Elsie Mo (Castle Rock)

Pours crystal clear pale gold, like summer sun on a window, perfect fizz.

The nose is heavily zesty, lemon and big dominating elderflower. The malt is bordering on non existent, a dash of sweetness that is quickly battered down by a snap of bitterness and a long lingering lemon.

5/10 If you like your beers zesty and with elderflower twist it's probably right up your street, sadly I live several postcodes away.

Guinness Foreign Extra (Guinness)

7.5%ABV Guinness, my my.

Inky as a school blackboard's heart and chocked forth with hazy roast and dark fruit aroma, this promises much. The taste is a pitchy swirl of coffee and bitter chocolate . It's texture is a sliding silky wonder, and although creamy, doesn't insulate the tongue against the orchestra of flavours on offer. Butterscotch and a mild pleasant ash rise and fall, and the notes are complex and mature.

The length is bitter with a fading smoke, like the final railway scene of 40's film where love doesn't win the day. Wonderful beer and surely the best in the Guinness range.

9/10 - Outstanding stout from those who should know. Smoky and authentic.

- The Broadside