Sadler's Peaky Blinder

 

A festive ale from West Midlands brewers Sadler's, Peaky Blinder is a Christmas pudding stout brewed with first gold and goldings hops.  It's a very dark brown ale with a loose frothy beige head that disappears quickly to leave a patchy foam.

It actually smells of Christmas, with notes of dark fruit, cinnamon, orange peel and pine.  It also has floral and spicy hints and it would make a lovely scented candle.  The flavour isn't very strong but it's very nicely done, it's a treacly stout with hints of spice and dark fruit and a subtle bitter chocolate finish.  With a medium body and decent carbonation, it has a relatively smooth mouthfeel as you'd expect for a stout.

I got this from B&M so I won't have paid more than £1.59 for it and it's not bad at all.  Apart from the smell, it's not overly festive so I'd be more than happy to drink this all year round.  If it hadn't been marketed as a festive ale, I would have scored it higher so Ale Be Seeing You again.

Brewed by Sadler's Brewery, 
6% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at Sadler's Brewery

BrewDog Santa Paws

 

Way back in 2016, I was delighted to find a deliciously dark ruby tinged ale inside the bottle of Santa Paws, BrewDog's Christmas Scotch ale.  It has a large frothy beige head that is quite loose but does leave a thin foam layer when it disperses.

The aroma has a lovely cinnamon spiciness to it that reminded me of Coca Cola and it's a lovely blend of malt, dark fruit and caramel with a hint of winter spice.  The aroma transfers to the flavour and it's a delicious blend of chocolate, malt and coffee with a treacle or slightly burnt toffee aftertaste, perhaps from the heather honey that is included in the brew.  

Well carbonated, it gives my tongue a good tingling but the body is rather thin.  It's only 4.5% and it feels quite light to drink so it goes down very nicely indeed.

I do like a scotch ale now and again as a lighter alternative to stout or porter, and Santa Paws is a lovely subtle, easy drinking scotch ale.  If it's brewed again, Ale Be Seeing You!

Brewed by BrewDog Brewery, Ellon, Aberdeenshire

4.5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 4.25/5

Find out more at BrewDog Brewery

Original Stormtrooper Galactic Pale Ale

May the force be with you

My second beer review for Star Wars Day is this Galactic Pale Ale from The Original Stormtrooper.  I bought this one from the amazing House of Trembling madness in York before I picked up the gift pack with glass from B&M.

This pale ale pours a traditional deep golden yellow colour with a tight off-white head.  The head holds surprisingly well for a while before dispersing to a thin foam.  The aroma isn't terribly strong but it is mainly hops, biscuit and straw with a hint of orange citrus and honey.

Moving on to the taste which disappointingly isn't that strong either.  I could only really taste hops and honey before getting a dry and bitter aftertaste.  A weak taste coupled with soft carbonation and a thin almost watery body meant it wasn't an out of this world experience at all.  It took me a while to drink it and I found that the flavour does develop slightly over time into more of a bitter which I liked.

I honestly thought I would have preferred the Galactic Pale Ale to the Lightspeed Pilsner but the pale ale was just a bit too weak on flavour for me.  Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad beer but it only just scrapes a 4 pint rating, sitting right on the fence with a score of 3.5 out of 5.

Brewed by St Peter's Brewery, Suffolk
4.2% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5

Find out more at The Original Stormtrooper

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:

Find out more at Green King

Adnams Broadside

Adnams Broadside is the first beer listed in World Bottled Beers by Adrian Tierney-Jones, and you can find out more about this bottle-shaped book here in my beer books section.

This ale is my kind of colour: a deep ruby red with a reasonably tight beige head.  It smells mouthwateringly malty along with the kind of aroma you get when you first open a dark fruit cake.  I didn't smell it for long as I couldn't wait to take a sip!

The taste is predominantly fruity and bitter chocolate but more flavours are apparent as you drink it.  It's quite fizzy and I could taste some spiciness and liquorice, which is very reminiscent of dandelion and burdock, followed by a metallic copper coin bitter aftertaste.  It's a strong one at 6.3% so just aswell the metallic taste is there so you don't mistake it for dandelion and burdock pop.

It definitely tingled my tastebuds and I can see why it is such a popular beer.  I think it would have been a 5 pint rating for me if the metallic taste had been toned down a notch or two; I'm not averse to metallic bitterness but I don't want to feel like I am licking all the copper coins in my purse.

