Some Christmas Ales

Pretty much every brewery produces a Christmas themed ale these days, and as I had a few in my cupboard I have sampled and reviewed four of them. Here’s is what I think of them;

Panther Brewery Festive Panther, 4.5%

The Panther Brewery from Reedham in Norfolk takes its name from several claim sightings of a Panther in the area and this is their festive ale, a dark ale with the addition of mulled spices.  Poured a very dark brown, smells of malts and a lot of mulled spice, with a smooth texture the ales taste for me was a little overdone with the mulled spice really overtaking everything else and giving it a bit of a vinegar undertone, I didn't really enjoy this, 5.5/10.

Ridgeway Reindeer’s Revolt, 6%

An amber beer with good head from Ridgeway Brewing in Oxfordshire, the bottle says this is brewed for the USA market but it seems to be readily available from several outlets over here also. The ale has rich toffee aromas with a touch of hops and raisins, to taste the ale had a rich malt with toffee and spice, with a mild bitterness to finish. Very drinkable for its ABV, 7.75/10.

Shepherd Neame Rudolph’s Reward, 4%

Shepherd Neame’s festive effort wins the prize for my favourite label of the four but that’s about it I'm afraid. In a clear bottle this amber beer with a cream head had an aroma of dusty malt and burnt wood with a little spice, to taste it was a mild amber ale but with an undertone of ash, I hope in real life Rudolph’s Reward was better than this. 5/10.

Mighty Hop Christmas Cracker, 4%

The Mighty Hop Brewery from Lyme Regis has created this Christmas ale from a tradition recipe using Viennese Malt and Curacao Orange. The orange is really strong throughout, and the aromas of the ale are a mixture of vanilla and orange hops. To taste it’s a mild amber bitter with added orange and spice, with very mild bitter finish, very festive and I enjoyed the infusion of Orange, 7.5/10.

Copper Dragons and Riders on the Storm

Four more ales have been sampled and judged, read on if you please.

Kelham Island Brewery Riders on the Storm, 4.5%

The Kelham Island Brewery is based in Sheffield and has been open since 1990 making it the first new brewery to open in the city for 100 years.  Pours an clear amber colour, slight sweetness on the nose with a little fruit, on the palate it is dry with a light crisp malt and some hops, I’m afraid I found this a little dull, but it is inoffensive, 5.75/10.

Loch Lomond The Ale of Leven, 4.5%

This brew takes its name from the River Leven that connect Loch Lomond in Scotland with the River Clyde, the brewery sits on the site of old cloth factories which were located their due to the purity of the water, so hopefully this beer benefits from that. The beer pours a dark golden orange with a nice creamy head, spicy fruit aromas with some maltiness, similar flavours on the palate followed by a well rounded bitterness, very nice, 7/10.

Summerskills Devon Dew, 4.7%

A brewery based in Plymouth in Devon this bottle is a survivor from my West Country selection earlier in the year maybe due to its slightly uninspiring label and name, this was a mistake. A golden beer with a lovely lasting head, aromas of honey and lemon hops, and the flavour is sweet which reminded me of lemon cake with slight malt and some herbs with a refreshing mild bitter finish, really enjoyed it, 7.5/10.

Copper Dragon Black Gold, 4%

Black Gold uses a recreated recipe from 1800s records, and I must say living in the 1800s sounded fairly grim until now but if this is the kind of beer they were drinking I may have been wrong. There were aromas of toffee, caramel and bread malts, smooth texture with a lasting halo head round the edge of the glass. To taste there is creamy caramel malt with a mild bitterness, lovely creamy aftertaste as well, sort of a mild/stout hybrid, superb, 8.5/10.

A Chimera, a Flying Dog and the Black Pearl, but no Johnny Depp

Some of my most faithful readers (Hello Mum) may well be aware that I am soon to move to pastures new in Kent and to avoid having to hike my bottles across the south east I'm endeavouring to drink them all before mid January, so I'm going to review as many as I can but not all will make the cut I'm afraid. Here are three of the more interesting ones I've had in the last couple of days.

Downton Chimera Honey Blonde, 4.3%

The Downton Brewery is to be found near Salisbury in Wiltshire and is a 20 barrel brewplant with some lovely bottle labelling across their range. The first thing I noticed upon opening my bottle of Chimera Honey Blonde was fizz as the carbonation in the bottle moved all the sediment as soon as I opened it, so after a period of settling in the bottle I poured it out to find, a straw clear yellow ale with a long lasting almost perpetuating head. On the nose I got honey and lemon hops, and on the palate some earthiness a little sweetness and a clear bitter finish. A little over carbonated and not quite sweet enough for a honey ale for me, 6/10.

