Cask gravity at the Exeter Festival of Winter Ales, 12/01/2007. A dark black colour with no head. A malty aroma. Taste is strong toffee, some plum, malt and prune - rather different. Fairly sweet. A sweet and only lightly bitter finish. Poor aroma, but pretty tasty.

The alcohol isn’t very noticeable. Caramel, a touch of malt and some jammy fruit. Finishes dry. But its all a bit thin for a strong ale and doesn’t pack a great deal of punch. Not really a typical old ale. This was a festival of strong ales so the less powerful beers were bound to struggle to make their presence felt, so I’ve made some allowances in the scoring. Cask (gravity dispense), February 2005.

Dover Fest. A thin ale with a damp aroma and no real character. Everything is a bit wishy washy. Some sweetness. Some ashy bits. Not really hanging together.

Sampled cask conditioned. Nut brown. Soft and gentle but very malty. Very fruity, but still dryish. A big, very goiod winter ale with a rather bitter finish.