Reasonable Red Ale. Not outstanding.

Another 'Spoons winner. Nice selection today. Opted for this one. Nice light malty taste. Not too heavy.

Sweet malt & berry fruit flavours to this Irish brew

Acceptable pint. Part of Spoons beer festival

My first braggot, a type of meade apparently. And a barrel aged braggot too. Pour was uneventful, smooth and flawless. The body is a strange, murky shade of brown, on the cusp of being black, but under the light it is chocolate brown with a light ruby red hue. There was a little foam, maybe half a finger, off white in colour, that stayed present throughout. The scent is as described, honey, toffee and dried fruits, all atop a base of whiskey. Quite intense, but reasonably balanced. The feeling in the mouth is quite the juxtaposition, light bodied and carbonated at first, but very heavy and smooth afterwards. Soon enough the carbonation and foam pass, making it quite syrupy and warm. Taste is peculiar, starts off with honey sweetened dry fruit, currants, sultanas, cranberries. Then the sweet toffee rolls in before the whiskey cuts through the sweetness. The aftertaste carries a little spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and some clove but is mostly toffee and whiskey. I'm used to sweetness in beers, but the honey, is an element that I'm not used to. Perhaps it's 'too natural'. Not a bad beer but I wouldn't buy it again.

Another wax topped from my christmas box set. Very nice looking bottle gives the expectant black body, which had some nice bubbly, chocolate coloured foam but it didn't last at all. The body then was left looking a little flacid and in retrospect the whole pour seems aet down. Aromas of dark chocolate and coffee, some sweet coconut, sweetened further with a little vanilla and the advertised whiskey. The mouthfeel is quite light, bordering on thin but is saved by a moderate carbonation that has only a moderate bite but is evenly spread throughout each sip. The taste has three elements, chocolate, coffee and whiskey, all of which are delivered in a sort of one dimensional way. It is quite harmonious and balanced but quite blunt too. It tastes good, but not complex. I feel divided, but would recommend it nonetheless.

T'is the season for the wax tops, but I suppose there has to be something to set them apart on the shelf. It poured well to the expectant black, with no hues or shades of anything else. There was two fingers of chocolate brown foam but it settled to about half a finger. Aromas start with whiskey, dark chocolate with vanilla shifts in, then a slightly acidic, (maybe burnt? ), spent espresso that passes as the whiskey rolls back in. The mouthfeel is moderately carbonated at the start, it's remarkably lively for this abv. The beer is only medium bodied, but to be honest, it works better this way because of the carbonation and the fact that the whiskey warmth is quite mild. The taste is upfront sweet, brown sugar, a little toffee. The whiskey surfaces together with the dried fruits and nuts before the dark chocolate pushes them aside to ride out with the whiskey. It's a nice step up from traditional porters while still being a step below the full on barrel aged ones. A nice middle of the road.