Powderkeg Speak Easy

 

Speak Easy is an American pale ale from Devon brewers, Powerkeg.  It pours a beautiful deep golden colour with an orange hue and a small but tight cream coloured head that started forming the second the lid was popped.  The head is very robust and leaves some nice lacing on the glass.

It smells very citrusy with an underlying aroma of sweet malt and tangy hops.  Surprisingly, the flavour isn't predominantly citrus; the dry-hopping gives it a dry and fresh hoppy taste with slight caramel sweetness and there's just a hint of citrus in the dry bitter finish.

Very refreshing, medium bodied and not too fizzy, this is a lovely afternoon beverage and Ale Be Seeing You again!

Brewed by Powderkeg Brewery, Devon
4.3% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.75/5

Find out more at Powderkeg Brewery

Otter Brewery Otter Claus

I love the otter wearing a Santa hat on the label of Otter Claus, a winter ale from Otter Brewery in Devon; as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to grab a couple of bottles.  Of course, it's what's inside the bottle that counts and this ale is a beautiful deep ruby colour with a very loose, rapidly vanishing cream coloured head.  This definitely looks like my kind of beer!

The aroma is malt, dark fruits, biscuit and toffee with a hint of spiciness and a slight metallic bitterness.  Flavour is malt, toffee, dark fruits and hops followed by a warming spice and a slight bitter finish that builds up as you drink.  As the flavour develops, it's like a liquid Christmas cake as the taste of raisins and warming spice become more noticeable.

It's medium bodied with soft carbonation that gives it a rather flat appearance when the head vanishes, however, it feels very smooth in the mouth and is so easy to drink that it goes down far too quickly.

A lovely winter ale and an absolute steal at a current price of only £2.63 per 500ml bottle direct from Otter Brewery's Online Shop.  I'd be more than happy to drink Otter Claus all year round and Ale definitely Be Seeing You again.

Brewed by Otter Brewery, Devon
5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 4/5

Find out more at Otter Brewery

Otter Brewery Otter Bright

It says on the label that Otter Bright is a lager beer but I think it's doing itself a bit of a disservice as it's definitely more of a pale ale than a lager, in my opinion.

Looking like a very traditional pint of beer, it's a lovely golden colour with a small, loose off-white head.  The head disappears faster than I'd like resulting in just a thin foam after a few minutes before disappearing altogether.

The aroma is very hoppy with notes of honey, caramel, biscuit and just a hint of fruity citrus.  All of these smells transfer to the taste with the sweet notes of honey and caramel being followed by a mild citrus bitterness.  The citrus level is perfect for me with no hint of lemon squeezy washing up liquid to be found.  As you would expect with a pale ale, it's relatively thin-bodied but well carbonated which gives it a pleasant silky mouthfeel.  

Very crisp, dry, refreshing and so easy to drink, this is definitely a beer I'd have in my fridge for a sunny day.  Otter Bright, Ale Be Seeing You Again.

Brewed by Otter Brewery, Devon
4.3% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.75/5

Find out more at Otter Brewery

Otter Bitter

Otter Bitter is a beautiful light amber traditional looking bitter with a small, loose off-white head.  I was a bit disappointed that the head disappeared so quickly giving the beer a flat appearance but what it lacks in appearance, it certainly makes up in the aroma and flavour.

There's a mouth-watering aroma of malt and fruit, particularly juicy ripe apples, with a slight metallic tang as you would expect from a bitter.  It's quite light at 3.6% so I wasn't surprised to find that the initial flavour is not overly strong, but I tasted toffee and biscuit followed by a slight bitter aftertaste.  Although the taste is quite subtle at first it seems to develop with every mouthful and the delicious bitterness really takes over.

It's a beautifully smooth bitter; medium bodied with soft carbonation which somehow manages to produce a sherbet-like fizz on the tongue.  I found myself enjoying it more and more and was quite disappointed to drink the final drop, especially when I'd only bought the one bottle.

Otter Bitter is a very pleasant traditional English bitter and Ale Be Seeing You again!

Brewed by Otter Brewery, Devon
3.6% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Otter Brewery

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:

Find out more at Otter Brewery