Bath Ales Dark Side

Time to head over to the dark side.  As black as Darth Vader's helmet, this stout from Bath Ales has a delicious aroma of dark chocolate, treacle and liquorice on opening.  The dark beige head is quite small and loose so rather disappointingly it doesn't last long and leaves no lacing on the glass.

It has an absolutely perfect intense malty flavour that left my mouth watering, followed by a fruity burst and a coffee aftertaste.  It is very fizzy, with harsh coke-like bubbles, but is a very nice experience when the dark chocolate bitter bubbles burst all over your tongue.

All beer drinkers are going to compare every stout with Guinness and none will every match up to the perfection that is the black stuff but, drinking this without comparison, it's a very nice stout indeed.

Brewed by Bath Ales, Bristol
4.0% ABV

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Bath Ales Gem

This is a fabulous deep amber, toffee coloured ale with a subtle aroma of hops and malt that almost smells like you have a glass of rich melted toffee.  There's not much head to write home about and what is there very quickly disappears leaving a flat looking ale.  Like I would never judge a book by its cover, I wouldn't judge a beer on appearance alone so let's dive in for a taste.

There isn't really a predominant taste, it's all very subtle.  It's equally sweet to start and bitter to finish with a slight spicy/floral hint throughout.  Now and again I get a hint of bread or biscuit but it's all so very subtle that no sooner have I tasted it than it has gone.  It's a very smooth ale but it just feels as if it should be more carbonated almost as if it's been open too long, making it slightly flat.  

It's a bit of a ghost of a beer so just a 3 pint rating from me, which is slightly disappointing as I was looking forward to this one.  It just needs a bit more oomph!

Brewed by Bath Ales, Warmley
4.8% ABV

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