The Ale Archive

What they say: “Originally developed in our pilot brewery, the seasonal ale is among the collection of innovative limited edition No.18 Yard Brewhouse beers, named after the historic cask store. It is a light brown malty ale featuring pale and crystal malts and Target and East Kent Goldings hops, with mulling spices added at the end of the brew.” Not usual dark fruity and malty Christmas ale it was quite light with just a hint of spicyness that livelier foods would probably drown out. Pleasant enough but didn’t over excite. 3.7% A.B.V. Attimore Hall , Welwyn-Garden-City. Hertfordshire. December 2017

What they say: “This delicious ale is hand-crafted using chalk-filtered mineral water from the attesian well deep below our brewery. Amber in colour, it is a complex, full flavoured beer combining aromas of fruits and spices with rich biscuity malts. “ Yes, more amber than dark as the name suggested. A very clean taste and perfectible drinkable but I found it a little insipid to be honest. Unlikely to offend but equally unlikely to excite. 3.8% A.B.V

What they say? Well www.ratebeer.com has this as the commercial description: “A Spellbinding Brew. Double, double ,toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble. Eye of newt and toe of frog were not used in this magical brew. The Master Brewer used his mystical charm, waved his magic wand, and turned the malt and hops into a spellbinding ale for Halloween. This wicked beer will cast its spell on you. “ Hmm. Another special from the Faversham brewery on the shelves or my local Lidl for just 99p. At 3.8% A.B.V it’s the right strength - and price for a party. Nothing special about the flavour - it didn’t excite but certainly didn’t offend either November 2016

What they say: A glorious showcase of the distinct, heavily hopped beers for which Shepherd Neame is famed, India Pale Ale delivers potent bitterness, offset with generous amounts of pale ale malt to deliver a balanced, yet uncompromising brew. A big thanks to Alison at Twittercamp for giving my the chance to sample this again.  A proper strong IPA but as you can see from the label it’s powerful stuff. Nice but go easy and you wont be disappointed – well I wasn't anyway!