Siren Broken Dream

 

Broken Dream from Siren is a deliciously dark stout brewed with lactose.  It's a dark brown ale with a decent sized tan head that's very loose and quickly disperses to leave a flat appearance.

It gets full marks for aroma with notes of coffee, chocolate and malt.  It smells so rich and decadent that I couldn't wait for my first sip.  The taste is lovely; much like the aroma, it's a mouthwatering combination of coffee, chocolate and malt.  The sweet chocolate (and lactose) takes the edge of the bitter coffee to give a perfectly balanced stout.

It's a medium bodied, semi-smooth stout with low, tingly carbonation.  It's not one of the more expensive stouts either - currently priced around £2.30 for a 330ml can, which is amazing value for money.  It's so tasty that Ale definitely Be Seeing You again.

Brewed by Siren Craft Brew, Berkshire
6.5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 4.25/5

Find out more at Siren Craft Brew

Black Sheep Milk Stout

Black Sheep is one of my favourite breweries so I had high hopes for their award winning Milk Stout and I was not disappointed. 

Brewed with lactose, it's a velvety black stout with a tan head that is thick, tight, creamy and robust, as we have come to expect from Black Sheep.  The head lasts a lot longer than the beer did, that's for sure!

The aroma is quite light with notes of malt, chocolate and hops that you would expect in a stout.  The flavour is delicious; it's so chocolatey and malty that it's almost the same sort of flavour as a chocolate Horlicks.  It's so smooth, creamy and full-bodied that it's silky smooth in the mouth.  It's perfectly carbonated - it's not too fizzy so it retains a lovely smooth mouthfeel.

It's a very well-balanced stout with an initial hit of sweet malt and vanilla contrasting with a slightly bitter chocolate and coffee finish.  It feels like a hug in a glass - it's so delicious and easy to drink that Ale definitely Be Seeing You again!

Brewed by Black Sheep Brewery, Masham, North Yorkshire
4.4% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 4.25/5

Find out more at Black Sheep Brewery

Brew York Mos Eisley Catharina 2020

 

As a Star Wars fan I just had to try this guava, coconut and lime sour from Brew York and I was not disappointed.  It looks, smells and tastes like it could be served at the Mos Eisley Cantina.

It's a hazy golden yellow beer with a small, loose, rapidly vanishing head that ends up looking like a glass of fruit juice.  It smells like juice too with a delicious fruity aroma of guava, sour fruit and a hint of coconut.  It has a strange sweaty smell too so it's not an overly appealing fragrance.

Thankfully, it didn't taste sweaty!  The mix of guava, lime and coconut is delicious and although the tangy fruit flavour isn't mouthpuckering, it's definitely a sour.  It has a medium body and low, prickly carbonation so it has a smooth mouthfeel like fruit juice but with an added bit of fizz.

Very fruity and refreshing, it tastes quite boozy and the flavour develops as you drink it to really bring out the lime and coconut flavour that had originally been overpowered by the guava.

I'm not sure I would call a sour a beer so they're not my usual tipple but with a Star Wars theme, it had to be done.  I'd recommend trying it but I wouldn't necessarily have another one as it was a bit of a gimmick for me. 

Brewed by Brew York Brewery, York
6.5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at Brew York Brewery

Ayinger Celebrator

Ayinger's Celebrator is a bottom-fermented dark doppelbock beer from Germany.  It's a lovely dark mahogany colour with a rapidly disappearing loose beige coloured head.

It smells like a German Christmas market: roasted malt, slightly sweet, spicy and a hint of smokiness.  The flavour is a little lighter than I expected (I was expecting a big hitter from the aroma and the 6.7% ABV).  It's everything you normally get in a dark beer: treacle, malt, liquorice, caramel, roasted nuts and a dark chocolate/coffee bitter finish.

Body is quite thin and medium carbonation produces a tingly but not too fizzy mouthfeel.  I love the intense malt flavour and the chocolate/coffee bitterness seems to develop as you drink it.  It feels quite warming and boozy, so it would be the perfect beer for a dark winter night.

I'm glad I tried it but I probably wouldn't have one again.  It's worth trying if you're a dark ale lover but Ale not Be Seeing You again.

Brewed by Ayinger Brewery, Germany
6.7% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at Ayinger Privatbrauerei

Vocation & Yeastie Boys - Breakfast Club

 

I have a sweet tooth so this collaboration between Yorkshire's Vocation Brewery and New Zealand's Yeastie Boys caught my eye.  

It's a stout so it's an unsurprising dark brown colour but what is surprising is the head: it's light brown but it has a hint of pink from the blueberries.  The smell of blueberries bursts out of the can the minute it is opened, along with sweet caramel, roasted malt and a little smokiness.

The taste is candy sweet, predominantly blueberries and pastry but there's an underlying smokiness that I found a bit odd.  It's so softly carbonated that it's as smooth as silk when you drink it and it has a lovely full body that I love so much in a stout.

As much as I loved the blueberries in this, it was spoiled by the smokiness that really seemed to take over.  Although I quite enjoyed it, I really wish I had drank it fresh as I think I had left it a bit too long (even though it was well in date).  If I try one again, I'll definitely drink it straight away so there's every chance that Ale Be Seeing You again!

Brewed by Vocation Brewery, West Yorkshire and Yeastie Boys, New Zealand
6.9% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.75/5

Find out more at Vocation Brewery and Yeastie Boys

Siren Yu Lu

Yu Lu is a session pale ale from Siren brewed with Earl Grey tea and lemon zest.  I do like an Earl Grey now and again so I was really intrigued by this beer.

It pours a sunny golden yellow with a loose, frothy and off-white head.  There is an ever so slight haze but I didn't notice any sediment in the can.  It looks very fizzy but it doesn't maintain the head for long, leaving a thin patchy layer that really tries its hardest to lace the glass.

The smell is so fruity and appealing: sweet, juicy tropical fruit and bitter citrus.  The taste is a weakened version of the smell with an added floral hint from the Earl Grey tea.  It just tastes so weak, like very diluted tropical fruit squash.  The bitter finish is a little stronger to it does finish on a high.

So very fizzy and thin bodied, it's like drinking carbonated pop, albeit pop that has little taste and has been strongly diluted.  It is very refreshing though and it would be a real thirst quencher on a sunny day (not that we get many of those in the north east of England).

It's too weak on flavour for it to be a memorable beer so I don't think I'd buy it again.  Sorry Yu Lu, Ale not Be Seeing You again.

Brewed by Siren Craft Brew, Berkshire
3.6% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3/5

Find out more at Siren Craft Brew

Fyne Ales Maverick

Fyne Ales Maverick is quite an impressive sight - it's a nutty brown, dark amber ale with a tight, cream coloured head that barely budges.  Definitely full marks for appearance.

It has a lovely traditional bitter smell: tangy hops, sweet toffee, malt and a slight citrus/metallic hint.  It tastes like a traditional bitter too, although it's quite a light flavour of malt, toffee, tangy hops and a dry, metallic bitter finish.  The toffee flavour intensifies as you drink and it's a nice contrast to the lingering bitter finish.  Body is thin but not watery and it's quite fizzy so it gave my tongue a good tingling.

It's nothing extraordinary, just a good old traditional bitter, so it didn't score exceptionally high but I do enjoy a nice bitter so I'd have this again.  Ale Be Seeing You!

Brewed by Fyne Ales Farm Brewery, Argyll, Scotland
4.2% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at Fyne Ales Farm Brewery