Einstök Icelandic White Ale (Einstök Ölgerð)

Here's a fresh little wonder. Brewed in (to me) an unintelligible location in Iceland using "the purest water on earth", this sharp and snappy anaemic wonder is brewed in the Belgian 'witbier' (white beer) style.

Paler than a recently frightened vampire, I can only think of Sadler's refreshing Thin Ice and Skinner's River Cottage EPA as being equally light in colour.

Slightly chilled, it pours unfussily with no lasting head. The nose is stiffly orange, with some background spicing.

Carbonation is tiny and piquant, needly little spikes that encourage rather than detract from flavour. The flavour is fuller than the colour might suggest, orange and coriander tones with an agreeable mineral backdrop. The aftertaste is slightly chalky with a mild swing of grapefruit, but the bittering fades without much fuss and another sup is invited.


It's a pleasing 5.2% ABV beer for those after something refreshing and slightly leftfield. I can't imagine it'll be widely available but worth sniffing out if you get the chance.

8/10 - Icelandic pearl, white and tasty with sophisticated slew of successful flavours.

- The Broadside

Chimay - Red (Bieres de Chimay)

Off to Belgium we go.

Chimay Red (or Premiere as it is sometimes known) is a Trappist beer in the dubbel style - Belgian heavy bodied strong brown ale.

The brewery is worthy and characterful - not only do they also make cheeses but the proceeds of sales are solely for monastery support and the good of community projects and local charities in the area. If you fancy a cheese/beer collision experience then I suggest trying to get hold of their "Chimay With Beer" which has a rind soaked in ale. Those monks know how to make a strong brew - the red weighs in at 7%abv, whilst it's senior blue brother a hefty 9%.

It pours a murky pool-hall brown with a high persistent head. The nose is fruity and figgy with a touch of cloves.

In the mouth the beer is ably fizzy and alive, yet full bodied and creamy too, lots of physics to go on. The sup is quite yeasty without being grungy, and has a mild stickiness.

Minimal fruit sweetness yields to a nice nutty mid section, and the tail note is a vibrant fusion of maltiness and bitter hops.

Extremely pleasant and drinkable, this is a Belgian treasure for those in search of full-bodied session ale.

8/10 Characterful and potent Trappist ale.

- The Broadside

St Stefanus Blonde 7%

It pops open and pours with one of those delightful little Ibiza foam party heads, conjuring delicate notes of caramel and cloves.

The opening taste is unique but unnervingly familiar, it's like looking through someone else's photo albums of places you have been to. The similarities between this beer and Duvel seem obvious to start, the bottle, the aroma, but on tasting the drift away. It has a more prominent malt backbone to it, a creamy caramel, almost fudge like opening. As the sweetness subsides the spicy clove notes come through before leaving a delightful dry bitterness.

Duvel is a wonderful beer, this offers something slightly different, more mellow in aroma and strength with added caramel tones which any Belgian novice could appreciate.

8/10 One to try, not a Belgian Classic, but a thoroughly enjoyable nod to the style.

Ps it says serve at 8c. Hopefully the below gives you comfort around the lengths we go to at the bunker to give every beer it's chance

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.

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.

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

Alice Porter (Brewdog)

Brewdog allege that this "renaissance baltic porter" is the result of a 300 year old recipe. The label talks of cobblestones and swirls of mist from the Thames, as if Doctor Watson himself might order this at his local.

The dog-icon cap flips away to reveal a sweet but subdued bouquet of burnt sugar with a ping of vanilla. On the pour it's black and tumultuous in the glass, a broiling inky drink that sheds a light brown lacy head that swiftly fades to nought.

It's 6.5%abv, but the alcohol is well shielded in the sup. It's all dark chocolate and summer fruits through the length, a classic porter mix with a stylish welcoming mouthfeel. Coffee and vanilla peek through then round off with a gentle bittered finish that sports shades of dark cherry.

Brewdog strike the quality threshold yet again with this beer. Would recommend this without hesitation, although as with all of their offerings check the price before you run it through the till.

8/10 - Delicious, extremely drinkable porter with an edge of mystery. Holmes would approve.

- The Broadside

Delirium Tremens (Brouwerij Huyghe)

Firstly, do click on the Huyghe website, the intro by MD Alain de Laet is a classic bit of webbery.

A potent and colourful little package in a stone-effect bottle, Delirium Tremens offers much potential. The label shows various trippy animal icons and there's no doubt the message is that this will KO the unwary. It was voted Best Beer in the World at the 1998 World Beer Championships in Chicago.

It's 8.5%ABV, and on cap release the air fills with notes of fruit, ripe bananas and apples. It pours a joyous pale straw colour.

