McColl's And All Things Nice

And All Things Nice is a triple spiced stout brewed by Bishop Auckland brewers, McColl's.  

It's a lovely velvety black ale with a very loose, rapidly disappearing tan head that vanishes without trace.  It's a shame that it looks very flat and like a glass of coke after a few minutes as it also smells like coke with the warming spices of ginger, nutmeg and cardamom all bursting out of the glass.

All three spices come through in the taste, although the cardamom takes over a little and drowns out the more favourable spices of ginger and nutmeg.  It also has notes of chocolate, caramel and coffee once your palate gets used to the spices.

It has a medium body that feels slightly thin for a stout and it has low. soft carbonation that weirdly makes it feel flat rather than smooth.  

With sweet, bitter and spicy notes, it's a really unusual combination and I love the spicy finish so it's a shame that the cardamom took over.  It's a one-off brew so Ale not Be Seeing You again anyway.

Brewed by McColl's Brewery, Co. Durham
5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.75/5

Find out more at McColl's Brewery

McColl's Suma

One thing I've noticed with McColl's core range of beers is that they are extremely lively.  It doesn't matter how slowly or carefully I pour it, the head is always humungous and it took quite a few pours to get a decent amount in my glass.  I poured a second 330ml can into a pint glass in one go and usually the contents of a can of this size would look pitiful but I actually had to stop pouring as the head had started to overflow!  

Suma is a 5% IPA that pours a hazy golden yellow with a huge frothy, off-white head that lasts right to the end, clinging to the glass and lacing on the way down.  There's no obvious sediment but I left a little bit in the can a) just in case there were any bits and b) because it was so lively it would have overflowed if I'd tried to get any more in.

The aroma is amazing, it's so fruity.  It smells like a juicy fruit salad eaten in the garden on a sunny day; grapefruit, lemon and mango with a hint of fresh pine needles.  The flavour is awesome with citrus and pine blending perfectly to give a crisp and refreshing juicy IPA.  It's not overly citrus so it's not pithy at all but it does have a bitter aftertaste as you would expect from an IPA.

It's not as fizzy as I expected from its lively appearance and the carbonation is just right being in between prickly and tickly bubbles.  It has a decent medium body.

As I'm not overly keen on pithy citrus ales, Suma is the perfect IPA for me especially with the hint of mango adding some sweetness to the bitter citrus.  It's an outstanding ale and I love the pine notes that give an added freshness and really make it something different.  I did have two cans so I can definitely say Ale Be Seeing You again but I would advise drinking Suma as fresh as you can as they can be quite explosive when they're within a few months of their best before date.

Brewed by McColl's Brewery, Co.Durham
5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 4/5

Find out more at McColl's Brewery