Emma Says: 'bittery lemon citrus'

Mighty Hop Black Pearl Porter, 4.4%

The Mighty Hop Micro Brewery is based in the lovely Lyme Regis in Dorset and they have a nice little range of beers. This very dark beer gave me on the nose roasted malts with strong hints of ripe plum like fruits, taste was chocolate malts with fruits and spice and a lasting acidic bitter finish. A really excellent porter and at 4.4% I would like beers like this to encourage some other brewers to move away from imperial this and that and focus on excellent milder beers, 8/10.

Flying Dog K-9 Winter Ale, 7.4%

I'm starting to see Flying Dog’s distinctive bottle designs (which I really like) all over the place in trendy London locales these days, deriving from somewhere called Frederick in Maryland, USA this is their winter ale. I'm not sure if its named after the K-9 dog from Doctor Who but that’s what I'm going with, this ale has a dark reddish amber colour with a slight head which dissipates quickly, aromas of sweet fruits and malt which reminded me of Christmas pudding. On the palate it has a rich malt dark fruity taste and you can taste the alcohol from its ABV which gives it certain warmth, nice 7.25/10.

Emma says: 'smells like brandy butter', then she tasted it, shook her head and declined to comment further

stock pic due to my phone not being co-operative

Beer for the Gods and Slugs, Emma's top 3 opinions

RCH Old Slug Porter, 4.5%

The RCH Brewery began in the 1980s in the Royal Clarence Hotel in Weston Super Mare in the West Country but had to relocate to a nearby facility as they were using up all the water. The Old Slug name derives from the fact the old brewery had a problem with slugs! The Porter itself pours very very dark brown, on the nose there are roasted malts, cocoa, and coffee. Lightly carbonated this is easy to drink and on the palate you get more roasted malts and very slight dark fruit flavours with a long bitter finish. A very enjoyable porter, 8/10.

High & Mighty Beer of the Gods, 4.5%

High & Mighty Beer Co, from Holyoke, Massachusetts, are beer-evangelists as well as several other religious based brewing statements according to their website. The Beer of the Gods follows this string of religious naming, but moving away from names and statements this is a pale gold beer with a sweet hop smell. On the palate there are bready malts, wheat with a spicy sweetness and a smooth mild bitter finish, very refreshing indeed, 7.5/10.

To finish this blog I thought I’d list my favourite 3 quotes from Emma this year (she really does not like ale);

• St Austell Clouded Yellow – “I don’t know what it tastes of, but it’s not right, bitter dishwater maybe”
• Exeter Brewery Fraid Not – “smells like hay, farmlike, tastes it, that is awful, tastes like when you accidentally suck your finger when you have just used nail polish remover”
• Stroud Five Valleys – “musty straw with malted milk biscuits smell, tastes like mouldy straw with urine in it”

My Top 5 Ales of 2012

In 2012 I've tried probably in the order of 130-150 ales, here are my top 5, they are not necessarily new or special, just ones that I've tried and enjoyed in 2012 which I've picked out as my favourites over the year. So in no particular order...

Blue Monkey Infinity, 4.6%

The Infinity is an American Pale Ale style using Citra hops, which are excellent throughout. There is a good frothy head and an aromatic citrus aroma, bitter citrus flavours to start followed by a sweeter juicy tropicalness with a lingering mild bitter finish. A triumph.

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12, 8.0%

Ale aged in Casks which used to hold 12 year old Highland Park whisky from the Harviestoun brewery in Scotland. Pours a very very dark brown with a light head which dissipates fast, Oak and roast aromas with a tinge of whisky. On the palate roasted malts and a little chocolate and then the whisky which starts light develops to leave a dark whisky ale taste. Excellent.

Bath Ale Barnsey, 4.5%

One of the ales available at the ‘Look Mum No Hands’ cycle cafe (or at least it was when the tour de france was on), I spent a whole stage drinking this and it is lovely. A nice fruity dark ale with a chocolatey edge, cracking.

Kelpie Seaweed Ale, 4.4%

This ale from William Bros Brewing Co, has its roots in coastal Scottish alehouses where the malted barley was grown in fields fertilised by seaweed, this essence has been recreated in this ale by the use of seaweed in the mash tun. The ale itself is a dark brown colour with aromas of toffee and nut with an unmistakeable hint of a seaside smell, on the palate it is robust and malty with a roasted aftertaste with again a hint of the sea. This ale is not going to be for everyone but I really enjoyed it.

