London Porter Christmas Pudding

Its the time of year when I start to get excited by Christmas, part of the ritual is the making of the homemade Christmas pudding. They really are worlds apart from the dry horribe things you pay a fortune for in supermarket.

The couldn't be any easier to make, and really are suited to an extra special beer inside them. Personally I think Porter or stout is perfect, and I'm hoping the complex flavours of Fullers London Porter will really shine through.

Here is my recipe adapted from Delia's old classic (I've used it the last 3 years and its great!)

London Porter Christmas Pudding
Makes 2 large 2 Pint puddings
225g Shredded Suet (in the baking isle)
110g Self raising Flour
450g Soft Brown Sugar
225g Breadcrumbs
1 heaped teaspoon of Cinnamon and another of Nutmeg
1kg Mixed Currants, Raisins and Sultanas
50g Mixed Candied Peel
75g Almonds
One apple peeled and chopped
4 Eggs (free range please)
A measure of Rum, and another of Whiskey
1 bottle of Fullers London Porter (400ml ish) (or your favorite dark beer)

Mix the all the dry ingredients together well. Beat the eggs and add the beer (holding back 100ml to add if required), then mix with the dry ingredients stiring well. It should be a good dropping consistency that it falls of the spoon with a firm tap. Add a touch more flour or liquid to get this right, its not a precise science.

Leave covered over night for the flavours to blend. Grease your 2 pudding bowls, then fill to the top with the mixture, cut a sheet of greaseproof paper to fit the top, put a clean cloth or cut pillow case on the top and tie tightly around the rim.

Steam over boiling water in a pan for 4 hours, careful not to boil dry. Leave to stand and keep in a cool place until Christmas.

Heat on the day by steaming over boiling water once again for 2 hours.

Enjoy! With good company and lashings of brandy.

OTT (Hogs Back) 6%Abv

Its described as a "Strong Dark Old Ale" so plenty of expectations on opening.

As dark as the darkest of porters, only glimmers of light escape its grasp. A fantastic smell is unleashed on pouring, rich blackberries and dark fruit, hints of chocolate and noticeable hops.

Rich fruity tastes at the start, filling mouth like an indulgence of blackberries and black currants. Following that is the sweetness of the malt, not too sharp or tangy with all that fruit. The finish is really quite bitter, not like dark chocolate, more like the burnt edge of a Christmas cake. Fruity, bitter and charcoal in one.

7/10 A lovey winter warmer, a dark porter style ale with rich fruit.

Fossil Fuel (Purbeck)

It pours a deep clear gold. Wonderful aroma, fresh grass, sweet floral smells, noticably hoppy.

Fresh sweet initial taste, no big malty dryness, more like gentle honey. The middle is the trade mark Purbeck middle smokiness, a lovely yeasty crunch of charcoal and also hints of biscuit.

A crisp bitterness follows, noticeably well hopped with gentle citrus protruding. The finish is beautifuly diverse with a wealth of gentle hop flavours.

7/10 A lovely golden ale, well hopped with a noticably crisp finish. One for summer days or thirsty folk.

A big thanks to the Isle of Purbeck Brewery for providing these beers for review.

Imperial Russian Stout (Dark Star)

A+ for image. "Imperial Russian Stout" conjures up pre-revolutionary Soviet glory. The bottle is black labelled and the insides might as well be a bottle-shaped infill of coal.

It pours unfussily. The toffee coloured head doesn't hang about, but a filmy froth does, to my eye making fleeting maps of satellite countries yet to be conquered. Coffee, caramel and currants waft on the nose, superpower smells.

First taste is a colossal barrage of dark malt, warming alcohol, cane-sugar and chocolate. The alcohol (10.5%abv) loiters around the tongue almost like a spirit, especially on the following intake of breath. I picked out a slight vanilla note in this heady concerto.

The finish is a powerful thing of wonder. The bitterness does what it ought to in a strong stout, level out the malty sweetness and no more. This is a treasure of a beer, a black gift of stout demolition. If Father Christmas were to be left this instead of mince pies, he would do his round in double quick time and you'd get some damn interesting presents.

Sublime.

9/10 - Do not let your winter pass without this. Potent and smoky - the essence of leather chairs and fight-to-the-death chess games.

