Viru (Tartu)

Here's an odd little beer.

Viru is an Estonian pale lager. On the pour it generates a thin fleeting head with wisps of corn on the nose.

The mouthfeel is equally thin,  and the sup veers to overly sweet malt. Negligible bitterness and an overly watery length.

Really cool octahedral bottle though, I believe based on ancient Estonian architecture. It's really the only standout feature of a rather unmemorable 5% abv beer.

4/10 - Anonymous body underneath glamourous clothing.

- The Broadside

Henry's IPA (Wadworth)

Here's the lowish strength standard IPA offering from Wadworth, HQ brewery of favourite Bunker Station 2 local The Goat and Tricycle.

The prospect is quite interesting, as mostly IPAs arrive in the 4%+ and upwards strength, but this is a modest 3.6%. Can it cut the India-bound odyssey mustard?

It pours cleanly with a pale gold colour and a tempting wooshy hint of flowery hops in the scent.

First sip is a touch sour, a vaguely biscuity malt opening gambit tending to bitter but not overly so. Wadworth are well known for their biscuity pints, 6x being almost a liquid hob nob, but here it's an echo.

The mid note is thin and it drifts pretty hurriedly to a sort of sourish fug that isn't really very appealing in contrast to some of the awesome IPAs on the market.

The IPA marque has become quite synonymous with rich, varied hoppy taste and power, and with Henry's Wadworth doesn't appear to have stepped forward into that clique, much like Greene King.

I think perhaps this would be a reasonably marketed pale or best, but with IPA on the label the punter will expect more, something along the lines of St Austell's classic Proper Job, Brewdog's formidable Hardcore or the flawless Meantime IPA . IPA in 2011 is about a hop wonder experience, with so much choice available to the buyer.

That said, this is a decent draft session beer which I've ordered in the pub a few times, but unfortunately nothing special in the bottle.

4/10 - Fairly two dimensional, neither powerful nor appealing enough for today's bottled IPA market.

- The Broadside

Sussex Gold (Arundel)

Arundel Brewery is noted for having done pretty well in various SIBA categories over the years, most notably with it's Sussex Mild.

With that not to hand, let's have a go at the Sussex Gold, their well-selling 4.2%abv ale.

It pours with a fine standard gold colour, and a fresh white head dissipates swiftly. The nose is a bunch of malt, with some grass and slight citrus, mostly lemon, carrying in the air.

On the palate it's much of the same, with sweet malt and a sharpish citrus jab providing an initial flurry of taste, although oddly it seems to drop off mid-draft, and has few discernable features through the middle.

A touch of mulchy, butter flavour slips through as a vector, and it ends crisply enough, but with little bittering it lacks any real character beyond the malt-fruit handshake.

It could be seen as sessiony but the carbonisation is a touch too aggressive for my taste, one less squirt on the soda-stream button would have been my preferred pitching for this beer, this one might be better on draught.

4/10 - Not enough here to be too enthusiastic about. Others offer more in the golden genre.

- The Broadside

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.

Hallowe'en Special II : Pumpkin Ale (Smuttynose)

I received this as a gift from a friend over from New York, and what better time to try it.

Pours with a floral, almost spicy smell, with obvious pumpkin and similar sweet potato leanings.

The opening taste has almost no sweetness, and almost no bitterness, like a first half 0-0 draw. What comes out for the 2nd half is a deep pumpkin flavour, like a roasted butternut squash soup, mixing savoury with sweetness. It finishes with a landslide of bitterness which lingers on leaving a dry peppery taste.

4/10 Its a speciality beer for sure, its well made, but too soupy and savoury for me.

Oxford Gold (Brakspear) 4.6% abv

Pours a rather standard "gold" colour, biscuity notes hidden with the nose with the odd flash of zest and gentle fresh cut grass.

Initial taste is rather malty and dry, followed by light sweetness. A biscuity middle, like a digestive, leading to a rather nutty twang. The finish is mellow without and notable hopping or bitterness.

I remember buying this beer a few years ago when it was bottled conditioned, it was as crisp and fresh as a lawn mowed in summer time. Now sadly it tastes like a rather generic Marstons beer. A real shame, a fallen hero.

