4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
I have a feeling that this bottle aged a while at the store before I bought it. Pours a flat oily black with a thin tan lace and a bitter smokey chocolate aroma. Body is incredibly smooth with lots of smokey roasted malt complexity and a dry bitter finish. Body could be a little thicker, but this is still one very good stout.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
(Cask at Rake, Southwark, London, 25 Nov 2011) Black colour with frothy, beige head. Malty, roasted nose with notes of dark chocolate, coffee and dark berries (blueberries?). Malty, roasted taste with coffee, chocolate, liquorice, dried fruit and raisins. Balanced coffee bitterness in the finish. Medium body, with a touch of sweetness. Very tasty and nice. Excellent stout.
4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
1. Cask Handpump at the Penny Black JDW, Northwich 28/03/2011
Roast aroma. Beige orange head. Black smooth and a little rich on the palate. Fruity hoppy and bitter with a slightly burnt oyster roast finish.
2. Cask Handpump at the Penny Black JDW, Northwich 28/03/2011
Roast aroma. Beige orange head. Black smooth and a little rich on the palate. Fruity hoppy and bitter with a slightly burnt oyster roast finish.
3. Cask Handpump at the Penny Black JDW, Northwich 30/03/2011
Yellow beige head. Fruit and roast aromas. Black strong in alcohol and rich on the palate with a dry bitter and slightly burnt full roast finish.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 18/20
After taking red eye from New York to London and running all over town site seeing on no sleep this first beer of European adventure vacation was well deserved and delicious. Popped into a random pub not far from tower of London and had on hand pumped cask. taste is of bitter coffee, ash, leather, and dry malt but in best possible way. taste is slight bitter with nice full body.
3.8 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Cask conditioned handpump Briar Rose Birmingham. A black beer with a gorgeous frothy coffee coloured head. Chocolate and light roast in the surprisingly thin aroma, but tons of flavour with roasted malts; good sweetness and burnt notes. Great length. Good bittering notes. Very tasty.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Cask handpull, Eastgate (JDW), Northampton, 07/05/11. Crows’ beak with a filthy caramel collar. Deep cocoa, BBQ and orange aroma. Slick and dangerous with lush dark Neopolitan fruitiness leaning towards a US impy, ashtray, nectarine, bonfire afters. Uncommonly good beer. Thank god for Wetherspoons; without them this part of town would be a hopless, conditionless desert of undrinkability.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Cask at Weeping Ash (JDW), St Neots, Cambridgeshire. Very dark brown with a beige head. Leathery wet horse blanket aroma. Sweet taste with leather, ash and dark fruits.Sharp bitter finish. Quality beer, if not quite what I was up for on a bright, sunny May morning.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Cask. Poured with a jet black body and a dense, creamy light brown head leaving a solid uniform lacing. Rich coffee & roasted malt aromas with some raisin & prune undertones. Full of coffee on the tongue with a dry roasted malt edge. The coffee lingers wonderfully. Medium to full body, supple, chewy & creamy on the palate.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Cask at the Old Manor (JDW), Bracknell. I’d been hoping to come across this one - looking every inch a perfect stout - a deep oily borwn colour with a loose tan head; chocolately malt aroma; smooth and silky with deeply roasted malt flavours with a touch of chocolate and smoke then becoming more fruity towards the end. More please.
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 16/20
Hand pulled cask at the Tickenham Inn (JDW) Ickenham. I’d heard mixed reports about this one so was delighted to find it when a fresh cask had just be connected. Ruby black with a healthy unsparkled tan head. Packed with complexities, the initial impression is of a stout that punches well above 6.2%. Leighton’s earlier rating sums it up perfectly. Can’t wait to hit this one again while the spoons festival is still on. Sheer class!
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Hand pulled at the Figure of Eight, Birmingham. Dark blackness, with a errr stouty aroma. Rich flavour, easy gulping. Full with plenty going on. Only a slightly bitter note right at the finish disappointed me a bit. Otherwise this is a really good, smooth stout.
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