Wychwood Diceman

 

Wychwood is a brewery that rarely disappoints and Diceman is no exception.  

It's a jet black stout with a thick, tight, beige head that is surprisingly robust.  The aroma is a little uninspiring; malt and treacle on a strong metallic base, however, the ale redeems itself in the taste test.  It is a lovely stout with notes of treacle, malt, dark fruit, and liquorice followed by a hint of chocolate to give a bittersweet chocolate finish.

It has a medium body and it's well carbonated with hard but not harsh bubbles that somehow manage to give a silky smooth mouthfeel.

Diceman is like a liquorice toffee in a glass and I loved it.  It's just a shame it lost a few points in the aroma as it deserves a higher score than 3.75/5.  It's the taste that counts so Ale Be Seeing You again!

Brewed by Wychwood Brewery, Witney, Oxfordshire

5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.75/5

Find out more at Wychwood Brewery

Wychwood Brewdolph

Looking more like a traditional beer than a Christmas beer, Wychwood's Brewdolph is a deep golden colour with a huge frothy off-white head.  The head is quite robust, lasting for a while before dispersing to a patchy foam and leaving some lacing on the glass.

The aroma is distinctly hoppy with a hint of caramel and some sweet fruit; it's quite a basic, traditional aroma and it doesn't remind me at all of Christmas.  To tick the Christmas box, there is supposed to be an aroma of pine but I couldn't detect any at all.

On to the taste which is very hoppy with notes of caramel, biscuit and perhaps a tiny hint of citrus fruit.  It has a lovely dry finish as well as a slight citrus bitterness in the aftertaste but it's very thin bodied, to the point of being almost watery.  There's absolutely nothing in the taste that can be described as Christmassy.

Brewdolph falls short as a Christmas ale, but it's a real thirst quencher with a lovely dry finish so would do better rebranded as an everyday beer.  Not one Ale Be Seeing again, unless it is brought out under a different guise.

Brewed by Wychwood Brewery, Oxfordshire
4% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at Wychwood Brewery

Wychwood King Goblin

I do think that you are always guaranteed a good beer from Wychwood and King Goblin is no exception.  I love the look of this one: a warm amber, ruby tinged colour topped off with a loose beige head, however, the head does disappear quite quickly, leaving a thin foamy layer.

There isn't a strong aroma, although what I could smell reminded me of dark red fruits, sweet malts and warm spices.  It's quite fizzy to start with but it has a lovely treacle taste and a liquorice aftertaste.  The taste of sweet black treacle lingers on the tongue until your next mouthful...and in my case, I didn't have long to wait.

It's a shame the head didn't last very long at all as it gives it a flat appearance which belies the yummy taste you're about to experience.  For me, King Goblin was absolutely divine and Ale Be Seeing You Again!

Brewed by Wychwood, Oxfordshire
6.6% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Wychwood Brewery

Wychwood Imperial Red

I do love my ruby ales and on today's menu we have Imperial Red from Wychwood.  With red in the name, it was no surprise to see a glorious ruby hued beer flow out of the bottle with a small, but thick, beige head.

It has a sweet malty smell with a hint of a metallic aroma, almost as if you were smelling a bloody battlefield inhabited by the warrior on the label.  The taste is something that my tastebuds enjoy: a mixture of toffee, malt and something I can only describe as a red liquorice laces aftertaste.

Fizzy and tasty, it's a really enjoyably ruby and Ale Be Seeing You Again.

Brewed by Wychwood, Oxfordshire

4.7% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Wychwood Brewery

Wychwood Dunkel Fester

A Halloween special edition ale from Wychwood is a delicious dark ale with a ruby tinge.  It has a beige head although there isn't much of it.  The smell is predominantly malty yet fruity so I think I'm going to like this one!

It has a lovely sweet liquorice taste, very much like Guinness but fizzy.  It's a surprisingly pleasant drink, and feels rather light for a dark ale, but one I'd definitely pick up again at around the £1.50 mark from Aldi. 

Brewed by Wychwood, Oxfordshire

4.4% ABV

My rating:

Although Dunkel Fester was a seasonal ale, you can find out more about Wychwood brewery by clicking here.

Wychwood Fire Catcher

Fire Catcher is a light golden straw coloured ale with a mix of citrus and honey smell.  It has quite a loose head but it holds its own and doesn't disappear too quickly.  With an abundance of citrus bubbles, there's certainly a good amount of carbonation resulting in this rather impressive head.

The taste, as I expected, is predominantly citrus flavoured.  It's not a strong lemon squeezy taste though, and there's a bit of a surprise as the initial citrus flavour mellows leaving a pleasant honey sweetness on the tongue.

You can pick Fire Catcher up for around £1 at the moment so for that price you really can't go wrong.

Brewed by Wychwood Brewery, Oxfordshire

3.5% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Wychwood Brewery

Wychwood Hot Cross Bunny

I thought I'd try a novelty beer from Wychwood.  It smells a bit fruity on opening, and pours a lovely deep golden colour with a nice pearly white head.  It doesn't have a lot of taste though, just a very strong aftertaste of cloves.  I got an aroma of cinnamon but the "hint" of cloves is more like a big nudge in the ribs.  It wasn't horrible by any means, it didn't have enough taste to be horrible!  It was just far too odd for my liking.

Brewed by Wychwood, Oxfordshire

3.8% ABV

Find out more about Wychwood ales

Wychwood Hobgoblin

There's a wonderful chocolate aroma released as you pour this magical ruby ale brewed with Fuggles and Goldings hops.

It has a complex flavour of chocolate and citrus which makes it very easy drinking on a chilly wet Northern day in May.

Each mouthful has little fizzy bubbles bursting on your tongue with a soothing comforting almost treacle flavour.

Hobgoblin is well named as there really does feel like there is a little bit of magic in every glass.

Brewed in Oxfordshire
5.2% ABV

Visit Wychwood to find out more

Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold

A golden IPA for a chilly Northern day!

A good head on this one.  At 4.5% it doesn't feel like an IPA and has a nice strong taste almost as if you are drinking molten gold itself.  It does have a slight hoppy aftertaste but I put that down to the 4.5%.  It has bursting, almost fruity, bubbles on the tongue and a light head that lasts almost to the last mouthful.

Brewed in Oxfordshire

4.5% ABV

Check it out on Wychwood.co.uk