The sip is a little yeasty (it uses 3 types) and a lance-like note of pineapple wanders through, although not overpoweringly so. Huyghe brewery offers quite a few fruit beers, so its easy to see where this affectation came from.

The killer for me is the spices loitering in the undergrowth. Very european and peppery, they scatter through with gay abandon as the sup grows old and warm the tongue as the vaguely bitter aftertaste rears up and dies away. It's bitter just to the point of counteracting the fruit taste and no further.

This is a strong summer party drink for the discerning. The hops themselves taste like no normal hops, and I was amazed at how drinkable such a strong beer can be.

Not best in the world for me, but exacting and classy.

8/10 - Beautifully presented summer Belgian classic.

- The Broadside

Island Oyster (Mersea Island)

And it's a quick Mersesa Island double here at the Bunker Station Two as we crack open their dark special beer, Island Oyster.

Solidly porter in colour, it's as dark as the inside of said gastropod's shell. The head is beige and foamy.

The aroma reinforces the porter credentials, heavily chocolatey with a whiff of dockside back-alley danger.

You get oats and some oysters in this pint, and the combined attack is remarkable. Neither can really be picked out as individual strains (in the case of oysters perhaps its as well), but fused with the dark sweet malts the effect is lushly tasteful. The sup continues through as a bounty of colliding porter notes, with Fuggles hops rearing mildly at the death of the taste.

This is really good BC beer, another gem from this Essex enterprise. The mouthfeel and consistency needs to be tried.

8/10 - Outstanding oyster porter from Essex, well worth trying to track down.

- The Broadside

Shropshire Lad (Wood's)

Wood's is a fine brewery located amongst the scenic hills of Shropshire.

"Lad' is their top seller, and it's a quintessential example of an English bitter, brewed with English Malts, laced with Fuggles and Goldings hops.

It pours a deep bronze with a whiff of flowers, pear and berries on the air and a thin but persistent head loiters around like a crow on a telegraph pole.

It's 5%ABV, and comes across as a textbook stiffer session brown. A rich toffee start to the sup is cajoled by the classical hop mix, swaying and rolling in perfect balance towards the gently bittered finish.

The carbonation is superbly pitched, and the aroma through the taste is a sort of twin hop cuddle which welcomes you to the glass each time.

8/10 - One can easily see why this is their best seller. Enduring quality English bitter.

- The Broadside

Budding (Stroud)

An organic Pale ale it pours with the lightest carbonation I've known in a beer. It has an aroma packed with limes and citrus.

The opening malt is gentle and sweet, slipping along the tongue before combining with the finishing hops. Light bittering, but packed with flavor delivering a flood of citrus to match the malt sweetness. No dry finish, just hundreds of delicate floral flavors.

8/10 A modern English Pale ale, effortlessly quaffable, zesty, and in perfect balance.

M&S Sussex Golden Ale (Hepworth & Co)

A crunchy whiff of citrus in the nose, this 3.8% ale pours with minimal head. The colour is an engaging deep straw.

The watchword here is refreshment. It has a pleasing malt bumper at the front of the sup, but the citrus finish is a delight. It spirals to a clean bitterness in a very moreish fashion.

M&S have a bottle-conditioned cracker of a session pint here, suitable for daytime drinking without drying the brain.

8/10 - Very tasty summer beer. Delicately flavoured, and as light as sunshine on a meadow.

IPA (Stringers)

Pours a beautiful caramel Amber, the nose is hoppy, not overpowering, but good hints of floral notes and earthy grassiness.

The opening is a remarkably balanced affair, gentle malt mixed with caramel sweetness and dry bitterness in equal balance. Glimpses of biscuit appear in the middle without being able to upset the balance. The finish is dominated by big Amarillo hops, arriving like a hammer with blow of citrus, pine and a rather earthy almost peppery bitterness.

8/10 A cracking IPA, perfectly balanced and well hopped. The unique Amarillo hops shine through.

A big thanks to Stringers for sending this to review.

You can buy their beers here at mybrewerytap or alesbymail

Southampton IPA ( Southampton Publick House)

Another fine US beer bought over by my friend from New York, the brewery is near to him in NY State and comes highly rated.

Opens with gentle fizz, pours a deep deep copper. Gentle toffee in the noses, slight pine, no big American floral hops but a lovely grassy tingle of English ones.

It kicks off with a giant blast of Crystal malt, big sweet caramel flavours delight the tonge, before warping into burnt sugar, complete with it's bitterness. There is a glimpse of fruit before kicking on to the finish. No shortage of hopping here, like the earlier aroma it's not a big blast of America hoppy citrus, but the subtle bittering of the English style IPA.