- The Broadside

Southwold Dark Ale (Marks and Spencer)

More famously known as Tally Ho, this is brewed for M&S by Adnams.

Pours a ruby brown, the aromas unleashed are certainly unique, fruit but more precisely kiwi and grapes spring out as the mind grapples the tastebuds.

The palate leaps into action with rich fruit, dense plummy flavours take control then giveway to a sweet malt, like sweet muscovado sugar mixed with treacle.

More fruit in the finish, a sharper more tangy, again grapey finish, no noticeable hints of hop bittering.

It was suggested to me to try it with vintage cheddar by this man. I have to say it was tremendous, the cheese takes away the tangy edge of the beer and they compliment each other perfectly.

7/10 Inspired with cheese, drink it instead of port this christmas.

Advent Ale (Hogs Back) 4.4%Abv

Pours like a dark bitter, glimmers of tawny peep through. Smells of dark chocolate and lightly burnt sugar.

Initial roasted malt, rich dark flavours follow with a wealth of coffee, molasses and liquorice.

Smooth fruit in the finish, blackberries and blueberries. Limited hop taste, a dry dark chocolate lingers.

6/10 A charming festive beer, one for a cold dark eve.

London Stout (Meantime)

Late Sunday afternoon and time for something stout.

Meantime of London have a good reputation for interesting brewing, with coffee and chocolate ales and some organic products on general sale.

Their standard London Stout pours very dark brown, as close as brown gets to black, and is impenetrable to light. The head is a wispy and a pleasing smoky chocolate rises to the nose.

First impression is a very drinkable session stout. On the whole stout drinkers tend to be a looking for a nice bit of munch on their pint but this is actually rather thin. Some might say watery, but a nice bunch of chocolate, roast and smoke tastes rise on the tongue, which seem to suit the consistency well.

Dark fruits continue through the sip and a woody, smoked hint of bitterness finishes it very neatly.

Compared to some of the wilder power-strength stouts out there, this may seem a trifle dull, but at 4.5%abv this is that rare thing, a very drinkable session stout. For those who like their ale dark, this is a fine precursor to an evening and certainly knocks the likes of bottled Guinness into a cocked black hat.

7/10 - A gentle, smoky session stout, capable and clean.

- The Broadside

Taylor's Tipple (Hambleton Ales)

This has been in the vault for a while at Station Two, so time to give it a crack. Rumours have reached the Bunker shortwave radio that Hambleton Ales have won a few awards in their time, so I was curious to see how this beer stood up.

The label oozes class, in a wine-bottle style. No big cartoon motifs, no zany font, just silvered trim, a lithographed race horse and autumnal plated colours. The text explains that the drink is a tribute to grocer Thomas Taylor, who in 1857 used six tonnes of lime to score a giant horse on to Hambleton Hills.

It pours a proper beery red-brown, deep ambered fudge with a benevolent fluffy head.

The smell of it is remarkable - caramel is very marked, and sweet malts and butter-toffee framing the experience. I rarely salivate just on the smell of a beer but this one got me.

The taste isn't nearly as sweet. Some malty sugar and berry flavours pipe fleetingly up in the pre-taste, but firm strides of tea, earth and a burnt 'something' channel through almost immediately.

Then, curiously for an ale, there seems to me to be a resurgence of sweetness at the death of the taste, albeit hand in hand with a lengthy bitter finish. Sounds illogical but there we are.

It's creamier than cream, and the bitterness closes off like a valve in time to invite the next sip. At 4.5%abv this is an eminently drinkable fine-class product, and one I'd return to especially in the cold months.

8/10 - Well mixed and pleasantly chewy winter beer. Good for later in the evening when the hour invites complex, rewarding flavours.

- The Broadside

Town Crier (Hobson's)

Here at the Bunker, we're acknowledged fans of Hobson's, a couple of their ales making a good showing at recent summits. They recently won the SIBA Best Business Award.

The Old Henry and Postman's knock are sturdy dark affairs, and this is the first lighter beer I've tried from the Shropshire brewery, at 4.5%abv. The cap pops off with a gentle gasp and the drink pours a beautiful pale straw gold. The head is a light muslin wisp.

The nose is clean and unassertive, shimmering with gentle lilting hops and citrus fruit.

