Thermal Cheer (Purbeck Brewery)

Pops open with little fuss, light carbonation gives a delicate foam head whilst pouring. It's a deep chestnut brown with hints of ruby.

The nose is of brown sugar and dark caramel, with a hint of zingy freshness in the background. The malt is warming, rich and almost Belgian in its complexity. The middle has some rich fruitcake and spicy notes, none of the trademark charcoal of the brewery's yeast. It finishes with gentle linger of bittering, no bit stamp, and distinctive peppery notes.

A solid beer where the malt is allowed to take centre stage away from any giant hop explosion. One to try if you like your beers malty and nourishing.

8/10 A spicy rich winter warmer
Thanks to Purbeck Brewery for providing, if your in Dorset I heartly recommend you pay a vist to their fantastic Banks Arms Pub

You can catch their 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.

Gem (Bath Ales)

It pops open and pours the most beautiful deep Amber, rich and enticing. The sexiest looking ale I've seen in a while. The nose is full of toffee, sweet candy and the merest hint fresh grass.

The initial taste is a smooth flood of caramel, not overly sweet but rich and complex. It flows into crisp biscuit crunch, mingled with a noticeable nudge of hop bittering. It has a superb lingering finish of smooth caramel and biscuit that stays on the tongue for what seems like minutes.

I'm not convinced its a session ale, and it's clearly one for those who like their beers rich and malty, but it has an amazing sip and savour quality to it that is more commonly seen in Belgian beers, and rarely in Best Bitters.

It's a best in class "Premium Amber Ale" but then it is the first I've tried! But as malt ales go, this is easily up there with the best of them, if not at the top.

8/10 A beer for anti-hopheads. Rich, smooth and full of caramel, one to try.

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

Trappistes Rochefort 10

I know nothing about Belgian beers. The very helpful man in the fantastic Bitter Virtue in Southampton spoke with such passion that this was "the best Belgian beer" I felt compelled to believe him.

It snaps open with a big fizz, pours with good carbonation, revealing a rich dark porter almost black beer. The aroma is to die for, rich and deep, full of brown sugars, molasses and burnt caramel. But hidden within there is a light freshness, lifting out some beautiful grassy and floral aromas.

Words struggle to explain the intensity of the first sip, at 11%Abv it's clearly a big beer, but it has such intensity. It's like a double concentrated ESB, boiled down until its a sauce sweet and rich enough to be poured on a pudding. Melted dark muscavado sugar dominates the initial taste, but there are no roasty or chocolate stout notes despite the dark colour. The finish provides a gentle hop bittering, bringing a delicate freshness to the finish.

8/10 A beer richer than a billionaire. If you like your beers sweet, rich and strong this will rock your world.

Gorge Best (Cheddar Ales)

Provided as a gift by @beerbunkerpaul this is not one I would have picked out, my experience of best bitters in bottles is they are always well short of their cask equivalents. But with an open mind...

It opens with a whisper, the perfect beer for cracking open in silent cinemas and during church services. The faint fizz is clearly an attempt to recreate the cask style, giving a faint grassy and sulphurous nose before removing all trace of the head.

The malt is light with no deep roasted notes, just a snap of biscuit and a long lingering sweetness. The hops a very noticeably zesty, lemon and lime jumping out with the assertion of bitterness.

It's a lovely balanced beer, designed for long sessions, but feels rather out of place in a bottle.

6/10 Better than most commercial competitors but lacking enough punch to stand out in a bottle.

Delirium Nocturnum (Brouwerij Huyghe)

I was a big fan of Delirium Tremens, and I do like a dark beer, so surely this one adds up?

Pours a rusty deep brown, with a big whiff of earth and iron. A thin webby head soon dissipates to nought. The nose is peppers, bananas, figs, all a bit bonkers just like it's lighter sister beer.

The initial taste for me is a little gruesome, its all the fun of the fair when perhaps you just want to visit the coconut shy. Chewy, with slight chocolate rumours - it's like Billy Smarts madcap picnic hamper viewed through a black stocking of treacle, a mildly cloying aftertaste that lingers but not unpleasantly.

It's 8.5%abv, creamy with it and with each sup it grew on me more. If you can surmount the carnival of zany tastes it evolves into a dark fruity cracker. Wisps of herbs and pepper dance down the glass to the end.

So, idiosyncratic beer again from Brouwerj Hughe, but it all adds up to a fine and formidable strong ale experience for the adventurous.

8/10 - A circus ring of fruity barminess, rich bold fun dark ale.

- The Broadside

Bunker Summit No. 5

Yesterday saw the fifth Bunker Summit, with a varied range of twelve ales up for review.

In case you don't know the format, it's a relaxed series of blind tastings as all four attendees brought three different beers to be supped and rated. In addition to myself and Ed, also present was Summit regular Glenn and birthday-debutant Colin.

A particular feature of these conferences is the food, and once again Commander Ed excelled himself, with a Bunker-themed steak pie with amazing rich gravy.

So, on to the beers - this is what we had, and this is what the average mean scores were before the bottles were revealed.