4/10 Nothing offensive in this beer, but sadly nothing of note.

Old Empire (Marstons)

Smells of biscuit, slight hints of wood or oak.

Its a light malt taste, followed by a rather lacklustre middle, gentle biscuit flavours but not enough to really enjoy. Finishes with lingering sweetness and gentle hop flavours.

Really lacks the punch of an IPA, or any other key flavours along the way.

4/10 Not a dislikeable beer, but lacks any key flavours, let alone managing to do the IPA title justice.

Eric The Red (Septimus Spyder)

I knew very little about the county of Shropshire before deciding to spend a week in the Vivat Trust's Summerhouse, but what an idyllic rural haven of winding rivers, secret woods, airy hills, walks and ales it is.

I picked up various bottled gems even before spending a day at the Ludlow Food Festival, where ales from Ironbridge, Wells, Corvedale, Hobsons and Kingstone "fell" into my rucksack (via a till of course).

Eric the Red was found in the local section of the food market at the beautiful Weston Park, home of V Festival for a loud weekend every year, when the acorns are shaken in their cups by several million watts of music.

Against type, I was after a rumbustuous little pict of an ale - something old and hearty. Eric comes in a charming little dark bottle, adorned with a home-grown label stuck rather haphazardly on, methinks in someone's shed.

The label text promised "dark ruby ale", and so it was - a very attractive deeply ochre pint sits sturdily in the glass, small bubble lines hinting at a touch of excitability on the tongue. The head is patchy, a Fresian cowhide pattern mottling on the surface.

To the nose, this is a pungent number, and images of a medieval banquet floor sprang to the Broadside's mind. Not perhaps the most attractive of smells but ask for traditional and ye shall receive, a sharp, hoppy odour piling up the nostrils like a minstrel doing thrash metal requests.

As for the taste - giant hops volley through at the homebrew-style opening second, a chomping early biter of a taste, like pac-man in a hessian singlet. The middle is pure spiky barley/wheat BEER in CAPITALS. Not subtle, but then it was not to be expected. My achilles heel, and perhaps something others may admire, is a dislike for beers with an aftertaste outstaying it's welcome and so this proved - a squawking bitter clarion call, the taste equivalent of an angry heron on methadone chasing you round the house with a bag of pins.

Not really for me, but hearty enough to not be baulked at if it was slipped in mid-session at an outdoor party in high wind. 4/10.

- The Broadside

Old Ruby Ale (Dutchy Originals)

Pours crystal clear copper with only hints of the expected ruby. Smells of light fruit and charcoal.

Taste is initial malt sweetness followed by a fruity middle of summer berries. Finish is gentle bitter with a tangy edge.

This says “Brewed in Oxfordshire” so i’m guessing its Wychwood, although no mention on the bottle. Reminds me very much of bottled Ringwood Old Thumper.

4/10 A rather gentle fruity beer that lacks any real stand out qualities.

Eichenblatt Bitte (Oakleaf)

A Bavarian smoked wheat beer, “Eichenblatt Bitte” translates as “Oakleaf Please”

Poured as per the bottle instructions to give a nice cloudy beer, the head is a brilliant white, and despite expectations it doesn’t smell strongly of smoke.

There is a lot of fizzy hidden within this which gives it a real crisp bite. At first it tastes like a normal wheat beer, a nice gentle refreshing citrus sweetness lingers in the mouth whilst the smokey flavours slowly build like a crescendo of flavour. The finish is dry and leaves a lingering almost tobacco smokiness, with hidden fruit notes within. Its well balanced, the smokiness is prominent but not overpowering.

4/10 An intriguing speciality beer, if your a fan of wheat beer or smokey flavours in your beer this could be something special.

London Pride (Fullers)

Pours a perfect light brown colour almost Tea colour, to me this is the colour of beer.

A full and beautiful malty taste washes through, filled with sweetness and a lovely hint of caramel. It finishes with a strong bitter finish that is well disguised within a smooth creaminess.

On draught this is the ultimate session beer for me, but the bottle is an entirely different beast, it lacks the creamy subtle and delicate flavours, instead providing abrupt punches of malt and bitterness that lack the class and flair of the pub pint.

4/10 On draught a thing of beauty, sadly the bottle disappoints.

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