First taste unveils a fraction of sweetness, soon mowed over by light but persistent bitterness. Throughout a sort of semi-grapefruit taste endures (though nowhere near the likes of Punk IPA in prominence), again not unpleasant, and the whole effect is of gently drinkable beer. The beer finishes rather dryly, and I imagine this would go down very well with a hearty roast or similar dish.

Again, it's a decent product. It's not quite the wonderment in a bottle of Henry or Postman's, but neither is it a poor cousin. This is decent beer from a fine brewer.

7/10 - Gentle, cohesive and thoughtfully blended, Town Crier is elegant beer from an accomplished ale house.

- The Broadside

Studland Bay Wrecked (Purbeck)

Pours deep amber, gives off a powerful toffee nose, a sweet smelling delight.

Full on malty tastes from the start, sweetness balanced with a spark of initial bittering, and a flash of dryness. The limited carbonation in this gives it the smoothness of a draught pint.

The middle has a wonderful gentle smokiness (I think this is a personal characteristic of their yeast). A perfectly balanced gentle bitter finish, a wonderful creamy toffee taste coats the mouth and begins begging the hand for another sip.

8/10 Delightful, like smooth draught ale in a bottle, toffee, malt, and critically balance.

Thanks Isle of Purbeck Brewery

A big thanks to the Isle of Purbeck Brewery for providing these beers for review. Kindly dropped off at the bunker by the owners.

Seeing this beers in their bottled form is rare as the are tough to get hold of, but they are working with some of the online retailers to get their beers out to the masses.

You can catch there beers around the country as guests, and at the stunning The Banks Arms pub, their summer Beer festival is legendary, worthy of planning your holiday around.

Yorkshire Christmas Ale (M&S)

A special brew created just for Marks and Spencer's by the Cropton Brewery.

It starts with an explosion of bold aromas, ripe cherry, clementines and powerful blackcurrant. The beer itself is on the ruby side of brown.

Big fruity malt to start with tangy notes, quickly flooded with ripe forest fruits. The middle lost as the edges of the mouth try to get to grips with the powerful fruit start. The finish is a long lingering aniseed, I would love to say I could spot other subtle spices there (the bottle lists nutmeg) but I am struggling.

This could almost be served warm in place of mulled wine, it feels like its almost half made of mulled wine.

4/10 A bold beer, trying to be different, sadly ends up like a beery spiced cocktail.

Old Growler (Nethergate)

It's certainly porter weather on the south coast. The balmy russet days of October are behind us now, and as The Broadside writes this the wind curls like a banshee around the trees outside Bunker Station Two.

Old Growler, randomly selected from many porters in the stocks, lurks in a no-nonsense bottle. A bulldog glares intently out, guarding the pitchy contents within. The beer proclaims itself a "supreme champion", although of what isn't so clear.

It pours black with a haze of ruby about the trim. Dark fruits, cherry and malts waft on the nose, and there is a slightly chalky background.

The carbonisation is prickly but not overdone. The beer is thin on the tongue, and laden with plenty of chocolate and old-school porter tastes. It conjures up pool-halls, in a pleasant way, although it's perhaps slightly too watery to claim to be a proper winter porter, almost (whisper it) lager like in constituency.

That said, the taste is flavoursome and easy. Toffee, earth and some adequate bitterness hallmarks the pint, but it's all blended in a fairly subtle manner and the focus is on approachable drinkability. The 5.5%abv carries the flavours adequately, and is pleasingly sturdy.

This is traditional stuff, and a credit to the Nethergate brewery. It goes down for me as a good pint, and certainly not one to avoid if on offer - don't be scared by the label.

6/10 - Pack your snooker cue and head out for an evening at the hall. This beer will keep you good company as you hustle. A subtle, tasty porter.

- The Broadside

IPA (Full Sail)

This is an American "English Style" IPA, hopped with Challenger and East Kent Goldings hops, can't get more English than that can you?

No big citrus in the aroma, just hints of ripe satsumas, no big dry hop smell.

Sweet malt with a dry bitterness to balance. The middle is limited, gentle sweet citrus that lingers to the end, involving with the hops. The finish is a blunt hammer of dry bitterness, less blended distinct flavours, more like a slap to the tounge.

