3.6 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Hand pulled at Out of the Vaults, Leicester. Very rich Stout, with a tart lemon essence, which wriggles and slides throughout the mouthful. Full flavoured roastedness, and a medium thich mouthfeel. Another great beer from Abbeydale - the BEST brewery in England at this present time.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Cask@Chelmsford BF. Nose is quite full of grapey/gooseberry aromas, also a bit herbaceous. Slightly sticky to start, with the aromas corresponding to the flavours, although it is a stout, so it had some bitter chocolate and roasted malt in the finish, but its quite fruity.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
UPDATED: SEP 6, 2005 Beer #9 at Chelmsford Beer Festival, with Duff. I found this a rather curious stout. It looks like a stout, but the aroma was much more leafy (gooseberry) and herbaceous than expected, with some currant fruit. The flavours are a bit more sturdy but, again, dominated by rich fruit rather than roasty malt. Gets quite bitter, almost sour, towards the finish. Not a typical stout, but interesting and rather classy anyway. I rather liked it. Cask (gravity dispense).
3.4 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bright bottled at Reading Beer Festival. The last of my Reading bottles. This is a Strong Dark Ale in the Imperial Stout tradition. Very dry and bitter there is some relief provided by residual sweetness and a pleasant fruit. My notes when fresh from the cask on Friday were: "Black, bitter-sweet and tangy. Score 3.5" and I feel that score is about right. While there is an intensity of flavour with touches of dark red wine, raisins, plums and marzipan, it does seem somehow crudely done. It’s the style that’s getting the score - this sort of strong dark ale tends to be a style that packs in the points.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Cask Conditioned at The Plough, Bodicote, Oxon. Black as a witches t*t with a tan head. Heavy thick stout, have your last rites read before a session of this, chewey fruit with a chicory powdery background, theres no letting up of the heavy roast notes, if this is imperial stout then I want more, take me into your darkness, envelope me with sticky licorice notes. Let the devil take me, compare this with commercial stout of the Irish kind, no comparison indeed.
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Ruby red/black beer with a deep head. The aroma is intense alcohol and the flavour is bitter and mainly strongly alcoholic. Overall a good strong beer.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
This is a pitch black beer that is as dangerous as its 6.66 alcohol. A thick, syrupy beer that is not too cloying. Roast malts are well balanced with sweetened black coffee. More like an imperial stout - this is powerful stuff/
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