Clearwater Devon Dympsy, 4.0%

Formerly known as “Cavalier” this ale is from the Clearwater brewery in Torrington, Devon, a small brewery with a succinct range of ales/pubs around the Exmoor area. The ale itself is excellent, dark chestnut in colour with a nutty smooth taste which builds into a citrus finish. It’s very drinkable and I need to get some more of this asap.

Humpty Dumpty, Maverick and Coper

Humpty Dumpty Norfolk Nectar, 4.6%

The Humpty Dumpty brewery based in Reedham, Norfolk which must be handy for them to get their bottles to Beers of Europe which is where I got this bottle from. The Norfolk Nectar has a good frothy head, an aroma of lemon and vanilla hops on the nose, it has a bitter floral taste with a refreshing mid bitter finish, I quite enjoyed this, 7/10.

Emma Says: 'nondescript beer'

Butts Coper Organic, 6.0%

A totally organic operation the Butts Brewery can be found in Berkshire and have a rather nice bottle design on this ale I think, maybe I’m just a sucker for a picture of a Coper (which is ‘a ship employed in surreptitiously supplying strong drink to deep sea fishermen’ according to the bottle). This dark chestnut coloured ale has toffee and Christmas pudding aromas; the ale has a smooth texture, a start with a sweet malt taste and develops into bitter with a lasting finish, very nice indeed, 7.75/10.

Emma Says: 'toffee with an awful bitter finish'

Fyne Ales Maverick, 4.2%

Fyne Ales are based in Scotland and the water used for the ales is sourced from a burn above the brewery. The Maverick is labelled as a dark robust bitter ale, sadly I didn’t enjoy it. The smell was of coffee and a burnt ash, the taste was a musty malt and bread, it just didn’t have much going for it unfortunately apart from the head, 4.5/10.

Emma Says: 'biscuitee, coffee, soil'

Lots of Chocolate, Skullsplitter and a Blue Monkey

I've tried a few more ales over the last couple of days and here are my thoughts;

Saltaire Triple Chocoholic, 4.8%

Established in 2005 the Saltaire Brewery has won a number of awards for this brew. It pours an extremely dark black with a thin tan head, smells of rich cocoa malt and is reminiscent of the aroma of hot chocolate powder, which I enjoyed. The ale has a smooth texture and a nice mild chocolate bitter taste, I wouldn’t say it’s overwhelmingly chocolatey but it is definitely there, I enjoyed it, 7/10.

Emma says: ‘mocca, cocoa smell, weird consistency of hot chocolate but taste like a bitter ale, not for me’

Orkney Skullsplitter, 8.5%

I have had this beer before at the Halloween Ale Fest in Wandworth earlier this year, unwisely on that occasion as my first beer of the day at 1.30pm not a wise decision at 8.5%! I enjoyed it then so I was hoping I would enjoy it bottled too. There is a very light whisky/spirit edge to a fruity aroma, taste is spicy, caramel with the alcohol giving it a punch, very warming and leaves a nice finish, 7.5/10.

Emma says: ‘almost no smell, whiskyish with a bitter finish’

Blue Monkey Infinity, 4.6%

My second tasting of a Blue Monkey brewery ale after the excellent Guerilla I tried a few weeks ago (my review is here). The Infinity is an American Pale Ale style using Citra hops, which are excellent throughout. There is a good frothy head and an aromatic citrus aroma, bitter citrus flavours to start followed by a sweeter juicy tropicalness with a lingering mild bitter finish, one of my favourite beers I’ve had all year, 9/10.

Emma says: ‘peach and apricots and then bitter’

3 ales from the far north

Three more ales, this time they all hail from north of the border in Scotland.

Atlas Three Sisters, 4.2%

As a result of several takeovers and mergers the Atlas Brewery is now part of Sinclair Breweries with their ales under the Atlas range and brewed at the Orkney Brewery. A malty nose with a hint of berries, malt upfront with maturing underlying berryness and bitterness with a lasting bitter berry taste, too complex for a session beer but definitely one to savour, 7.75/10.

Emma says: ‘Awful’ she declined to comment further.

Traquair Bear Ale, 5.0%

Traquair House Brewery is at Traquair House, dating back to 1107 and is Scotlands oldest inhabited house and as a result has an interesting history which you can read about here. The ale has fruity malt and raisin aromas, the taste has a nutty maltiness with a bitter hop background with a dry bitter finish. A perfectly nice ale just not that memorable, 6.5/10.

