Dark Beers Part 3

Starting with Indie Rabble Brewing of Windsor (website) Tiny Violence Stout (5.0%), and certainly what I would call a stout if tasting blind. No details of the hops used is available. I didn't get significant chocolate in the taste, so presumably no chocolate malt, but they have used cocoa powder, which adds a hint of chocolate, and it was just a hint for me, despite their website suggesting "decadent chocolate" truffle! An easy drinking stout with roasted malt/barley flavour and hints of coffee. I certainly enjoyed drinking it and noted "Pretty damn good."

From Dundee in Scotland and Holy Goat Brewing (website), their Date Porter (5.9%). This export strength porter is brewed with a blend of double roasted crystal, red rye crystal and amber malts, then conditioned on 150kg of Tunisian Deglet Nour Date syrup. Again, no details of the hops used are provided. And yes, you can tell it is brewed with dates, there's a hint of fruit and liquorice in the aroma, a pleasant rich fruitiness in the taste with a dry finish. Pretty good! 

The Kernel Brewery of South East London (website) Export Stout - Damson (7.5%) is based on a 19th century recipe of Truman Brewery (Brewery History). Hops used "vary from batch to batch" and it's aged on whole English damsons for 6 months! Surprisingly little aroma, but big fruity taste, slightly tart, hint of coffee, and chocolate from the chocolate malt in the mix (plus Maris Otter, Brown, Black and Crystal malts), and a dry bitter finish. Pretty damn good!

Sureshot Brewing of Manchester (website) collaboration with Emperor's Brewery of Leicestershire (website) and their Oggdo Bogdo (12.0%) a Maple Fudge Imperial Stout. Yet again, no details of hops used for this. The name 'Oggdo Bogdo' is a Star Wars gaming character, I had to look it up. 😉 To the beer, certainly chocolate this time and marshmallow in the aroma and a little maple syrup, smooth, and milky even, to drink, and a big chocolate taste for this one with hints of caramel and vanilla and a dry finish. Quite luxurious! 😁

There may well be another Dark Beer blog reasonably soon, and something a bit different coming up too, many thanks for reading folks, I'm happy to share my love of beers, cheers! 👍

Dark Beers Part 2

Starting off round 2 of 'dark beers' with another belter from Yorkshire, this time from 11 years old North Riding Brewery (website), who I know more for their single hopped pale ales (Citra and Mosaic for example), but this is their 4.5% Butterscotch Porter. The brewery hasn't made much public about this version of their porter, which is usually brewed with 6 different types of malt, very likely chocolate malt one of those used in this case. They typically use Columbus hops in their porters, and I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case for this, certainly similar if not Columbus (hopslist). I wish I'd made more specific notes, but I did note "Does what it says, and chocolate, luxurious, not as sweet as I expected as it has a dry finish" (I now expect a hop influence there), hint of toffee and plenty of chocolate; my notes ended "nice one!"

Next, from Bristol, or 'Brizzle' if said with a West Country accent, 13 years old Wiper and True brewery (website), their 5.6% Milk Shake, which surprised me immensely as it was not quite what I expected from the name of this milk stout. Why? Well, it was much more refreshing to drink than I expected, I got the lactose, but not so much, probably the inclusion of English hops influential in that, Phoenix hops I do believe (hopslist). Cacao and vanilla are additions to the brew, and very noticeable in the aroma and taste, anyway, my notes say "Not as sweet as I was expecting, got the roasted barley taste I associate with stout ales, not overly though, with hints of chocolate and vanilla. Surprisingly refreshing to drink, cheers!" I've just now discovered that I drank a pint of this ale cask conditioned 9 years ago (blog), and I liked it then too! 😁

The third one here is very much a big hitter, from 10 years old Fierce Beer of Aberdeen in Scotland (website), their Very Big Moose (12.0%), from their imperial stout series, which are aged in whisky barrels. Brewed with added cacao and vanilla, and Summit hops (hopslist), providing a hint of dark chocolate and lightly toasted barley in the aroma. Much more subtle chocolate flavour than I expected, I wrote also, quoting notes: "rich roasted malt and a hint of liquorice in the taste. A dry finish, another excellent beer, cheers m'dears! 😁"

My final beer here is from another Brizzle based brewery, 9 years old Left Handed Giant (website). Interesting that these 4 breweries were all set up within 4 years of each other, which suggests much about the development of U.S. style craft breweries in Britain in the last 15 years or so. Anyway, I've had many excellent ales from Left Handed Giant of differing styles indeed, and they've never disappointed me, but this was their 6.9% milk stout Woodland Creatures, with 'Cinder Toffee added hot' and 'Pistachio added cold' to the brew. I can't discover the hops used, as they tend to concentrate more on advertising the malts and adjuncts.

So, to my notes, "a milk stout with pistachio and honeycomb. Hint of marzipan/almond in the aroma. Sweetness, nuts, butterscotch and a hint of chocolate in the taste, surprisingly dry finish (so I'm guessing hops like Columbus, Phoenix or Summit as used by the others). Complex stout from a very good brewery, despite sweetness, a dry, even bitter finish, nice one. 😁"

I may blog about something else before the third Dark Ale blog, cheers m'dears! 👋