6/10 A US IPA in all but the hops, which sadly lack depth and diversity.

Southwold Winter Beer (M&S)

Brewed at Adnams by Fergus Fitzgerald, a man who knows his stuff.

Its somewhere between a light porter and a dark bitter in colour, ruby turning dark. It smells of choclate and light brown sugar.

Initialy malty but with a gentle mellow caramel smoothness. No big fruit middle or powerful spices. Tiny bitterness in the finish but mainly leaves a lingering sweetness and gentle dryness.

Reminded me of the Bath Barnstormer, but slightly thiner.

7/10 A warming christmas beer for those who don't like to stretch to a porter or stout.

Old Crafty Hen (Greene King)

Only a modest fizz is unleashed when poured from the bottle, enough to form a light creamy head and a nose of oranges and malt.

Rich, indulging sweet malt is first to the palate, very little in the way of bitterness. What follows is an aged taste that gets more fruity as it progresses, leaving a tart, sharp sweetness, like marmalade. The hopping is limited, with a slight lingering dryness, clearly an understudy to the rich malt.

6/10 Plenty of rich maltiness on show, but lacks the depth and balance to be a real classic. ESB and Youngs Special both do it better.

Tribute (St Austell) 4.2% Abv

Snow white foamy head, pours crystal clear caramel. The hops are beautifully sweet smelling, very similar to an American style.

The malt is gentle not brash, its followed by a huge caramel sweetness, a smooth and creamy middle. No big chunky middle of fruit or yeast. The finish is still sweet but turning more citrus, flavours of sweet oranges coming through instead of big hops or bitterness. One criticism would be the fizz/head which disappears very quickly after pouring, a Bottle Conditioned version would be something to saviour.

8/10 Gorgeously drinkable, a smooth, sweet caramel, premium ale.

Thanks Wadworth!

Wadworth have kindly sent through six beers for review.

A long time fan of 6X since my early public house days, this brewery is quite close to my heart - and in the Goat and Tricycle, close to the Bunker!

They have consistently produced a wide variety of very interesting ales and have never been afraid to experiment, as our review of their Swordfish (under M&S Wiltshire Rum Beer) shows.

Wadworth are based in Devizes, Wiltshire, and their beers can be found in most good UK supermarket chains, and directly from their online shop.

Gonzo Imperial Porter (Flying Dog)

This is a powerful pocket porter, 8.7%abv. US brewers Flying Dog say it's a "turbo charged version of Road Dog Porter", which I assume is their standard offering.

It pours with a lively coffee coloured head, and the same coffee laced with liquorice wafts headily on the nose. Properly black, the brewery claims this uses a double porter recipe and will "bite you in the ass if you don't show it proper respect". As if to underline the point an expressionistic Hunter S. Thompson self portrait stares hollow-eyed from the label.

The malts used are black, crystal and chocolate. First taste is a detonation of flavour with sweet malt, chocolate and coffee atomising on the tongue. It's heady and smoky, and in truth nearly a little too much.

The sweetness is more than offset by a big ass-kick of piney hops that leaves a long, ranging bitter aftertaste. I think this beer would best be served with a rich chocolate dessert at the sort of meal that ex-colonial colonels with impending gout might enjoy.

Further sips reveal a dusting of pepper and I'm finding appreciation acquires as the drink goes down. Its heady, rich and absolutely committed to it's aim, the antithesis of a dull beer.

I don't know much about Flying Dog, but I bet the Brewdog boys enjoy this. It's a complex, tumultuous beer, and a transatlantic bedfellow to their radical offerings.

8/10 - Overwhelming and virile, an impressive cauldron of flavours.

- The Broadside

Holy Grail Ale (Black Sheep)

The nose is gentle citrus with a floral aroma, perhaps shrubs? It pours a clear gold, like a shining beacon of ale.

The taste is initial caramel, quite sweet, no big malt flavours. This is soon matched by a rather robust bitterness. A lingering gentle dryness stays on the tongue. Rather thin at points and lacks any big flavours of note, but does provide nice balance.

6/10 Very drinkable. Not too sweet, not to bitter, lighter than a duck.

Buy the beers from their online shop

Wiltshire Rum Beer (M&S)

This is a relabeled version of the Wadworth's seasonal Swordfish. Its the famous Wadworth 6X blended with Pussers Rum.