Cairngorm Black Gold, 4.4%

Cairngorm brewery was founded in 2001 in Scotland’s ski centre of Aviemore and they have a well regarded range of ales. The Cairngorm Black Gold is a very very opaque dark stout, it has a rich malty smell with hints of caramel and nutes, bitter coffee flavour to start with a developing sweeter almost dark chocolate taste, this is followed by a quite nice coffee taste finish. A good quality stout, 7/10.

Merlyn, Ebulum and Lammas

I've tried three more ales, one good, two a little disappointing.

Great Orme Merlyn, 4.9%

The Great Orme Brewery hails from North Wales and was established in 2005 it has a small range of ales and if they are all as nice as the Merlyn then they’ll do very well indeed. A lovely caramel and chestnut aroma, on the palate there is immediate sweet caramel malt with a building bitterness which never overpowers and an aftertaste which is slightly herbal. Very easy to drink, 7.5/10.

Emma Says: 'chestnuts and almonds smell, sweetchestnut with a bitter finish'

Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale, 6.5%

Brewed by the Williams Brothers Brewery Company from Scotland, elderberry black ale was introduced to Scotland in the 9^th century by Welsh druids, the recipe was apparently taken from a 16^th century record from the Scottish highlands. This pours a dark black, elderflower sweetness offset with malt on the nose, the taste is roasted malts followed by dark fruit notes with a dry herbal finish. For me fruit enthused ales need to have a stronger taste than this, it almost felt a bit like an alcoholic herbal tea, which for some will be a good thing but I’d prefer a stronger flavour, it’s also a little over carbonated, but it’s certainly drinkable and just needs some tweaking, 6.5/10.

1648 Lammas Ale, 4.2%

The 1648 Brewing Company have a huge range of ales listed on their website, Lammas means “Loaf Mass” and celebrates the first wheat harvest of the year, and is a custom brew for the Eastbourne Lammas festival. Lots of orange and general citrus aromas, a generous head which lasts, the taste is a bit of an explosion of grassy bitter and sour notes which then mellows, leaves a lasting floral bitter taste. A little unbalanced for me, and took a long time for me to drink due to its sourness, 5/10.

Some Teasel, a Leviathan and a visit to the Wild West

Gosh I’ve drank three more ales, so here are my reviews of them, unfortunately Emma was not present for two of these so her tasting notes are only available on one of the ales.

Stroud Brewery Teasel, 4.2%

A craft brewery operating out of Stroud in the Cotswolds producing a range of organic and vegan ales, this is the second of their ales after I tried the Budding back in my first ever review. The ingredients list includes black pepper so I was definitely expecting a peppery edge, pours a dark orange with a pepper, honey, orange citrus aroma. On the palate there is a spice, caramel, and toffee with a definite undertone of pepper and a clean finish, really enjoyed this and in my mind superior to the still good Budding, 8/10.

Emma Says: ‘Honey farm smell, toffee caramel taste, but still bitter and horrible’

Hopdaemon Leviathan, 6%

Hopdaemon are a small brewery based in Kent producing ‘Hell raising Kentish Ale’, and I liked the branding on the bottle which is quite a eye-catching design I think. This strong ale is surprisingly easy to drink, spicy malt aromas, not an overpowering body despite its abv, on the palate you get a syrupy malt caramel with a good lingering bitter finish. Very morish and way too easy to drink for the strength of the ale, but for me that is a good thing. 7.5/10.

Nobby’s Wild West, 4.6%

Nobby’s Brewery based in Northamptonshire, are another small brewery producing a range of 6 regular brews and seasonal ales for almost every month of the year. This pours a chestnut brown colour and on the nose has a mild roast caramel aroma. On the palate there is a smooth almost cigar smoke like malt with just the slightest hint of toffee with a pleasant slightly acidic bitter aftertaste, different but nice, 7/10.

All in all 3 very good ales.

A stout, a welsh king, and a National Trust castle

An eclectic range of ales in today's blog...

Titanic Chocolate and Vanilla Stout, 4.5%

Titanic Brewery are a sizeable brewer based in Stoke and produce around 2.3m pints a year. This is their bottled Chocolate and Vanilla Stout, first up I'm a little perplexed about the clear bottle, there are very good reasons for brown bottles which are well documented, so this must be for marketing reasons. The ale itself is pitch black with a tan head, on the nose this is fantastic, rich indulgent chocolate with a lot of vanilla as well, on the palate it was basically bitter with a tiny hint of sweetness, disappointing. Titanic state that they are renowned for their stout on their website, and that may well be true but I fear that may be on keg, they need to sort their bottles out as this was disappointing. 5.5/10

Emma Says: ‘Chocolate orange smell, bitter strong coffee’

Celt Bleddyn 1075, 5.6%

The Celt Experience are an organic brewery based in Wales, a quick note for their bottle design, it just looks really classy and refined and it looks like a lot of thought has gone into their branding. Named after a powerful Welsh king from the 11^th century this is a suitably strong ale 5.6% in the bottle and 7.6% in cask. Pours a deep golden colour with aromas of grapefruit and pineapple, spice and fruit followed by a bitter citrus dry finish, really very nice indeed, would love to try the cask, 8.25/10.

