McEwan's Champion has lived up to its name in a country where if you ask me, boutique brewing is still to catch on. Most of the pubs that I've been to just have the same old stuff on tap. While most pubs have about 3 real ale taps, they generally have the same old stuff too.
The Champion pours a dark red and has a real body to it. Good caramel flavours, and a suggestion of something stronger - as if it has been aged in bourbon or whiskey barrels - but that is not noted on the label. This has been my go-to beer from the supermarket.
While I had had a fair few of the beers at the big beer store, it was great to find the Big Bear Black Stout from Bear Republic. This was one of the ones that I got to taste straight from the brewery in the States. Still like it - great big bear flavour - just what you want from a real dark beer.
Oh my chocolately goodness!!! This one really does what it says on the label. It is Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout. They make it in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire and they manage to cram it as full of chocolate as any beer I have ever tried. Not only that, but it was really creamy too. Some people might find it a bit sweet - maybe it could do with a few more hops or different ones to balance out the chocolate a bit more, but I wouldn't change a thing for fear of upsetting this recipe. Best beer in England so far.
Martha's Mild was one of the ales that I had at the Sir Walter Raleigh pub when we were in Budleigh Salterton, all that time ago. And it is pretty good out of the bottle too. A nice rich dark ale, with plenty of malty goodness. This one doesn't go for the chocolate as well, but it is very drinkable. I would certainly drink it again.
Here's one of those beers that exceeds expectations. Part of the reason for that was that expectations were pretty low. It's called Stumbling Badger and so I had to buy it because of the name. I didn't expect that the beer would be any good, but it was very nice. A ruby red ale that was quite malty and tasty. A pleasant surprise.
This was a Scottish ale that sounded interesting from the label. It is called Black Cuillin, and brewed on the Isle of Skye. It promises a dark Socttish ale brewed with oats and heather honey. It may well be, but I couldn't really tell. It was ok, and towards the end I could taste the honey. Not something that I'd bother drinking again.
The Meantime chocolate porter is good. I like it. Not as chocolatey as the Samuel Smith one above, but still a very nice drop.
This wasn't as good as I remembered. Called Fraoch, instead of being flavoured with hops, they used what they had in Scotland and that was heather. I remembered it as quite a flowery beer, with a delicate flavour - tasting a bit of honey too. I didn't really get that this time.
This one was called Humpty Dumpty Porter, and despite the silly name was quite nice too. While I've had some reasonably flavourless ales at pubs, this was a nice porter. From reasonably randomly choosing beers at the big beer shop, I've had a decent hit rate of beers that I'd drink again.
This was actually quite nice. This was another I bought because of the name and cool label, and so didn't have high expectations for the beer. But it was quite nice. Very malty - reminded me of the Maltexo extract that we used to have as kids - in a good way.
This was ok. It was named the CAMRA stout of the year in 2009, but it was a bit too much like guiness for my liking. I prefer it to not taste quite so burnt.
This was another to exceed expectations, and by quite a margin. It is called White Wolf and so I bought it because of the name / label again. But the white wolf was to signify that it is a winter ale, so it was dark and really very good. I think that it was a dark ale as opposed to a porter or stout, but it was way better than I expected and I'd drink this again.
This was really good. It is an imperial stout - mercilessly twisted stout. It was very smooth and with plenty of depth of flavour. Probably a good thing that it only comes in 330ml bottles though with the higher alcohol percentage. Would definitely have again. From Brew Dog, and they seem to have an intersting range of beers.
This was another great beer from Meantime. They have a brewery bar at Greenwich. I haven't been there yet, but I'm sure that I will make it there. This was their London Stout and I found it very much to my liking. It was nice and dark, and very full bodied too. Nice caramel flavour. Perfect for a colder evening.
Alice Porter - the label really sold me on this one. It describes itself as a renaissance baltic porter. I spotted it in the supermarket one day. Another beer from Brew Dog, and they 'story' that goes with the beer is almost as good as the beer itself. The label reads:
A delicate mirage of chocolate, red fruit and burnt sugar, let Alice Porter whisk you away to a forgotten time juxtaposed against the backdrop of modernity. And then, before you know it, she's gone... tumbling down a rabbit hole into the same obscurity that first caught your attention. Leaving but the question – who or what is Alice Porter?
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