Hockley Valley Dark

473 ml can pours a clear mahogany body with a medium beige head. Aroma of chocolate, roasted almonds, mild coffee, and grassy hops. Palate is thin and light bodied. Taste is nutty, with caramel maltiness and chocolate, accented by a nice grassy hop bitterness. A decent session ale.

Poured out a rocky decent sized light brown head with minimal lacing that sits on top of a very deep brown beer. The spotty lacing does continue to be produced throughout the entire time. The aroma is excellent and pretty much like they claim - very nutty, toffee, chocolate, light roast, weak molasses, and a mild cigar smell. The taste is no slouch either with a huge malt presence, toffee, roast, caramel and a well placed and properly portioned tart bitterness. Oh and when warmer near the bottom of my glass I found a mild candy licorice taste. Interesting to note is that the bitterness of the roast never once overpowers the tongue. Light medium bodied, very smooth with an immediate and perfect sweet uprising that fades into the nutty and roasted malt aftertaste. Minor bitter remnants. This is a superior beer looking down on any other I’ve had before in the style, including those with heavy flavours and usually over bittered like Rogue Nut Brown. In my book this beer makes a serious case for 10’s in aroma, taste and overall ratings. In fact, I just changed the aroma to a 10 and seriously contemplating giving this beer a 4.5+ rating. I guess that will have to wait until I get another can, if I ever do.

A - caramel and malty aroma A - Dark with brown head F - sweet with a bit of bitter P - smooth O - Very enjoyable...Kilkenny like.

473ml can from Garthicus. Nose of some caramel and a bit of butter (diacetyl). Clear cherry brown with a medium beige head. Flavor is butter and some toffee. Might be pretty good without the diacetyl.

473 milliliter can. Pours a translucent dark brown with a medium-sized, light-colored head that recedes quickly to a creamy lacing. Aroma is mostly just of malt and a pinch of brown sugar. Flavor is again malty, also creamy, not sweet at all. A little bit of honey and a very faint fruitiness also appear. Mouthfeel is thin, small carbonation. Finishes easy, very bongable/slammable. Not bad overall. Not great, but not offputting. Overall, fair to good.

Pours dark brown with a thin white head. Smells of caramel, toffee, earthy. Tastes nutty and sweet with some spicy hints on the finish.

Canned sample. Deep amber in colour with moderate carbonation. Malty aromas upfront with secondary notes of mild berry fruit and earth. In the mouth there’s a nice pale vs. chocolate malt thing going on, along with some plum, caramel, and gentle hop elements. Seems a bit understated overall, but still quite a drinkable beverage.

dark reddy brown with a beige head. smell is of tea, sweet potatoes, brown sugar. taste has dark fruity esters of brown ale, with very nice burnt sugar taste but much lighter sweetness. it is creamy but slightly harsh, pretty good but a little bit too expensive for what one gets out of it