Review: St. Peter's Best Bitter

St. Peter's Best Bitter from St. Peter's Brewery Co Ltd
Rating: B+

Appearance: Label is orange, contrary to the picture on BA. Attractive amber color, lots of lacing although retention isn't spectacular.

Smell: Aroma is fairly light, herbal hops and a hint of brown sugar.

Taste: Lots of biscuit/toasty malt, which I am a fan of. Some grapefruity hops (in a british beer?) and a little brown sugar. Slightly soapy finish. Lasting, bitter aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Moderately high carbonation - much more so than any bitter you'd get on cask. Fairly light body.

Drinkability: Drank this one to de-stress after burning something in the kitchen. Did the job.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 05-30-2008 16:58:55

Review: 6X

6X from Wadworth and Company Ltd.
Rating: B


Appearance: light leather color, nice head that exhibits good retention. More carbonated than I'd expected for the style.

Smell: slightly soapy aroma, hints of toast and floral hops.

Taste: solid malt backbone, but balanced nicely. Hops are not too assertive, flavor-wise, but provide a long finish. Slight soapiness carries over from the nose.

Mouthfeel: smooth texture, better carbonated than I had anticipated

Drinkability: Quite nice, actually.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 05-28-2008 22:07:34

Review: Victorian

Victorian from City Of Cambridge Brewery Company Limited
Rating: A-

Sampled at the Cambridge Beer Festival 2008.

Appearance: honey/amber in color, good head retention

Smell: rich aroma, coffee and cocoa - this is an amber ale? smells like one would expect a porter to, but it's quite light in appearance

Taste: tastes a little more subdued than it smells, and resolves to a savory finish. quite interesting, this one!

Mouthfeel: medium body, well-carbonated

Drinkability: good and unique!

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 05-24-2008 21:27:22

Review: Vale Black Beauty

Vale Black Beauty from Vale Brewery Company
Rating: B

Sampled at the Cambridge Beer Festival 2008.

Appearance: near opaque, dark brown

Smell: molasses and roast

Taste: light roast flavors, no caramel to speak of, some coffee. not bad.

Mouthfeel: light-medium body, good carbonation

Drinkability: drinkable

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 05-24-2008 21:23:58

Review: London Stout

London Stout from Meantime Brewing Company Limited
Rating: B

Sampled at the Cambridge Beer Festival 2008. Surprised this isn't in the directory yet, as someone commented that it was "great in the bottle" which means it's being served in at least two ways, and has likely been around for a while.

Appearance: not opaque (surprisingly), brown/cola in color, with a small head

Smell: overwhelming toffee/caramel notes, with some roast and vanilla underneath

Taste: heavy diacetyl, this one. my tasting note was "caramel and chocolate covered popcorn with a bit of vanilla"

Mouthfeel: medium body

Drinkability: average, not subtle at all which hurts drinkability when the flavors happen to be so intense

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 05-24-2008 21:22:18

Review: Espresso Stout

Espresso Stout from Dark Star Brewing Company Limited
Rating: A-

Sampled at the Cambridge Beer Festival 2008.

Appearance: coffee color, opaque brown, tan head

Smell: overwhelming, delicious coffee

Taste: iced coffee, sweet, some bitter chocolate

Mouthfeel: medium-full body, light carbonation

Drinkability: Good. Monodimensional? Maybe, but for heaven's sake it's called espresso stout, what did you expect? :)

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 05-24-2008 21:17:27

Review: Spingo Bragget

Spingo Bragget from Blue Anchor
Rating: C

Sampled at the Cambridge Beer Festival 2008.

Appearance: golden honey, little head, big bubbles, near flat, no lace

Smell: apple blossom, honey, sweet, hint of herbal hops

Taste: much like the aroma. apples and honey are added to this beer. odd mixture of honey and floral hop character, balanced bitterness. some green apple.

Mouthfeel: near flat, light-med body.

Drinkability: below average, manages to be cloying despite the hops

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 05-24-2008 21:15:40

Review: Wensleydale Coverdale IPA Poacher

Wensleydale Coverdale IPA Poacher from Wensleydale Brewery Ltd
Rating: B-

Sampled at the Cambridge Beer Festival 2008

Appearance: no lace, smallish head, golden in color

Smell: light, disappointingly so... this is supposed to be a citrus dominant IPA, but my disillusionment with English IPAs continues apace

Taste: citrusy hops, but still too light by half

Mouthfeel: light body, well-carbonated for the style

Drinkability: drinkable, would match well with spicy food

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 05-24-2008 21:10:39

Review: Umbel Magna

Umbel Magna from Nethergate Brewery Co. Ltd.
Rating: B+

Sampled at the Cambridge Beer Festival 2008.