It pours exceptionally bright and clear, a glistening golden amber. The smell is malty but in place of fresh grassy hops we have a lovely subtle boozey rum smell.

The taste is big and malty, toffee sweetness with dry bitterness. The middle provides the biggest biscuity crunch i've ever had in a beer, its a famous characteristic of the Wadworth Yeast. The finish is where this beer is really different, in place of hops and bitterness we are left with a smooth Rum taste. Its very similar to the gentle finish of a Rum Coffee or the way whiskey does the job in an Irish coffee.

8/10 A malty biscuit of an ale with a warming rum finish, perfect for winter.

Thanks Marks & Spencer!

A big thanks to Marks and Spencer for providing samples of their new winter seasonals range!

Some very exciting sounding beers in here, some instantly recognisable as famous brews relabelled, others less obvious.

Perhaps you can help me fill in the blanks? And i'll update the post.

- Wiltshire Rum Beer (Wadsworth) 5% - Their seasonal Swordfish, its 6X with Prussards Rum
- Southwold Winter Beer (Adnams) 4% - ?
- Southwold Dark Ale (Adnams) 7.2% - I am guessing its Tally Ho due to the small bottle.
- Cheshire Brown Ale (Robinsons) 4.7% - ?
- Yorkshire Winter Ale (Cropton Brewery) 6.2% - ?
- Ginger Ale Stockport (Robinsons) 6% - The seasonal Ginger version of Old Tom
- Pilsner (Arcobrau) 4% - German pilsner

Looking forward to reviewing them.

Old Tom (Robinson's) - 8.5%abv

Old Tom is sold in a lovely little bottle, dark and chunky. It has embossed glass lettering in the industrial-era style, and a small picture of a cat, winking cheekily as he invites you to your downfall.

For this is strong ale, not just your 5/6 percent sturdy pint, but a whopping 8.5%, a beer to hearten the soul before a day at the factory. That said, it's from Stockport , and the brewery appear to be extremely proud of this Victor Ubogu of an ale. "World's Best Ale 2009" says the label. This is some feat, as the brewery has been going since 1899, and the beer itself sold for almost as long.

Old Tom is sold in chocolate and ginger variants, but the bottle I have is of the standard ordnance type. It pours very dark indeed, somewhere between ash and bitumen in colour, and if it were served to me as a pale porter, I'd not disagree. The nose is mostly soft chocolate malt, but with a mere hint of banana and edged with peril.

The taste is sweetly, thickly malty but an immediate second channel of aniseed hops opens up to counter this. The unbroken rodeo-bull of the alcohol has a sturdy back, and carries these combative tastes with ease, allowing them to dance but never obliterate each other. The malty brass and hoppy woodwind notes are joined by picaresque strings of coffee and molasses, and the whole sum is a striking hybrid taste - new yet very old and refined over the years.

The final note is a sweetening port strain, seductive and moreish. The temptation and hazard within this small bottle could as easily be named Old Nick as Old Tom, such is it's infernal allure.

It's a head-kicker, have no doubt, but it's also genuinely sumptuous ale, and a prime example of how to create a potent barley wine. Fantastic.

9/10 - Near faultless. Delicious sturdy old-world flavours.

- The Broadside

Worthington's White Shield IPA (Coors) - 5.6%abv

The IPA White Shield was first made for Bass in the 1960's, and brewer Steve Wellington came out of retirement to recreate it once more. The bottle notes that White Shield "matures with age" and their site proclaims it has a "massive taste and full to bursting mouthfeel."

The bottle certainly looks the business, and for a real ale buff has the frequently used lures of an antique militaristic design and lots of text describing important things. It pours a deep ruddy copper, and the sticky head hangs about for some time.

The nose is rather smoky, with a big sign saying "here be hops", in the manner expected of a good IPA. The taste is somewhat of a battering ram. Fleeting biscuit malt is swiftly overpowered by a stormtroop of hops, with shades of bitter orange - although I fail to pick out the "faintest whiff of exotic cheese" mentioned by the brewery (eew).

