Black Boar Imperial Oatmeal Stout – ABV 10.2%

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One of the best stouts in Ireland if not beyond, the creamy oatmeal and rich roasted malts give off notes of dried fruit, caramel and vanilla.

Look: It begins with inky black pour and a light brown head.

Aroma: Chocolate roasted malt, cocoa and liquorice.

Taste: The mouthfeel is unctuous the oatmeal with the perfect level of carbonation, and the taste is a rich and complex blend of roasted malt, dark chocolate, dried fruit, caramel and vanilla.

Food pairing: Enjoy it with a few squares of good quality dark chocolate.

Verdict: This isn’t a beer that seeks to innovate; it’s just very, very good. And if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Old Greg’s Barley Wine – ABV 9.5%

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This is the 2016 vintage of this excellent Barley Wine, bottle aged for 12 months, with dried fruit notes like raisins and a sweet complex booziness.

Look: It pours amber with a white head that quickly vanishes.

Aroma: Lots of dried fruit – prunes, dates and raisins in particular.

Taste: Sweet and rich with an undeniable boozy quality. If you leave it to age you can expect the complexity and richness of those fruit flavours to build and reduce any harshness the alcohol.

Food Pairings: The complex dried fruit flavours work really well with chocolate and nuts. Try it alongside a baked banana oozing with Nutella for a luscious dessert.

Verdict: Boozy, rich, sweet and delicious. We’ve been enjoying our small stash of the 2015 vintage over the past couple of months and this is a beer that will only get better with age.

Imperial Stout – ABV 8.9%

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Malts and coffee dominate but there’s a lovely background of freshly ground coffee beans and dark chocolate, plus sweet spiciness the Brambling Cross hops.

Look: Saltaire XS Imperial Stout pours dark brown in the glass, topped with a tan head.

Aroma: Rich roasts with dark chocolate and a hint of forest fruits.

Taste: It’s reminiscent of a hot Italian espresso made with freshly ground beans, rich and fruity – and there’s a subtle spiciness Brambling Cross hops added late in the boil.

Food Pairing: The roasted malts in this beer pair really nicely with chocolate. Try it with a nice thick slice of chocolate cake, and to add some creamy contrast a good dollop of whipped cream.

Verdict: The hops definitely take a backseat with this one; it’s definitely the malts that are driving this forward. And that’s a vehicle we’d be happy to ride in.

N7.7 IPA – ABV 7.7%

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This beer celebrates the anniversary of Hammerton’s first brew and is loaded with seven distinguishable hops for notes of orange, passionfruit, lime and pine.

Look: It’s a dark orange beer with a small white head and 

Aroma: The seven hops – Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Herkules, Summit and Waimea come straight out in light citrus tones.

Taste: Big juicy notes of tropical fruits; orange, grapefruit, passionfruit, lime and pine.

Verdict: The mantra is ‘7’ for everything here – 7 hops, 7.7% ABV, brewed in London N7. It’s such a lovely beer you’ll probably find yourself wishing you had 7 bottles. 

Schwarze 90 Imperial Stout – ABV 11.9%

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This bottom-fermented imperial stout isn’t billed as a dessert beer but it could be, with its gorgeous creamy chocolate mouthfeel and rich syrupy booziness.

Look: Very dark brown, hazy, with a small beige head and low carbonation.

Aroma: Malt, syrupy sugar and molasses, some coffee and cocoa. 

Taste: Super-sweet with chocolate dominance and a creamy velvety mouthfeel. Caramel, toffee and liquorice with some hints of dried fruit towards a crisp, bitter finish.

Verdict: Black (schwarze) velvet in a bottle.

Abt 12 Quadrupel – ABV 10%

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Simply, one of the best beers ever. This quintessential Belgian quad has a fruity aroma, sweet complex flavour of Crystal malts, and a bitter, hoppy finish.

Look: Deep rich brown with big creamy off-white head.

Aroma: Complex and sweet with boozy hints plus dark malt and jammy fruit.

Taste: Rich and full-bodied yet balanced, with equal parts malt, bitter, and sweetness. A long. dry and bittersweet finish with a hoppy, spicy bite. 

Verdict: It says volumes that St Bernadus still use of the original recipes the first days of licensed brewing, by the Trappist monks in Westvleteren. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Nephilim IPA – ABV 7.4%

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Well-rounded with a crisp bitter finish, this IPA is brewed with 1.5kg of Citra, Mosaic, Equinox and Simcoe hops per brewers barrel – and is as heavenly as the name suggests.

Look: Pours a rich amber golden colour with a medium off-white head and good lacing.

Aroma:  Plenty of bright fruits including orange and lemon, subtle notes of passionfruit and crisp piney hops.

Taste: More citrus, with grapefruit joining the orange and lemon, and smooth fruit including melon and peach and some subtle piney hops and spice. Medium bodied, well-rounded and really nicely balanced with a lasting bitter finish. 

Verdict: A beer well worthy of the name (that means the offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of man) – fruity and hoppy with great balance and finish. The Nephilim were around just before the time of the Great Flood, which is the approximate quantity of this beer we could happily drink.

Club of Slaughters Imperial Stout – ABV 8.8%

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Vegan-friendly Stout, with a Vegan-unfriendly name.

Wylam describe this beer as an “electro narcosis of peat smoke pitch, dark cocoa and oiled black cardamon, rib rattle into subtle bolt gusts of port wine and espresso pursued by a dark cherry red grape skin tartness”

That may be easy for them to say; but here’s what we think:

Look: Dark black, with a creamy brown head.

Aroma: Roasted malts, with hints of smoky spice.

Taste: Rich and complex, with smoke, coffee, chocolate, cinammon and cardamom.

Verdict: “It’s Stout Jim, but not as we know it”.

 

Beavertown Tempus Project Uptown Monk ABV 9.3%

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Brewed in collaboration with Brouwerij Alvinne. The nose is complex with cloves and sweet candy like notes mixing with earthy, floral and wine like characteristics. The flavour is deep leading with classic triple flavours of sweet-malt, figs and a touch of honey. The finish is peppery with some fruit courtesy of the wine barrels. The are some funky notes hanging out in the background with a small gang of candied orange tones. The mouthfeel is round and warming.

Double Iced Latte – ABV 7.2%

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BB date April 2018 but still tastes great!

The idea behind Double Iced Latte was to create something with the creaminess of a latte in combination with the vibrancy of an IPA. The coffee used here is a Kenya Thunguri, sweet roasted for a beautifully rich and full flavour, supplied by our local roaster Tamp Culture. Allergens: Contains Malted Barley, Oats, Lactose