681: Burton Bridge Brewery | Festive Christmas Porter

The Brewery: There’s a great piece on their website about how the brewery came to be, tied in with some history of brewing in Burton. Check it out HERE

The Beer: “A fruity, very dark brown beer with a bitter after-palate…..Only available in late November and December in time for Santa to deliver on Christmas Day. This beer is a variation on our traditional bottled porter.”

Enjoyed this immensely. Black as yer ‘at - always a tick for the Blogger in Black - and very flavoursome. Notably less gassy than many bottled ales - another plus point in my book. Hoping I come across some of their regular ales at some point.

4.5% A.B.V. December 2020

680: Purple Moose Brewery | Dark Side Of The Moose

The Brewery: “Y Bragdy Mws Piws / The Purple Moose Brewery is a '40-Barrel' micro-brewery based in the historic harbour town of Porthmadog, North Wales, close to the mountains of Snowdonia. Brewing commenced on 14th June 2005 with a one-off special pale ale at 3.5% called "No.1".

The Beer: “Ochr Dywyll y Mws/Dark Side of the Moose is a delicious dark ale brewed from Welsh mountain water and natural ingredients. Using a delicate blend of dark crystal malt, roasted barley and Bramling Cross hops the 'Dark Side' exhibits a rich malty flavour balanced with fruity bitterness. “

Another good un, just enough fruitiness without being too sickly. 4.6% A.B.V. December 2020

679: Great Orme Brewery | Welsh Black

The brewery: Well a website is currently under development but they are not located in Llandudno as the name might suggest but now in the Conwy valley.

The Beer: “Rich, dark and full of malt flavours, this black bitter owes its characteristics to the large amount of chocolate malt giving it a velvety smooth rich coffee finish. No aroma hops are added to this beer, instead seven types of grain are used to develop the flavour.”

Liked this, it was very rich and velvety indeed. Taste belied the strength. Another from the great little deli in Llangollen.

3.7%. A.B.V. December 2020

678: Bluestone | Moonstone

The Brewery: “Bluestone Brewing is an exciting, eco-friendly family run brewery situated in the foothills of the Preseli Hills in North Pembrokeshire…..The name comes from the local stone that the buildings were built from many years ago. Bluestone is also pretty famous for being mysteriously transported over 250 miles to become Stonehenge over 5000 years ago! The water we use for brewing our Rock Solid Ales is unique to Bluestone. Our water filters down the Preseli Mountains and collects in a well on our land. And because the spring water is so natural and crystal clear, it goes straight from the well into our beers, with no filtering or added chemicals.”

The Beer: “A full bodied traditional dark Porter hopped with Bramling Cross and Fuggles hops creating a spicy bitterness to compliment it’s chocolate and nut flavours. A recipe true to Britain’s most popular beer of the 1800s”

The first of a few beers from Wales, procured in a great little deli in Llangollen during a day trip whilst staying in Chester.

Yes a traditional Porter but I found it slightly more flavoursome than the previous entry although the lower A.B.V was evident.

4.6% A.B.V. December 2020

677: St Peter’s | Old-Style Porter

The Brewery: “St. Peter’s Brewery is one of England’s original craft breweries, founded in 1996 in former traditional agricultural buildings alongside the moated St. Peter’s Hall, deep in the picturesque Suffolk countryside. The location, in the village of St. Peter South Elmham, near Bungay, is ideal for the excellent water quality used in the brewing process – all beers brewed at St. Peter’s Brewery use water filtered through chalk deep beneath the brewery, obtained from our own deep bore-hole.”

The Beer: “A blend of mature and young ale creates a porter of traditional character  that is dark cherry in colour and complex in taste. Aromas of rum, liquorice, raisin and chocolate with hints of coffee are in abundance in this full-bodied warming ale.”

Maybe I’ve got used to the more modern porters of late where the rich coffee and chocolate flavours are more prominent but this didn’t quite hit the spot for me. It didn’t feel that full bodied to be honest - there was nothing wrong with it - I just found it a bit plain. Hoping I come across some of the other beers in their range though.

5.1% A.B.V. December 2020

676: Loch Lomond Brewery | Bravehop Dark

The brewery: “Loch Lomond Brewery started life in our kitchen in Luss on the shores of Loch Lomond. A desire to brew beer and create a family business that would allow the whole family to get involved we started in 2011 in Alexandria…….Now brewing from a state of the art 35hl brewery in 12,000 sq feet of space near Dumbarton and canning in-house we have an ever evolving beer range where there is certainly something for everyone.”

The beer: “Black IPA - Aromas of marmalade and pine lead to roast and spice flavours followed by a bittersweet finish.”

The last from the recent Lidl beer festival, this worked quite well for me. Potent stuff at 6% A.B.V. October 2020.

675: Drygate Brewing Co. | Coco Noco

The brewery: “Drygate Brewing Co have been making beer in the historic heart of Glasgow since 2014. We brew with open doors and open minds; we believe good beer can come from anywhere, and anyone.
Collaboration with our community is at our core; we love showcasing creators of beer, food, art, design, music, comedy, poetry, and more.”

The beer: “This smooth as silk sable stout packs dark malts, oats, wheat, cacao, coffee beans, mile sugar and vanilla. Flavours of bittersweet chocolate ganache, caramel latte, and toasted marshmallow now come with the fragrant and warming character of coconut in this twist on our core range classic.”

Another from the Lidl beer festival and along the lines of the previous entry. It didn’t endear itself to my awkward palate as much as that but still and enjoyable slurp and quite strong at 6% A.B.V.

October 2020.