8/10 A big caramel transatlantic IPA, floating somewhere between a big West Coast IPA and a Fullers ESB.

Dry Stout (Stringers)

This is a delicious Cumbrian treat, from a brewery that is "100% renewably powered".

Stringers do five regular ales and two seasonals. This stout, along with their Dark Country beer, is vegan-suitable.

It pours dense and dark - proper dark like those regions Joseph Conrad wrote about. The head is rusty and enduring, and the nose is a sumptuous casserole of roasted and wispy chocolate aromas.

The sup is creamy and full of smoke, an extremely alluring old-school collision of proper industrial stout tastes. It's wonderfully smooth, but lively in all the correct ways, heady chocolate malt carried aloft on a very appropriate 4.5%abv chassis.

The finish tails to dry, but perhaps not the dominant dehydration suggested in the title. It's evaporative in the right way, leaving dark flavours and fond memories on the tongue.

8/10 - Wonderful northern stout - buy without hesitation, enjoy without regret.

- The Broadside

A big thanks to Stringers for sending this to review.

You can buy their beers here at mybrewerytap or alesbymail

Hopping Hare (Badger)

Beautiful clear gold, pours with great carbonation and a lovely foamy head. The aroma is grassy, almost earthy, with a slight hint of caramel.

Opens with a welcoming mellow malt, building to a delicious sweet caramel, and big biscuit crunch, like a caramel covered digestive!

No big sharp bitterness in the finish, just wonderfully diverse floral tones that meet up with the last linger of malty caramel. Hints of smooth cream soda fade right into the finish.

8/10 A cracking floral caramel wonder. A spring beer now available all year round, one to seek out.

Windsor Knot (Windsor & Eton) - Royal Wedding Beer

The excitement of the Royal Wedding of William and Kate Middleton may not be for everyone, but the prospect of specially brewed wedding beers to review is well received here at the bunker! Windsor & Eton beers are also very welcome at the bunker, their previous 3 bottled beers have all scored a superb 8/10.

Pours a bright amber, light carbonation. The aroma is delightfully tropical, the Nelson Sauvignon hops delivering their trademark tropical fruit punch, but dialed down at bit from many other breweries who use it in huge hopped IPAs.

It starts with sweet malt, that builds into a warming caramel that coats the tongue and lingers right to the finish and beyond. The hopping whilst big in aroma is delicate in its bittering, but undoubtedly unique in it's flavour. Juicy tropical flavours wrestle with the initial caramel giving a rather interesting twist to a rather English Premium Ale.

8/10 Well balanced, very unique, a great showcase for some special hops. Perfect for honeymoon sipping in the sunshine.

Thanks to Windsor & Eton for providing, check out their website here, or buy their beers from Alesbymail.com

Baltic Night (Compass)

Pours smooth with an inky pitch soul, there's enough black depth here to interest Stephen Hawking.

A suggestion of a rusty head soon evaporates to nought, leaving a few roast and barley tones in the breeze and a considerable air of threat. Also, unusually for a stout a clutch of hops dances on the nose.

The sip is quite extraordinary. Typically with the stouts we've had, hearty big dark flavours come along all together, and mosh for attention in robust tapestries of taste. Baltic Night though is an altogether more subtle affair. It's roasty and bitter, but smooooth. Coffee tones slide in like an advanced driver overtaking on a rainy night, before a simple yet very effective dry chocolatey finish closes the deal.

It's altogether the most cohesive and well planned stout I think I've had. Everything here fits like gears in a swiss clock. There's very little of the classic stout 'munch', and more a craft-beer style invitation to sip again. This is dark beer by design.

This 4.8%abv Compass ale has won the odd award and rightly so. It's delightful to sip by itself, but I'd suggest this is one stout very suitable for accompanying rich food, without bulldozering the palate.

8/10 - Delicate and designed to delight, this is a Bang and Olufsen stout, brewed with care and intention.

London Porter (Meantime)

If there is anything the bunker loves as much as beer, it's a bit of history. After Meantime's amazing 10/10 IPA we were excited about this historic Porter, a recreation of the 1750s London Style.

Pops open with little fuss, pouring a deep chestnut, mahogany at edges where light penetrates. A lovely balance of those trademark porter aromas coffee, chocolate and a less expected fruitiness.

Slightly prickly and thin on the tongue to start, but developing to bolder sweet malt flavours. Ripe fruit takes over in the middle, rich plum and stewed fruits add a tangy sweetness before fading into the finish. The finale is like the last mouthful of a fine coffee, lingering deep coffee with some sharper roasted malt bitterness.

8/10 A fine example of a classic historic beer style.

Thanks to Meantime Brewery for providing the sample, I suggest to seek one of these out. Available in most good Sainsburys.