St George and the Dragon (Wadworth)

This is a bottled version of the Wadworth seasonal favourite, and is 4.5%abv.

Cracking it open, a mildly metallic-fruit whiff of barley and hops greets the nose. It pours a fine beery amber, with a fluffy and moderately persistent head.

First sup shows the signature biscuit-malt Wadworth are known for, but for me the digestive-factor is dialled down compared to some others they bottle. Plenty of fruit to be had here, some orange and a tangy grapefruit hint. Mid section is tending to florid, with a drying hoppy bitterness veering to crisp at the tail, biscuit notes echo throughout.

It's actually a rather nice beer, and I can see why Wadworth have extended this away from the traditional seasonal batch and made it available at other times.

The flavours don't amount to anything revolutionary, but for a steady English pint with a little kick you could do far worse than go with St George. Fine stuff, Wadworth.

7/10 - Good seasonal session beer, much superior to Henry IPA in the bottle, a pleasure to drink.

- The Broadside

The Rev. James (Brains)

This Brains product is one keeled over beer, or "on the huh" as we say in Suffolk.

It pours a deep clear copper , with scoops of fudge and flowers on the nose. The head is a foamy white landscape, crinkling over time and present down the glass.

The sup is all about caramel sweetness and spicy cane sugar. It ought to be sickly but in fact its quite pleasant, a sort of peppered cinnamon depth offsetting the rampant honeyed malt tones. The texture is a little sticky but not cloying, adequately carbonated with a silky travel.

It finishes with a smidge of hops, not much, and comes across as a sort of light dessert beer. At 4.5%ABV it's session pitched, but think of it more as a malty treat at the end of a tough day.

7/10 - Rather nice sweet-spiced ale, but hop miners need to try another shaft.

- The Broadside

Island Skippers (Mersea Island)

We don't tend to get many beers from Essex, so here's one.

Mersea Island is primarily a vineyard, which also hosts weddings, celebrations and brews the odd killer beer.

This pours a lovely dark amber with an ebullient lively head. Light caramel notes on the nose, entwined with some grass sprinkles, nice seasonal smells. The sup is initially pleasantly sweet with some faint chocolate notes, before a stride of Fuggles hops takes the experience to a gently dry bittered finish.

Very pleasant beer indeed, a solid seven.

7/10 - A fine best from Essex. Earthy in the right ways with well judged hops in the tail.

- The Broadside

Master Brew (Shepherd Neame)

Kentish brewers Shepherd Neame proclaim this beer to be their "local hero", widely drunk from Sevenoaks to Margate. It's known as "Master Blaster" by the locals.

The cap lifts off with a pneumatic hiss, and tosses up a wealth of Kentish hop aroma. The colour is a pleasing light amber.

It's idiosyncratic as pretty much all SN beers are, their particular hop/yeast mix proving very recognisable. This 4%abv ale is a commandingly steady drink though, and a good flagship for a brewery that is often associated only with Spitfire and Bishops Finger in the supermarkets.

The opening note is blink of crystal malt sweetness, followed by a grassy and dry main draft. The signature Kentish hops leave a bitter and crisp finish, perfectly session pitched in length. This is the definition of a year-long all rounder for those who can adjust to the slightly "back of the mouth" taste of the local hops.

7/10 - Pleasing and capable everyday ale. Very Shepherd Neame in a good way.

- The Broadside

Hedge Monkey (Glastonbury Ales)

Glastonbury Ales is an operation born of the famous festival, and their ales seem to be cropping up in a few supermarkets around the country.

The distribution and sales operations seem to be a bit more on the ball than their blog, which gets updated once a year at present - unfortunate as it''s advertised on their main website. Tsk!

Anyhow, what matters is the ale. It pours an attractive deep amber and smells alluringly hoppy. The head is filmy and white, and some nice carbonisation tickles the glass.

The draft is initially a chompload of malt, and follows through with some gentle smoke and biscuit. The tail end is a lather of piney hops, yet it cuts off neatly, and like a standard hollywood movie doesn't have too much bitterness in the epilogue. The 4.6%abv is well pitched to the taste.

It comes across as a form of IPA-light, and is the sort of pint that invites another sip, this is squarely session beer.

Being a bit of a festival buff, I'd certainly seek this out at a tent, and for that matter in a pub or anywhere else. Cracking, beguiling, pleasant and simple ale. Good work Glasto!

