get some of the sour wild yeast taste without the accompanied alcohol. According to the can this is the first in a six part collaboration series. Apparently this is trying to emulate a Strawberry and Jalapeno Margarita pickleback. I had to google pickleback, apparently this is when you chase the drink with a shot of pickle brine. Why they do not say. Self loathing? Then again I’m the one drinking this, so they got me on that one. Anyway, went back to the 90s with Space: Spiders as backing music for this. A bit of quirky 90s pop to go with a quirky low alcohol beer. This was another beer grabbed from Independent Spirit.