Emma Says: ‘honey and apple blossom smell, bitter and soily, classic soil’

Westerham Scotney, 4.3%

Westerham Brewery are Kent based and produce an interesting array of ales, this one was originally exclusively produced for the National Trust using hops from their Scotney Castle property hence the name. Chestnut brown in colour, slight peach and caramel on the nose, smooth texture, spicy fruit with a medium bitter finish, a good one to finish a session with, 7.25/10.

Three interesting labels

Well my first blog in a week or so as I've been a bit busy, but I've had three ales which I think are trying with their labelling to really attract the ‘trendy’ ale drinker. So this is a blog reviewing three of these ales and also for what it’s worth I'm going to comment on their labelling more than usual.

Flat Cap Ted, 5.0%

First of all there’s been some comment over the blogosphere about Flat Cap beers business model where they are more a purveyor of beers rather than a brewer as they get other breweries to produce it, and their use of the word ‘craft’. Frankly I don’t really care that much, there is a certain appeal to the thought of a small brewer producing great ales independently but if you don’t want to sink cash into a brewery and other breweries have spare capacity it makes sense and as long as the quality of the ale is intact, I do not see why it matters. 

It’s interesting to look at who Flat Cap are aiming this beer at because I’m struggling to understand the label, it’s a pop art style image of a man in a flat cap laughing who’s then described as some kind of spy in the following text;

 ‘Born to Russian immigrant parents TED grafted his way to Cambridge where after achieving a double first in Enigmatology he was recruited by MI5. Caught in a compromising position in the Urals whilst turning the KGB agent ‘goat’, TED’s life took a surreal twist.’

I like the idea of giving the ale a character to give a personality to the beer, so good idea, but the execution is slightly wrong for me as the picture and the text do not marry up, the picture should be more suave to match the image of a spy. When you’re in one of the quite trendy ale emporiums like the Powder Keg, the Dean Swift, or one of the Draft Houses that are springing up all over London, and you are presented with a fridge of different bottled ales or a menu of ales I do not think this design or name is going to stand out and nobody will read the text.

So onto the ale itself, it’s a British Pale Ale with a honey aroma, plenty of toffee and spice with a biscuit malt and a long bitter finish, I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite all the somewhat unusual imagery on the label this ale has traction and is a good base for Flat Cap, 7/10.

Batch 9: The Black Lager, 5.0%

Batch Brew are a new microbrewery based in Winchester, this is their flagship brew and the first one they created, bottle conditioned and pitch black in colour this is almost in the style of Budvar dark rather than a Carling so don’t be put off by the word ‘lager’. The use of lager in the description is interesting and in contrast to the flat cap I think the branding here is very slick both on the label and website. The label is very distinctive and I like giving each ‘Batch’ or different beer a number, they have a Batch 16 (Wheat Beer) and a Batch 18 (Pale Ale) which I have in my cupboard to be reviewed in the future with identical labelling but different colour. I wonder how the number is decided, is it arbitrary? or is it the number of Batches that they are on?

Onto the beer itself, a nice tan head with vanilla/cream malt on the nose, dark roasted malt, quite a lot of fizz and a short dry finish without any real bitterness, really refreshing, 7.25/10.

Emma Says: ‘sweet, pruney with a bitter finish’

Blue Monkey Guerrilla, 4.8%

The Blue Monkey brewery hails from Ilkeston in the Midlands and the name originates from flickering blue flames which used to emerge from the towns industrial furnaces which were known as ‘Blue Monkeys’. The labelling on Blue Monkey beers is again a pop art style image but one which syncs more with the beer than that used by Flat Cap, all Blue Monkey beers have a monkey on them as this is the Guerrilla it has a nice Che Guevara style beret.

The Guerrilla has been awarded several awards including SIBA national stout champion 2010. They describe it as a revolutionary stout and I can see why it has won awards. Rich roast coffee malt on the nose, a stout full of complexity reinforced with a strong but not overpowering bitter finish, excellent, 8/10

Emma Says: ‘rich coffee smell, tastes it nearly spits it out, that was awful’. She doesn't like stouts much.