I wouldn't mind another pint of Broadside, perhaps on a chilly winter's evening beside the fire to accompany a slice of fruit cake.

Brewed by Adnams, Southwold, Suffolk

6.3% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Adnams

St Peter's Organic Ale

I love the shape of this bottle - you can't really tell from the picture but its circumference is an ellipse shape and it reminds me of old medicine bottles, the only thing missing is an instruction on the label to "Drink full bottle slowly with feet up."

It is a lovely deep golden ale with a copper hue and a substantial tighter than tight cream head.  The elliptical shape of the bottle did an amazing job of trapping the sediment in its broad shoulders, resulting in a crystal clear ale.  The aroma is one of hops and apples, giving it an enticing cider-like smell.

I was really impressed with the flavour, the hops and malt are superbly blended with a huge kick of bitter marmalade aftertaste.  The bitter aftertaste was a bit too harsh at first but I quickly got used to it.  The carbonation is pretty perfect, neither too harsh nor too soft and it managed to sustain the head to the very last drop.

I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, so Ale be more than happy to See You Again!

Brewed by St Peter's Brewery, Suffolk

4.5% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at St Peter's Brewery

Sambrooks Pumphouse Pale Ale

You can't help but notice the strong smell of hops as the lid pops off this one. There is a bit of sediment in the bottle so I poured it carefully at the expense of the head, although the head is so loose I don't think it made that much difference.  It's a delicious deep golden/light amber colour and it's such a shame that the head disappears so quickly.

Not really my cup of tea (or pint of ale), it has quite a harsh strong taste but I did get used to it and it left a crisp citrus aftertaste.  Not one Ale Be Seeing Again, unfortunately.

Brewed by Sambrooks Brewery, London

4.2% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Sambrooks Brewery

Allendale APA

Allendale Pale Ale is certainly something a little bit different for IPA drinkers.  It is a lovely deep golden ale, although slightly cloudy, with a very fine head that unfortunately doesn't last very long.  It smells very hoppy but also of tropical fruit.

It's reasonably fizzy so I was surprised the head disappeared so quickly.  As you know, I'm not a huge fan of pale ales but this isn't bad at all as it's more on the grapefruit side of bitterness than the usual lemon.  APA is an easy drinking, refreshing pale ale that would be a perfect drink on a sunny day.

Brewed by Allendale Brewery, Northumberland

5.5% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Allendale Brewery

Williams Bros Fraoch Heather Ale

A lovely golden ale with a subtle floral aroma as it is opened.  It also smells of hops and malt so I knew I was going to be in for a treat with this one.  It has one of my favourite types of head; one that you think will not fit in the glass and leaves a Mr Whippy style coronet on the top of the pint.  A head that lingers to the very last drop, leaving amazing lacing down the side of the glass.

So I know it looks and smells great, now on to the taste.  My first taste reminded me of a 'proper' beer as the hops and malt were recognised like old friends on my tastebuds.  Then the subtle floral aroma took over bringing a smooth golden sunshine taste to my mouth.  I even found it had a subtle aftertaste of ginger and was surprised to see that ginger was indeed an ingredient in this ale.

It has a complexity of flavours that mean you get a different taste with every mouthful.  It really has to be experienced to be believed.  Fraoch Heather Ale - it's not just for Burns Night and without doubt Ale be Seeing You Again.

I picked this up from Aldi for a bargainous £1.49 as part of their Burns Night promotion so I'll be heading back to stock up as I can't wait another year to try this beauty again.

Brewed by Williams Bros, Alloa

5% ABV

Find out more at William Bros

Atlantic Red

This quite literally burst out of the bottle as if I had been shaking it. There is a lot of sediment in this one and I couldn't have poured it any more carefully as it was in such a fizzy hurry to get out of the bottle.  I can forgive the spillage, however, as it is such an amazing gorgeous red colour with a thick creamy head. There is an absolutely divine smell of red berries and it has a slightly sweet fruity taste. 

I didn't pick up the blood orange or marmalade taste but it definitely tasted fruity, although I couldn't have isolated a fruit to describe it.

Oh Atlantic Red, Ale Be Seeing You Again!

Brewed by Atlantic Brewery, Cornwall

5% ABV

Find out more at Atlantic Brewery