Ridgeway Bad King John

Brewed by Hepworth
Style: Stout
Horsham, England

I dunno. This beer just did nothing for me and to call it a stout (if that’s what it is even) seems to be a slap in the face to stouts across the globe. When I first poured it, I thought that maybe it was a schwarzbier, but a day after drinking it I see it’s labeled as a stout (...shaking head).

The beer pours out a black body but with brown edges and basically a near zero head. Aroma was light roasted malts and nothing else. Flavor had the same lack of character...just roasted malts. Rather bitter in the flavor with little sweet malt to even it up a little. Watery mouthfeel. Just...blech.

50 cl bottle. Pours a clear dark brown body with a small fizzy beige head that left a good bit of frothy lacing. The nose is pretty light, a little roast, some dark caramel, and what I’ve come to think of as Ridgeway’s signature yeast. The flavor is mostly roasted malt with a decent level of bitterness from the malt. Finishes on the sweeter side with a hefty dose of burnt caramel. Medium bodied, a little sticky, with fine fizzy carbonation. OK, about what I’ve come to expect from the Ridgeway line.

500 ml. bottle. Pours a thin beige head, with some lacing, over a reddish black (SRM 30) clear body.....nose is coffee, chocolate.....taste is coffee, chocolate, finishing with a spicy hop bitterness....mouth feel is medium, carbonation balances in with a creamy texture. This is a fairly typical Dry Stout. The hops do balance in nicely. Nose and taste are a bit dominated by the heavily roasted malts. BJCP 7/2/15/4/6

This beer pours black with a thin tan head that dissipates quickly. The aromas are chocolate and coffee. The flavors are quite the same. It’s really not as bad as I was expecting... I kinda liked this one! Cheers!

Bottle conditioned, 500ml from Bellingers Garage, Grove, Oxon. Dark brown, ruby with off white head. Slightly sweet and fruity, plummy, for a stout, however there are some dark, roasty, coffee notes within a slightly murky body. But the fruit, and a slight tartness, persist through the beer. Not convincing.

Pours a dark coffee, low medium head .. . black biscuit, cola syrup, burnt nutshell, and bovril players .. . wonderful roast level .. . great boldness in the aftertaste .. . decent lacing .. . would be great on tap, nitro, or better yet Cask! .. . Travolta needs to retire.. . abv is pefrect .. . fun, super drinkable , fuck, i like it! .. . like 2 pies in the face, and one in a field ...

500ml Bottle Conditioned. Poured a dark ruby red with a small off white head which didn’t last very long. Malty with some chocolate notes. Initially the taste was on the sweet side which gave way to an almost fishy flavour followed by a reasonably lingering bitterness. A reasonable beer which didn’t really live up to my overall expectations and certainly didn’t drink to its abv.

Pours black with a khaki head. The aroma is pretty subtle with roasted malts and a little smoke. The flavor is more of the same with roasted malt being the most predominant flavor component. The hops may add a tad bit of bitterness but if they do, it is not much. Not very complex but it is enjoyable. Medium mouthfeel and carbonation.