In terms of branding here I think Batch Brew have really nailed it both in terms of the label and their website, Blue Monkey also have interesting design, but I think Flat Cap need to tweak there’s a bit.

West Country Ales Vol 3 and a cheeky E London Stout

So I've pretty much gone through my West Country selection of craft ales now, so here is my reviews of the last three, I've just had delivered a whole batch of ales as I described previously, and the last review of this article is my first one of those to celebrate international stout day yesterday.

Holsworthy Tamar Black, 4.8%

A dark roasted stout from Devon, the Holsworthy brewery is a small brewery and this is one of its three main beers and is named after the River Tamar. It smells of deep roasted coffee and on the palate it is dark chocolate and coffee building to a strong finish, very much a coffee stout and a pretty good one, 7/10

Emma says: 'quite high on the horrid scale'

Exeter Brewery ‘Fraid Not, 4%

This ale was made by the small Exeter brewery in response to a request by the Mountain Rescue Service and 10p goes to the charity for each pint sold which is a good thing. The ale is a clear golden and quite lager like, it is light floral and hay on the nose and palate with an odd twang which kicks in. Not really to my taste, but got a little better towards the end 4.75/10.

Emma says: 'tastes like when you accidentally suck your finger when you have just used nail polish remover'

Ringmore Shaldon Shag, 4.2%

This bottle conditioned ale named after a bird as you can see from the label, is from the Ringmore Craft Brewery in Shaldon, Devon. The ale pours a deep copper with a nice head, a delicate hoppy aroma with a hint of sharp fruit, starts with a blitz of bitter and fizz and is a little over carbonated for me, this mellows into a soft elderflower long and satisfying hoppy finish. Very refreshing and excellent ale just needs to dial down the carbonation a tad. 7.5/10

Redchurch Hoxton Stout, 6.0%

The Redchurch Brewery in East London’s mission statement on their website states ‘the redchurch brewery strives to create uncompromising modern beers to make you think’. This complex dark stout I think matches that statement very well. Pours a very dark black with a tan head, on the nose it rich, chocolate and malts, to taste it’s a thick hearty stout which evolves into a long floral slightly citric hop finish, a very interesting modern twist on the stout and I liked it, a lot. 8/10.

Emma says: nearly dropped it in anguish, head bowed momentarily and then said 'horrible'

A comparison of Beers of Europe, Ales by Mail and AleselA

It’s nearly Christmas or at least close enough to allow me to treat myself to a present of a range of ales so I've bought about 70 bottles from 3 online sources, Ales by Mail, Alesela, and Beers of Europe. When I was gearing up to buy from these sources rather than the supermarkets I found there was a dearth of comparison information out there so I thought I would blog on 4 aspects of these suppliers their Website, Range, Price, Communication/Delivery. There are other sources online such as Beerritz, and Beer Box but I chose these three as I don’t have an unlimited budget and those two are definitely more expensive and I couldn't really see why. First a little background on each.

•           Ales By Mail (AbM), founded by the brewers of the Terry Pratchett’s Discworld themed range of ales in 2009 and are based in Billericay in Essex
•          Alesela, is a small mail order company offering up a mainly Scottish range of Ales from its base in Scotland including a few from America.
•           Beers of Europe (BofE), probably the most established of the three, based in Norfolk with a gigantic warehouse and store.

Website

Of the three I'm going to definitely say I preferred the ease of use and clarity of Alesela website over the other two, the complexity and scale of their website is not in the same league as the other two websites and that’s maybe why they are able to make the experience much more preferable and it’s a breeze to use. AbM have another good website and loses out to Alesela only due to AbM’s website flips up to the top of the page when you add an Ale to your basket which I found irritating. Beers of Europe’s website is only recently relaunched and revamped and they need a better server or something as it can be slow to load between different pages and you have to click on the individual ale and load up its page to add it to the basket whereas on AbM’s website there is a button for this on the browsing page.

Range

BofE have a gigantic range which I don’t think is surpassed on the internet and really is phenomenal, I counted that they had around 800 individual different bottled ales available as well as other alcohol, and a lot of different branded pint glasses if you like those. AbM have a very good range as well as around 300 different ales they also have a nice looking range of gourmet sausages to go along with your ales which cannot be a bad thing. Alesela are a much smaller entity than the other two but they are an excellent source of Scottish ales and hopefully they can build on what is a good selection.

