One woman's ale journey

A beery boozy journey with delightful snacks along the way and a book in my hand.

Saturday 31 March 2018

Otter Brewery Otter Head


This would look like a perfect pint for me if it had a bit more of a head, perhaps it should be called Otter Headless (sorry).  It's a beautiful mahogany red/brown ale with an AMAZING aroma of fruit cake, malt and sweet baked apples.

Oh my word, I can describe the taste in one word and that word is DELICIOUS!  The maltiness is perfection itself with hints of sweet treacle and a slightly bitter aftertaste.  It is so full of flavour that it actually tastes as if it has been home-brewed.  Full-bodied, smooth and quite strong at 5.8% it's a good contender to give me beer goggles to watch the match.

I bought this from Help for Heroes with the glass and, despite its headlessness, Ale definitely Be Seeing Otter Head Again if I come across it when beer shopping.

Brewed by Otter Brewery, Devon
5.8% ABV

My rating:





Friday 30 March 2018

Durham Brewery Black Bishop


Despite being midday, it's cold, wet and dark outside so it made sense to have something cold, wet and dark inside: Black Bishop stout brewed by Durham Brewery, one of my local breweries.

It's bottle conditioned and the label warns of sediment, so I poured carefully but left a good 2cm in the bottom of the bottle as I could see the dusty sediment approaching the bottle neck.  Black Bishop is jet black with only a hint of russet brown when held to the light at a certain angle.  The head is reasonably tight and dark beige coloured and shows no sign of dispersing, leaving thick lacing as you would expect from a good stout.

Delicious aromas of dark chocolate and roasted coffee make this a stout that I couldn't wait to experience.  Hurrah - I was certainly not disappointed.  The bitter mix of chocolate and coffee has an added smokiness that made this stout stand out from the rest.  I think smoky flavours are difficult to judge: too much and it tastes like an ash tray and too little might as well not be there at all.  Durham Brewery have got it just right like Goldilocks.

The perfect amount of carbonation results in a full bodied stout that, although lighter and fizzier than its most famous cousin, makes me happily declare that Ale Be Seeing You Again!

Brewed by The Durham Brewery, County Durham
4.1% ABV

My rating:





Sunday 4 March 2018

Greene King IPA


I loved the colour of this one but unfortunately that's all I loved.  It's a beautiful copper toffee colour but it has a very loose head that disappeared in a matter of seconds.  It also has a very strange aroma: at first it is hoppy and metallic but then it reminded me of smelly stagnant water, like I often experience with Shepherd Neame ales.

It tastes a little bit malty, quite fresh and with a bitter aftertaste.  I was surprised that there was no hint of citrus as you would normally expect with an IPA, making me think that this should be labelled as a bitter rather than an IPA.  Despite its flat appearance the carbonation is quite harsh and it was an overall disappointing experience.

Brewed by Greene King, Bury St Edmunds
3.6% ABV

My rating: