Review Posts

Suntory Old Whisky

Suntory produce a baffling array of whiskies, certainly far more than their English language website will admit. This is Suntory Old Whisky – a miniature I picked up when we visited the Yamazaki Distillery last year. It seems that the "Old Whisky" label has, over the years, been applied to quite a variety of different ...

Taylors Hot Lava Java

As I've mentioned before, our former work coffee club is a big fan of big coffee, so it's no surprise that this week's coffee has managed to become something of a regular. Talyors Hot Lava Java is a strength 6, "high caffeine" coffee. The grounds themselves aren't as dark as you might expect, but ...

Shepherd Neame Generation Ale 2011

I have a soft spot for Shepherd Neame; being a Kentish Man I'm fairly sure that the first beer I ever ordered by name (rather than asking for "bitter", or to be honest back in those days "cider") was Spitfire. They may not have a reputation for bleeding edge craft beers dripping with American hops ...

Batemans 2012 Vintage Ale

The term 'Vintage Ale' always makes me think of Fuller's, who have been producing their annual Vintage Ales for many years now. Batemans have recently joined the party with their 2012 Vintage Ale, a limited release that I believe only appeared in Aldi stores. It's a slightly murky, deep copper colour in the glass, ...

Porterhouse Celebration Stout

Porterhouse started life as a brewpub in Dublin back in 1996, and since then have added more bars in Ireland, and have expanded overseas with bars in London and even New York. All their beer is still brewed in Dublin, and they describe themselves as "Ireland's largest independent Irish Brewery". This is their Celebration ...

Thornbridge Hall Evenlode Brown Porter

Thornbridge are a brewery better known for their big hop beasties, but in addition to the fairly widely available beers like Jaipur and Kipling they also have their "Thornbridge Hall" range; beers with very different branding that are a little bit different. This is their Evenlode Brown Porter, which is matured on blackberries. A very ...

Brewdog Dead Pony Club

When you're pulling together a dozen interesting 'cupboard' beers, it's rather hard to resist including something from certain breweries. This is Brewdog's Dead Pony Club, continuing their habit of giving their beers even sillier names than everyone else in an industry that, let's face it, isn't great with product names to start with. It's a ...

Fuller's Golden Pride

It's taken me a long time to learn to love Fuller's beer. The pub at the top of our road is a Fuller's pub and when we first moved in nearly two decades ago, I felt it was important to check it out. Back then, they didn't have the best landlord and I ...

Tullibardine 1488 Whisky Beer

Tullibardine is actually a distillery in the Highlands, but also produces a range of ales using the same water and barley that goes into their whisky in partnership with Black Wolf Brewery. This is their 1488 Whisky Beer (it's an elderly bottle, and the beer later appears to be called 1488 Whisky Ale - ...

Maui La Perouse White

Maui Brewing Co are one of those American breweries that seem to show up in a lot of craft beer places in the UK – often, as in this case, in can form. This is their La Perouse White, a Belgian-style wheat beer. It certainly looks the part, a pale straw colour with ...