It's assertive enough but not in a way I find all that pleasant. The various flavours jangle around like large primary coloured bits of furniture in a room in which you expected to find a bold unified design, and it's a little too much for The Broadside. I feel a little mean as all the IPA checkboxes are marked - very hoppy, complex, quite alcoholic - but the trump card, the checkbox that has a double border - taste, just doesn't get firmly marked enough.

It has a long length, a ski-jump of bittering that skates into the sour a bit too much for my tastes, although others may enjoy this aspect. If a rodeo-ride of an IPA is what you're after, do give this a try, but for me others do it better.

5/10 - An IPA with a good history, it's just too discordant on the palate to find a permanent home in my cupboards.

- The Broadside

Yorkshire Square Ale (Black Sheep) 5% Abv

Its a copper brown ale. The nose is malty with hints of toffee and sugar.

The opening taste is like of powerful but very smooth malt, this leads into more sweeter flavours of honey and maybe a touch of maple syrup. There is a subtle but definite yeasty bite to the middle. The finish is not of powerful hops but lingering dry bitterness and a delicate ripe fruitiness.

I know the brewery are very proud of their heritage and the Yorkshire Square Fermentation system, a traditional method dating back 200 years, using double stacked stone vessels. It's believed to give the beer a smoother taste and more pronounced bitterness, both of which i can happily say are present in this beer.

6/10 A respectable score, a good beer, if you like your beers malty smooth and dry I would encourage you to try this.

Thanks Black Sheep Brewery!

Big thanks to the Black Sheep Brewery for sending these beers through to review.

The Best Bitter has been a real treat everytime i've had it on draught, but these are all new to me. Looking forward to reviewing.

I've heard the brewery runs excellent tours.

Buy the beers from their online shop

Triple (Brakspear) 7.2% Abv

A deep copper beer, the aroma is nutty and of brown sugar.

The initial taste is like a hammerblow of malt and powerful fruity flavours. The rich fruit flavour just keeps building, plum and blueberrys definately hidden within.

The finish is lingering, but not of bitterness, or of any real noticable hopping, despite the fact this beer is supposedly "triple hopped". Instead the fruit lingers on long into the finish, becoming increasingly sharp, finishing with an almost sherry taste as the abv powers home.

7/10 Like a boozey fruit pudding, could be fantastic with cheese inplace of Port.

Double Drop (Flack Manor) - 3.7%abv

Flack Manor is a new enterprise, erected near the site of the Hampshire Brewery, which closed in 2008. It's run by Nigel Welsh, an ex-director of Ringwood Brewery . Here at this site we're big fans of Ringwood's ales so have been keen to try this beer.

From what I can tell, they're only brewing this particular bottled beer at the moment, so this bottle carries with it a fledgling reputation of the brand.

I'm a little nervous at the strength of this, a mere 3.7%. Almost without exception I've found that very decent session bitters from the cask just don't live well in a bottle at the lighter end of the alcohol spectrum, Ringwood's Best being a prime example. That beautifully honed malty beer served in my beloved Porterhouse in Westbourne transfers to an overly bitter rough beast on the shelf, although Bunker colleague Ed has a higher opinion.

Double Drop is named after it's brewing process, a near forgotten method of dropping wort into a fermenting "round" and then dropping it again into a fermenting vessel, which leaves behind dead yeast and other debris, not cleaned up in other methods.

The drink pours clear and a deep amber with a filmy thin disc of white head. Maris Otter barley malt and slight hints of toffee carry on the nose.

First taste and I'm very pleasantly surprised. This drinks extremely smoothly, and there's no hint of roughness. A mildly sweet initial note becomes a quenching and citrus-fruity middle with a lick of bitterness in the tail. Flack Manor have scored a direct strike on the label description, which describes the beer as "quaffable".

This is a very refreshing and light pint. It of course has none of the hidden depths of some of the more sturdy leviathans on these pages, but if taken as what it is, it's one to be relished.

This isn't a complex drink, nor was it intended to be; the experience is a short pleasant journey of sweet>citrus>light bitter>full stop with an immediate invitation to sup again. At this strength, this is a beer that could merrily last all afternoon without too many impacts to a drinker's co-ordination.

For me, Flack Manor have practically invented the first decent sub-4% bottled ale, and the level of taste I'd hoped for from bottled Ringwood Best.

7/10 - I'll be watching this brewery with interest.

- The Broadside