Surprising character, decent tasting real ale and a very nice bitter finish.

18th October 2011
Crosse Keys Spoons. Hazy amber beer, small off white head. Smooth semi dry palate. Tangy start, almost sour. Underneath is earthy malt with a trace of coffee and a whisper of smoke. The fruit resolves in to sherbet like red fruits. Dry finish. Interesting and tasty beer - wonder if it as is the brewer intended?

Cask. The Punch Bowl (JDW), York. Medium tan head. Reddish brown body. Fruity, roastiness. Bittersweet. Dry finish.

Cask conditioned Handpump Last Plantaganet Leicester. A murky chestnut coloured beer with a whitish head. A bit of caramel in the nose. Caramel and chocolate in the mouth but neither are in large quantities and it ends up being thin and lacking flavour. Pretty poor.

Hand pulled cask at the Moon Under Water (JDW) Watford. Deep brown with an off white head. Something not quite right here! but others seem to have picked up the slightly sour note with no tell tale aroma. I think that this may be a house characteristic of the yeast strain as I’ve noticed similar flaws in other beers from this brewer. Some fruit and chocolate notes but nevertheless odd!

cask at standing order derby ...deep brown ... thin tan head ... dark roast malt ... soft toffee malt roast ... smooth toffee ... bit light for a porter ... light cofee ... despite its light and tnhinness i liked this

UPDATED: OCT 20, 2011 Cask at The Crosse Keys, JDW, London. Pours a clear, amber-ruby with a small, creamy, light tan head. Toasty malt aroma, maybe some faint berries. Lightly sweet flavor, herbal bitterness, toast, slight tang. Light bodied with fine carbonation. Pretty bland finish, some tangy and toasty malts and lightly tangy fruits. Nothing special.

Cask, Last Plantagenet, Leicester. Copper, ruby red with a thin beige head. Aromas are toffee malts with chocolate and herbal, spicy notes. Quite thin with nutty, yeasty notes. Flavours are thin weetabix malts with butter and some nutiness. Malty yet lacking in character. Average.

Bridge House, Belfast 15/10/11 Dark amber with roasted barley and slight fruity malt nose with roasted and coffee flavour in the finish.

Cask in The Metropolitan Bar. JDW Fest 2011. Colour is ruby red. Looks like red ale more than a porter. Nose is chocolate malt, roasted grain, quite toasty. Taste is choc malt, fruity caramel malt, bit of roasted bitterness on finish.