Broadstone Black Abbot

Formerly brewed at Broadstone
Style: Porter
Retford, England

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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[Cask at GBBF 2005] A red-brown beer with no head. The aroma is malty with a roasty character. The flavor is of roasted malt with a light hint of suphur. The mouthfeel is flat.

UPDATED: FEB 12, 2007 1. Cask Handpump at the Court House Station (JDW), Barnsley 17/08/2002 Black slightly strong in alcohol and rich on the palate with some roast flavour in the finish. 2. Cask Handpump at the Fat Cat, Sheffield 23/08/2003 Dark red with some sour fruit flavour. Bitter slight roast finish. 3. Cask Handpump at the Anvil, Wigan 05/03/2005 Dark with some alcohol taste. Slightly bitter caramel finish.

Cask (gravity dispense) at GBBF 2005. Can’t believe I’d not rated a Broadstone beer before. Darkish brown colour. Mainly chocolate accented and, as suggested, with touches of licorice. But it lacked the sour edge that I might expect from a porter. Either the recipe has changed, or the bottled version is different or (most likely in my view) those who noted excessive sourness in the bottle have got beer from a bad batch. I found this perfectly pleasant but a bit short of clout.

Very dark brown with a beige head. Aromas are are sour berries and chocolate - a bit of a mess and not typical of the style. Flavours are fruity and sour and lacking the chcolate and licourice promised on the label. To be fair hints of chocolate do poke through the nastiness. Perhaps this is a badly bottled beer that is decent from the cask. Its as if the wrong yeast has been used in the bottle conditioning. Messy.

[Cask conditioned] Very dark brown coloured. Very malty and roasty. Very nice.

(Cask conditioned) Very dark, deep red/amber color with small, big-bubbled head. Dry, sour wineous cherry aroma. Roasted-malty, sour flavor. Quite original and very sour for a porter. I'll be sure to remember this one.

Nutty, chocolate aroma is fairly sweet. Clear, dark chestnut brown with low off-white head. Fairly roasty flavour has some chocolate and nutty character. Medium-light body with somewhat low carbonation. Cask at GBBF 2005.

Bottle conditioned. Deep ruby red brown colour, good beige head that soon disappears, moderate condition. Not sure that this was a representative bottle as my description and the bottle label are somewhat at odds. First aroma suggests a woody tart, almost sour note that was very Flemish red. Aroma mellows later into a fruit raisin note. In the mouth it has that same metallic twang and bloodiness with a far off suggestion of chocolate. Finish is long and bloody with an underlying bitterness. Good thirst quenching beer with no obvious faults save for the sourness which is pleasant and never gets out of balance.

Why do so many bottle conditioned beers have a nasty bitter aftertaste? This initially tasted like a sour bottle of vinegar. After a while it did start to resemble something drinkable..It might have come from a bad batch but has nobody ever heard of quality control ? In its cask form no doubt this is a pleasant beer,but in a bottle, no thanks.

Cask conditioned, GBBF 2005: Black no head. Coffee aroma. Malty and sweet flavour. Finish is sweet and creamy. Slightly roasted.