Review Posts

Hogs Back A Over T

As regular readers may remember, Hogs Back have been the subject of a previous Brewery Tour-At-Home but that didn't include this particular beer – the strongest of their range. This is A Over T, a 9.0% Extra Strong Ale. The name obviously stands for Aroma Over Tongham (the village in which Hogs Back are ...

The Peat Monster

I'm not entirely certain how I feel about the idea of the Peat Monster. On the one hand, as you've probably noticed I'm quite a big fan of the peaty side of the whisky world – I drink more Islay than just about anything else. On the other, if somehow feels like more ...

J.W. Lees Moonraker

So, after last week's rather special but also rather hard to obtain beer, it seemed right to go to the other extreme. While it's hard to find any strong beer in supermarkets, a visit to my local Morrisons did turn up one candidate. This is Moonraker, which just about qualifies at 7.5% ABV. ...

Auchentoshan Three Wood

Christmas has been good to me (although arguably less good to my liver) and my tasting cupboard is overflowing. Among my overflow is a nice collection of miniatures, of which this is one. The Auchentoshan Three Wood is a Lowland whisky which as been matured in three different casks – starting life as most ...

Westerham Brewery Tour-At-Home

It's been too long since one of these, and the beer collection keeps on growing! And so to Westerham, a Kentish brewery based on a National Trust farm. First up then, is Scotney Best Bitter at 4.3%. It has a nice amber colour but quite a feeble head with large bubbles that quickly faded ...

Westvleteren 12

For the first monster beer of 2012, I thought it was important to pick something to beat Aldi's 40 year old whisky. What better, then, than the Best Beer In The World?! Yes, this is the legendary Westvleteren 12, a Trappist Quad weighing in at 10.2% ABV and coming from the Trappist Abbey of ...

Glenbridge 40 Year Old

As this is the first post of 2012, it only seems right that we have something a little special to start the year. This whisky is the same age as me, and it comes from ... Aldi. My extraordinarily lovely wife got up at some ridiculous hour (something she never voluntarily does) to stand ...

Brewdog Hardcore IPA

Back to Brewdog for this week’s Monster Beer. I’ve waxed lyrical on the brewery often enough, so straight onto the beer. This is the slightly more accessible Hardcore IPA, at 9.2% positively lightweight for a Brewdog beer. It’s rather strangely labelled as an “explicit imperial ale” on the bottle although I’m not sure quite ...

Hardknott Queboid

Hardknott are one of those breweries that have been on my radar – and my Twitter feed – for ages and yet somehow I've utterly failed to try any of their beer up to now. A recent visit to Borough Market (and therefore Utobeer) resulted in a nice haul of monsters and among them I ...

Glenfarclas 12 Year Old

A Highland single malt today, from my "I wonder where this came from" pile – everyone has piles like that, right?! I have to confess I've not really come across Glenfarclas before; I'm not sure that's any criticism of the whisky – more likely that my Islay obsession has blindfolded me to a lot ...