Price

Now this is tricky as it obviously depends on which breweries you pick, what ABV the ales are and where they are produced but I tried to maintain as even a selection policy as I could which was focused around 500ml bottles, 4-6%, and UK breweries. Delivery cost needs to be factored in; Alesela is a one off £6 plus £2 for every 20 bottles (ie 1-20 bottles £8, 21-40 £10, its cheaper if you live near the warehouse), AbM £6.99 per 24 bottles, and BofE is a one off £7.49. Another thing to consider is reductions, this is due to Best Before dates which don’t really impact Ale much, both Alesela and AbM have significantly reduced beers which I took advantage of, whereas BofE do not have any that I could find. I ordered 20 bottles from Alesela, 24 from AbM and 26 from BofE and the average bottle price was BofE - £2.50, Alesela - £2.60, and AbM - £2.75 which despite the lack of reductions on BofE shows the power of economies of scale.

Communication & Delivery

Upon ordering each send a confirmation invoice which were all clear and provided all the info you need. BofE sent me a confirmation of despatch via email, for AbM I received a text from the couriers telling me it would be delivered the next day and offering me the choice to text a response to change that if required which was a nice touch. Alesela also sent me a couple of emails updating me on the progress of the order. I ordered all three on Monday night and all three had arrived before midday on the Wednesday  which is excellent service. AbM and BofE both had very similar packaging of cardboard, but Alesela had an interesting plastic casing for the bottles which I liked.

A great sight

 Beers of Europe and Ales by Mail use cardboard packaging with polystyrene/newspaper filler

AleselA's plastic packaging for the bottles

Overall

All three companies provide an excellent service with Beers of Europe having the largest range, Ales by Mail offering a great alternative and a very impressive smaller firm Alesela providing a good range from Scotland. I'm not going to rank them as I only had a couple of small tweaks I would change about the websites which I've mentioned earlier, and I'm really pleased with my orders from all three firms and will be using them again in the future. I hope this information was useful for those of you who want to escape the monotony of the range the supermarkets provide. Over time I will be reviewing these ales on this blog so look out for that too.

http://www.alesela.co.uk/home.php

http://www.alesbymail.co.uk/

http://www.beersofeurope.co.uk/

All the bottles laid out together, top left: Ales by Mail, top right: Beers of Europe, bottom right: AleselA

West Country Ales Vol 2

As I'm still working through my batch of West Country sourced ales here is a review of three more from Devon.

The Beer Engine Piston Bitter, 4.2%

The Beer Engine appears to be a Brewery/Pub in Exeter which was originally a railway hotel built in 1850 and from the pictures on its website looks like a lovely place to spend an afternoon.

It's a brown coloured ale, caramel on the nose with a rich, sweet taste with a pleasant malty bitter finish, not a complex ale but it tastes very good, really enjoyed it, 7.5/10.

Emma Says: ‘nondescript, sort of soilish’

Bays Topsail, 4.0%

Topsail hails from the Bays Brewery in Torbay, Devon and is the brewery’s flagship ale. The ale itself is deep amber in colour and woody and rich on the nose, on the palate it is balanced and has a lasting oak sweetness throughout, with a medium bitter finish allied with hints of pepper. It’s smooth to drink and really quite refreshing, 7/10.

Emma Says: ‘oaky and sweet but still wouldn't drink it’

Dartmoor Brewery Jail Ale, 4.8%

Lastly in this West Country selection is the Dartmoor Brewery Jail Ale and my least favourite of the three by far. The ale is amber in colour, slight citrus on the nose, the taste is quite uninteresting and maintains a uniform bitterness throughout. The bottle describes the after taste as ‘sweet moorish’ but I didn't experience either of those. Disappointing but not undrinkable. 5/10.

Emma says: ‘smells of citrus and tastes weird but I have just brushed my teeth’

West Country Ales Vol 1 and Wandsworth Halloween Fest

Quantock Brewery Quantock Ale, 3.8%

Synonymous of the Quantock Brewery in Somerset this is a well made traditional amber ale with slight fruit notes on the nose, its well rounded and improves as it goes on and would make an excellent session beer due to its medium-low percentage, a good place to start after a day toiling at a computer, 6.5/10.

Emma says ‘Unusual very beery’

Clearwater Brewery Devon Dympsy, 4.0%

Formerly known as “Cavalier” this ale is from the Clearwater brewery in Torrington, Devon, a small brewery with a succinct range of ales and a few pubs around the Exmoor area. The ale itself is excellent, dark chestnut in colour with a nutty smooth taste which builds into a citrus finish. It’s very drinkable and I wish I had more than one bottle right now,  8/10.