Appearance: quite dark, opaque cola color

Smell: dark malts, slight savory note, coffee, molasses

Taste: subtle coriander, good porter, and particularly so for a historical beer (based on a 1750s recipe, according to the brewery's tasting notes). sweetish finish

Mouthfeel: medium body, good level of carbonation

Drinkability: Paired with a curry purchased at the festival, figuring the coriander would match nicely. Went down well.

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 05-24-2008 21:08:43

Review: Comrade Bill Bartrams Egalitarian Anti-Imperialist Soviet Stout

Comrade Bill Bartrams Egalitarian Anti-Imperialist Soviet Stout from Bartrams Brewery
Rating: B-

Sampled at the Cambridge Beer Festival 2008

Appearance: opaque brown, largish bubbles, little lace

Smell: slight vegetal note, burnt malt, little distinct coffee or cocoa aroma

Taste: porter-ish, nondistinct and lackluster. disappointing considering the great name.

Mouthfeel: full body

Drinkability: not bad, but a bit boozy, especially as it warmed

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 05-24-2008 21:06:22

Review: Orange Chocolate Stout

Orange Chocolate Stout from Cambridge Moonshine Brewery
Rating: A-

Sampled at the Cambridge Beer Festival 2008

Appearance: opaque black, with a slight orange/leather hue, good brownish head but no lace

Smell: dark roast aromas (coffee, chocolate) and citrusy hops

Taste: more orange than chocolate, actually. subtle. obviously the suggestion of orange and chocolate is from the hops and malts, respectively, rather than additions of adjuncts, which is admirable

Mouthfeel: quite creamy, low carbonation

Drinkability: nice and unique

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 05-24-2008 20:59:49

Review: Oakham White Dwarf Wheat Beer

Oakham White Dwarf Wheat Beer from Oakham Ales / The Brewery Tap
Rating: C

Sampled at the Cambridge Beer Festival 2008

Appearance: light aple juice in color, smallish head

Smell: hoppier than expected, little in the way of typical wheat beer aromas. smells like a wheat beer brewed with the usual house yeast

Taste: again - hoppier than expected, no malt character to speak of, light fruitiness, but unbalanced

Mouthfeel: light body, undercarbonated

Drinkability: mediocre, even for the style

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 05-24-2008 20:55:45

Review: Double Swan

Double Swan from Elgood and Sons Ltd
Rating: B


Appearance: pours a golden honey color with a fluffy white head which leaves copious amounts of lacing in rings after each sip.

Smell: floral and grainy, grainy/grassy combination slightly reminiscent of a continental pilsener, but a bit of ale fruitiness seeps through.

Taste: solidly bitter for the style, hops are more spicy/herbal than anything else. aftertaste lingers. malt profile is simple and leaves something to be desired.

Mouthfeel: served at cask temperature, but probably would have benefited from more chilling. somewhat creamy texture, light-medium body.

Drinkability: fairly average for the style

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 05-17-2008 15:40:34

Review: Black Dog Mild

Black Dog Mild from Elgood and Sons Ltd
Rating: A-

Purchased at Cambridge Wine Merchants.

Appearance: a little on the darker, garnet side of cola in terms of color, fluffy off-white head which fades quickly but leaves behind nice lacing.

Smell: dark fruit, brown sugar, and some burnt malt.

Taste: iced coffee, with borwn sugar and date, but not as intense as that sounds. good mild

Mouthfeel: just a little thinner than your average american porter, but without feeling watered-down

Drinkability: good. manages to be an easy-drinking "dark" beer, without tasting insipidly cola-like, like some (bad) american porters

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 05-15-2008 17:50:45

Review: WychCraft

WychCraft from Wychwood Brewery Company Ltd
Rating: B+

Purchased at Cambridge Wine Merchants.

Appearance: honey in color, big head which fades, leaving some lacing.

Smell: vaguely bitter-like aroma, styrian goldings hops (according to the label), some biscuity malt

Taste: generally light on malt, light fruitiness. slight citrus

Mouthfeel: light, well-carbonated, nice

Drinkability: easy-drinking, good

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 05-15-2008 17:43:30