Elland 1872 Porter

No longer Eastwood & Sanders, just E&S. Wow! This is an amazingly concentrated Porter, with so much going on..... Almost black in appearance, dark chocolate & subtle coffee aromas, an explosion of complex flavours on a very full-bodied palate, including yet more dark chocolate, coffee, roast malt bitterness & a balanced hoppiness through to the memorable finish. A must try!

Bright bottled at Chappel Fest. Wow! I know strong dark beers tend to get big responses, but this one deserves praise. Mouthfeel is soft, yeilding, seductive, vaginal, lingering, explorative, twisting, expressive, just plain ol’ yummy. Flavours are smokey, licorice, chocolate, coffee - all fresh, balanced, in harmony. Fruit notes. Bitter notes. Sweetness. It’s all here in one exquisite package. O yes. Beer of the month!

Cask conditioned and all the better for it. This is the sort of thing that makes winter worthwhile. Out come all the old dark beers. Strong and warming. Mmmmm. This is truly a beauty.

Cask@GBBF2008. Deep amber colour, small creamy brown head. Aroma is coffee, smoked wood, some roasted malts, vanilla and mild alcohol. Flavour is roasted malts, dark fruits, smoked wood and peat. All in an excellent balance.

On tap at GBBF 05. Now then, here’s a good espresso aroma. Extremely strong coffee flavour - intense. Very good indeed.

Cask conditioned at Merton Beer Festival Fri July 7th 2006. Very dark beer in fact black with barely a head but what there was appeared beigeish in colour. Roasted coffee bean aroma with a hint of bitter chocolate, flavours are much the same as well but this really is the Geoff Capes of the Porter world and takes no prisoners. Great bitterness follows and malty flavours sneak through every so often, along with their July Morning this was a storming beer from Eastwood and Sanders.

(Cask at GBBF, London, 2 Aug) Colour is pitch black with pale brown foamy head. Nose is roasted with heavy aromas of freshly ground coffee, espresso, dark chocolate, soy sauce and tar. Taste is raosted, malty with full flavours of strong, black coffee, some chocolate, tar and liquorice. Full body. The bitterness comes through in the finish when the other flavours give way for a lovely hop character, and it is very bitter (probably with som help from the roasted malt). Complex! Absolutely lovely. In my opinoin, the best beer at the GBBF this year.

Cask at GBBF 2005 Dark brown. Tar and chewy malt on nose, liquorice, burnt malt in mouth. Very tarry with a thick finish. Re-rate. Cask handpull at Ship & Mitre, Liverpool. Wonderful beer. Black beer, thin dark beige head. Deep flavours, incredible aroma of dark malts, charcoal and some dark fruit. Full and velvety in mouth if a tad sour with long finish. Excellent beer . Some sour dark plum/damson fruit