1. Snake Dog IPA (Flying Dog) 7.1%

Beautiful big piney hoppy IPA, walloping start to the session and yellow card shown to contributor for unleashing rampaging early ABV. 7/10

2. Bengal Lancer (Fuller's) 5.3%

Malty body with good length and marked hop signature. Was referred to as "Bengali Lancer" for the rest of the evening as it seemed to fit. 6/10

3. Hacker-Pschorr (Oktoberfest-Marzen) 5.8%

Most were convinced that this was a honey beer, like Slater's Queen Bee. Quite long and mulchy in the note. Distinctive German lager, but not all that pleasant. 5/10

4. Whitstable Bay (Shepherd Neame) 4.5%

Immediately recognisable as an SN beer from the nose, the body of this beer was surprisingly tasty and refined. Tangy and sweet initial notes segue into a pronounced but agreeable bitter finish. Evening's joint bronze medal winner. 7/10

5. Russian Winter Stour (Itchen Valley) 5.3%

Lovely creamy stout, although not particularly Russian in character. Delicious chocolate notes swim with coffee and the sup has a silky character. Solid 7's across the board. 7/10

6. Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Yorkshire Bitter (Black Sheep) 5%

Poorly received, large demerara mouthful, grouchy and dirty long taste. Probably a cheese-accompanier where a distinctive profile needs to stand up in accompaniment, but not for us. 3/10

7. 1845 (Fuller's) 6.3%

Wow, fruity nutmeggy strong ale, swirls of fruitcake and complex, dry finish. Joint bronze medal winner on the night. 7/10

8. Cornish Mutiny (Wooden Hand) 4.8%

This one polarised the judging panel, receiving marks as diverse as 2 and 7. A deep amber beer, quite biscuity and with a marmite-esque fruit-bitter finish. Average score - 4/10

9. Human Cannonball (Magic Rock) 9.2%

Leviathan IPA, lethal alcohol and the evening's gold medal winner. Massive pine hop nose, and marmalade bitter length. More resiny than a soaking furniture warehouse set deep within a Nordic forest. Appreciated in the blind taste, although it was noted that it probably could make you blind. 8/10

10. Pale Ale (Meantime) 5.4%

Back to sanity, and a capable standard pale ale from Meantime. Nice blend of Goldings and Cascade hops give this an agreeable session pint profile. Tasty. 6/10

11. Kofi Annan's Christmas Peace Stout (Bunker Homebrew) - 5.2ish%

At this point in the evening Ed slipped in his first stab at a home brewed stout, and it was a corker. Rich wealth of coffee and chocolate notes, swimming blackly together in a pitchy harmony. Very good stout, and the evening's silver medal winner. 8/10

12. Champion Ale (McEwans) 7.3%

A sweet and strong ale to finish up with. Big barley and malt notes, but possibly too alcoholic for it's own good. Solid 7 though 7/10

- The Broadside

Brewers Reserve No3 (Fullers)

Packaged like a gift for visiting King, assured, and classy it screams a beer to savoured. Pours rich like a port stained mahogany writing desk. The fizz is energetic but works to force the pourer to take time allow the beer to come to life.

The nose is like rum soaked raisins, pinches of ripe fruit cake, vanilla, and a rather mellow oakiness. The opening malt is swamped by big fruity notes like rich Christmas pudding, smoothly sliding to rich boozey middle with enough Abv to warm beyond the need for a coat. The finish is not so much bitter as thin sharp alcohol like a watered whiskey.

9/10 A truly special beer, rich, warming and extravagant in flavour.

Prima Pils (Victory)

I've heard this is probably the best example of an American Pilsner out there.

Very lightly carbonated on the pour, no big foamy head, just thin dusting of snow white foam.

The smooth sweet malt is swamped with creamy mouthfeel, but lingering for the mearest nano second before hit by a freight train of hops. There is enough hop bittering to keep pace with even the most modern of IPAs, with more nobility than even the biggest royal wedding.

I'm told it's hoppy like a Pilsner should be, but in my limited experience of the style it seems to be pushing the boundaries of bittering. But let's be clear, that's not a bad thing, being "out of balance" can be fantastic.

8/10 A strikingly hoppy Pilsner.


Try it for yourself at Mybrewerytap

Indian Beer: London Pilsner

Due to unforsen circumstances I have been obliged to station myself in India for a few weeks, so what better use of the time than reviewing local beers?

The label doesnt promote confidence, like some badly design cheap souvenir it conjures up memories of an episode of Friends I'd rather forget.

Cracks open with the usual fare, the head disappears as quickly as smoke after a magicians arrival leaving it looking like Chardonnay. The nose, well at best "sulphurous" but more accurately it smells of farts.

The malt arrives like a stealth bomber on radar, leaving behind a faint carpet bombing of fizz on the tongue. I believe this beer to be single hopped, by that I mean I think they use a single hop flower in each hectolitre, no more for fear of bittering.

1/10 It makes Carling seem exotic, I can only assume it's a German black ops campaign against English brewing*

*brewed Bombay, this beer is as English as Jonathan Trott.

Monsieur Rock (Sharps)

Brewed with Jean Marie Rock of Oval, this Anglo-Belgian collaboration tries to combine the best of both brewing worlds with extended lagering.

It bursts from bottle with perfect BC fizz. The Saaz hops run riot with senses, filling the air with fresh herbal, grassy almost peppery aroma. There are glimpses that transport you back to you earliest days of lager drinking when it was an innocent thing if wonder.

The malt is smoother than a floating Rolls Royce and it exudes a creamy depth that coats the mouth. They seemed to have bottled the brewers holy grail of "mouthfeel". It's sweet and bitter in perfect harmony, the hops don't stamp authority, just arrive with a welcome handshake and begin mingling with the malt.

The genius of this beer is it's simplicity. On one level this could be passed to even the most hardened commercial lager drinker where it would be consumed with pleasure. On another level it can be sipped and pondered, enjoying every note in perfect harmony - like listening to Dark Side of the Moon, in the dark, on headphones, on a bean bag. Try it!

9/10 Wondrous, if only all beer was so perfectly balanced. The most quaffable beer I've had all year. I need another!

Read more about the collaboration and head brewer Stuart Howe here
Or buy Sharps beers here