Emma says ‘light smoky burnt taste a bit like eating an ash tray’

Wandsworth Common Halloween 2012 Beer Festival

In between trying the two aforementioned ales I visited the Wandsworth Halloween Ale festival at Le Gothique just off Wandsworth Common. Located in the middle of the huge Royal Victoria Patriotic Building this festival is without doubt the ‘coolest’ festival I've been to with a mainly young clientèle, Halloween costumes and an excellent setting. It’s never overcrowded and it’s a good festival to get served quickly, the range of ales was even better this year than last and the setting in Le Gothique’s courtyard is excellent.

The Royal Victoria Patriotic Building

I would give you a breakdown and reviews of what I had but foolishly I lost my booklet with my thoughts inside and my memory is somewhat hazy. Although I do remember being very disappointed by the Downton Chocolate Orange ale, but that was my only duff selection and the ales available generally were of the highest quality. Although one downside was the weather as this festival is mainly set outside it is at the mercy of the British autumn and it was brutally cold despite the halogen heaters but the organizers cannot help that. A great festival and I'm looking forward to their spring edition.

Tanya's Courage Trust Ale

A slightly different blog today, I saw this on ebay and thought, ‘I know I will buy something interesting and help a charity at the same time’. What I had today was the last ever bottle of an ale brewed specially for Tanya’s Courage Trust by Keltek Brewery in Redruth Cornwall.

Tanya’s Courage Trust is a cancer charity helping young people with cancer in Cornwall and the Isle’s of Scilly, I know how horrific cancer in young people can be and any causes such as this should be supported and encouraged. Please go to http://www.tanyascourage.org.uk/ for more information.

To the ale itself (pictured below in my Wandsworth Halloween festival glass from 2011), I’m not going to be too harsh on it as I’ve no idea how it has been stored and the Keltek Brewery has an excellent reputation, but it wasn’t great, very very smoky and a bit of a sour taste.

But I’m pleased that I bought it and if one person clicks the link in this blog and makes a donation then that’s the important thing, and even if no one does then no one else bid for it so the charity is up none the less. I'll raise my glass to that.

A Trip to the Powderkeg

Me and some chums went to the Powderkeg Diplomacy (http://www.powderkegdiplomacy.co.uk/) bar in Clapham on Friday, despite living not that far away I’d never been here before but I had heard good things so I thought it was worth devoting an evening to.

The Powderkeg is about a 10 minute walk from Clapham Junction station and even though you walk past several other pubs to get there it is definitely worth it. It’s sort of innocuous from the outside but definitely interesting inside with old doors suspended on the wall and ceiling which was certainly different. You always know you’re in for a good evening when the menu is mostly devoted to ale of various varieties and the Powderkeg certainly doesn’t disappoint.

The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and although the bar space is limited as the staff come round to your table to ask if you need another drink this isn’t a problem. I must also give a special mention to the staff member in a flat cap who brought us an extra chair, presumably from the restaurant, when we didn’t even ask for it (we were rather cramped onto a small sofa before this). Staff who go out of their way to help you out does really make a difference and it really did cement the Powderkeg up there as one of my favourite places.

One small critique would be that I’d like to know the bottle size of the ale on the menu before I order it, as I don’t mind paying £4.50 for 330ml of an imported/hard to source beer but I’d like to know beforehand. But overall the Powderkeg is excellent and the ale selection and quality was top notch.

These are the first five ales I had, there were another two but I don’t remember them.

Oakham Hawse Buckler, 5.6%. This ale takes its name from the plate which fills the hole for a ships anchor chain, the hawse-hole, in rough weather, strangely apt as I was soaked from an autumn shower. A dark, dark ale, with rich malt and raisin aromas which hits upfront and then is followed by a long lasting bitter finish, one for those who like their dark ales (like me), an excellent start, 7/10.

Magic Rock High Wire, 5.5%. Magic Rock’s tribute to West Coast IPA’s which really do use a lot of hops and test your taste buds. This has a nice fruity start of lychees and grapefruit and then develops into a long increasingly intense bitter finish, really does wipe the palate and very refreshing. 6.5/10.

Beavertown 8 Ball, 6.2%. A Rye IPA which takes its name as originally the hop sacks were weighed down into the beer using old pool balls. Fruity orange and spice on the nose and palate with a tinge of bitterness at the end, really, really nice. 8/10.

Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout, 4.5%. For me there are not enough milk stouts around, and this is a good one, it’s a historic recipe re-brewed for the modern day and it looks just as it should, pitch black and thick. Smooth and well balanced with the milk sugars bringing sweetness into the taste and a nice sharp finish. 7/10.

Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA, 7.5%. This was my favourite beer of the night, hazy golden colour, very hoppy with a tart orange and lemon zest, surprisingly easy drinking. Also has the best bottle design of the evening too. 8.5/10.

Top stuff all round.