Southwold Winter IPA (Marks & Spencer) 6.7%Abv

Pours crystal clear and beautifully golden, the aroma is delightful, a bountiful mix of grapefruit, citrus zest, and spicy hops. Its brewed by Adnams (usually under the title of Innovation) using a heady mix of US Columbus, UK Goldings, and European Boadicea hops.

The first taste is sweet and quite malty, this quickly gives way to a big punch of wheat malt flavours, clearly present and adding a different freshness. Bold bitterness follows through with a diverse depth of tone and sharpness. The finish is very spicy, with some lovely black pepper notes poking through to combine with the lingering wheat malt twang.

Not sure where to place this one, somewhere between a Duvel and Summer Lighting.

7/10 Very original, a strangely continental IPA, one to try if you like wheat beers and IPA’s.
Apologies for the picture, you reviewer was so busy "reviewing" he forgot to take a picture until it was nearly all drunk!

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.

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.

Bunker Summit no. 2

Bunker Summit Two was again a fine event. As well as myself and Ed, Glenn was on hand to voice his tasting judgements in a blind tasting session. We all bought four ales to try.

Home cooked food was once more provided by the master skills of Commandant Ed. This time a legendary Fuller's Porter steak and ale stew (Recipe here!) with garden vegetables provided the perfect interim energy boost.

The evening kicked off with an auspicious curtain raiser - a review session of Brewdog's AB:04, which isn't released until later this week, but was kindly sent to us for pre-launch review. You can read the full review on this site.

We then moved on to the main tasting event. The scores we gave were completely blind and are averaged below - we had no idea what the product was until the reveal.

Bright (Otter) 4.3%ABV - Summery blond with a tiny ping of spice, a bit uninteresting. (4)

Old Henry (Hobson's) 5.2% - Fireside amber, complex and peachy (7)

First Gold (Hopcloser) 4.6% - Ed's homebrew! (Full details of how that was made here) Rated very highly, sweet and tasty in the US style (7)

Banks's Bitter (Marstons) 3.8% - Short and malty, no finish, a bit budget (4)

Entire Stout (Hopback) 4.5% - Creamy but light stout. Refreshing for a black drink (6)

American IPA (Adnams) 6.8% - Very nice (Ed loves it) extremely citrussy, some tea and depth. Took the evening's Bronze Medal (8)

Organic Old Ruby Ale (Dutchy Originals) 5% - Inoffensive, probably nice with lamb (6)

Humpty's Fuddle (Kingstone) 5.8% - Floral and malty, not much hop for an IPA (7)

ESB (Fuller's) 5.9% - Delicious and the evening's Silver Medal Drink. Perfect balance (8)

Betty Stogs (Skinners) 4% - A bit unbalanced but some nice flavours (7)

Ipswich Pale Ale (St Judes) 4% - Bloody awful, "sewage in a bottle". We can only hope this one was off for the brewery's sake - our first (0)

London Porter (Fullers) 5.4% - Delicious and superbly balanced, a textbook fine porter. The evening's Gold Medal Drink (9)

Poacher's Choice (Badger) 5.7% - Loads of gamey flavours but polarised opinion, a marmite-reaction drink (4)

Vienna broadcast the goodnight national anthem very shortly after this one. Much fun.

Gold Medal - Fuller's Porter
Silver - Fuller's ESB
Bronze - Adnams American Style IPA

- The Broadside

American Style IPA (Adnams)

Part of Adnams new Handcrafted Ales range, head brewer Fergus has created some world famous beer styles in the heart of Suffolk.

Its bottled conditioned so pours with a gentle rumble, the aroma is immense, the US hops deliver a powerful but delicate bouquet of grass, pine and gentle floral notes, all hidden within a fantastic sweet citrus.

The malt is far more present than in say an English IPA style, less golden, more brown sugar. With the malt comes a beautiful sweetness and deep malt flavour. What follows soon after is those fantastic US hops, I’m told they are Cascade, Willamette, Centennial, Chinook and Amarillo! Its like you can taste every one of them, a hop overload to the senses. Grass, charcoal, honey, citrus zest are all hidden within the gentle bitter finish.

Strong malt, powerful hops, and a decent 6.8% ABV are all perfectly balanced within this stunning beer.

10/10 A truly fantastic American IPA, the fact it has been brewed in the UK only makes it even more impressive. Up there with the best of the US IPAs

The mind boggles at what the rest of the range is like. Suffolk today, tomorrow the world!

Buy Adnams ales here

Gunhill (Adnams)

Smells of roasted malt, pours a lovely ruby brown.

Taste is malty, crisp, not overley sweet. Hints of chocolate and maybe oranges?! Smooth finish, not bitter.

6/10 A lovely well balanced malty bitter.

Kindly provided by Adnams, buy a selection of their beers here.

Broadside (Adnams)

On pouring its a dark and moody brown, it smells of malt and caramel.

The taste is warming, full malt taste leads to a treacle sweetness coating the mouth. The finish is tangy with an almost burnt bitterness edge.

After a cold walk on a winters day this could be a rewarding treat by a fire, but for me it lacks a balance of flavours, and the alcohol content is not hidden.

2/10 Treacly malt, lacks the rounded flavours to hide the high alcohol.

Kindly provided by Adnams, buy a selection of their beers here.

The Bitter (Adnams) Alc 4.5%

Pours with a beautiful toffee colour head, smells of hops and grassy aromas.

First taste is one of gentle dry bitter hops, quickly followed by a smooth sweet malt, finishing with a dry bitter finish.

A cracking session bitter.

7/10 A fine example of an English Bitter, malty and dry. Very drinkable.

Kindly provided by Adnams, buy a selection of their beers here.

East Green (Adnams)

Pours crystal clear gold with a head as white as pure snow. Smells of light caramel.

Initial sharp fruity flavours of grapefruit and melon, followed by a smooth creamy middle malt. Finishes with lingering citrus and grassy hints.

5/10 A light golden beer with packed with plenty of citrus.

Kindly provided by Adnams, buy a selection of their beers here.

Thanks Adnams!

A big thanks goes out to the good people of Adnams for providing these great beers to review.

Beers included are : Adnams Broadside, Bitter, Explorer, East Green, Lighthouse and Gunhill.

Can't wait to get stuck in, i think the Gunhill is the only one I've tried before!

You can buy Adnams beers here, who offer a great value 6 Bottle selection pack for those wanting to conduct reviews of their own!