7/10 - Very drinkable session beer. A delicious annual all-rounder.

- The Broadside

Taylor's Tipple (Hambleton Ales)

This has been in the vault for a while at Station Two, so time to give it a crack. Rumours have reached the Bunker shortwave radio that Hambleton Ales have won a few awards in their time, so I was curious to see how this beer stood up.

The label oozes class, in a wine-bottle style. No big cartoon motifs, no zany font, just silvered trim, a lithographed race horse and autumnal plated colours. The text explains that the drink is a tribute to grocer Thomas Taylor, who in 1857 used six tonnes of lime to score a giant horse on to Hambleton Hills.

It pours a proper beery red-brown, deep ambered fudge with a benevolent fluffy head.

The smell of it is remarkable - caramel is very marked, and sweet malts and butter-toffee framing the experience. I rarely salivate just on the smell of a beer but this one got me.

The taste isn't nearly as sweet. Some malty sugar and berry flavours pipe fleetingly up in the pre-taste, but firm strides of tea, earth and a burnt 'something' channel through almost immediately.

Then, curiously for an ale, there seems to me to be a resurgence of sweetness at the death of the taste, albeit hand in hand with a lengthy bitter finish. Sounds illogical but there we are.

It's creamier than cream, and the bitterness closes off like a valve in time to invite the next sip. At 4.5%abv this is an eminently drinkable fine-class product, and one I'd return to especially in the cold months.

8/10 - Well mixed and pleasantly chewy winter beer. Good for later in the evening when the hour invites complex, rewarding flavours.

- The Broadside

Double Drop (Flack Manor) - 3.7%abv

Flack Manor is a new enterprise, erected near the site of the Hampshire Brewery, which closed in 2008. It's run by Nigel Welsh, an ex-director of Ringwood Brewery . Here at this site we're big fans of Ringwood's ales so have been keen to try this beer.

From what I can tell, they're only brewing this particular bottled beer at the moment, so this bottle carries with it a fledgling reputation of the brand.

I'm a little nervous at the strength of this, a mere 3.7%. Almost without exception I've found that very decent session bitters from the cask just don't live well in a bottle at the lighter end of the alcohol spectrum, Ringwood's Best being a prime example. That beautifully honed malty beer served in my beloved Porterhouse in Westbourne transfers to an overly bitter rough beast on the shelf, although Bunker colleague Ed has a higher opinion.

Double Drop is named after it's brewing process, a near forgotten method of dropping wort into a fermenting "round" and then dropping it again into a fermenting vessel, which leaves behind dead yeast and other debris, not cleaned up in other methods.

The drink pours clear and a deep amber with a filmy thin disc of white head. Maris Otter barley malt and slight hints of toffee carry on the nose.

First taste and I'm very pleasantly surprised. This drinks extremely smoothly, and there's no hint of roughness. A mildly sweet initial note becomes a quenching and citrus-fruity middle with a lick of bitterness in the tail. Flack Manor have scored a direct strike on the label description, which describes the beer as "quaffable".

This is a very refreshing and light pint. It of course has none of the hidden depths of some of the more sturdy leviathans on these pages, but if taken as what it is, it's one to be relished.

This isn't a complex drink, nor was it intended to be; the experience is a short pleasant journey of sweet>citrus>light bitter>full stop with an immediate invitation to sup again. At this strength, this is a beer that could merrily last all afternoon without too many impacts to a drinker's co-ordination.

For me, Flack Manor have practically invented the first decent sub-4% bottled ale, and the level of taste I'd hoped for from bottled Ringwood Best.

7/10 - I'll be watching this brewery with interest.

- The Broadside

Manor Ale (Hobson's) - 4.2%abv

Bitter fans - this is one for you.

Of the ales I picked up at the Ludlow Festival, Hobson's has been the brewery that has impressed me most. We've had their drinks on both Bunker Summits so far, first the sweet class act that is Postman's Knock, then their strongest ale, Old Henry, a peach-edged but complex joy. In both cases the beer is well-thought out and sublimely balanced.

The label on this less alcoholic number talks of the Severn Valley railway and heart of England roots. Again, it's in their elegant mini-wine bottle and promises "bitter amber ale"

It does pour a lovely amber, with a high, sticky, sociable head. Zest, pine and hops are a major whiff in the nose and the whole effect comes across as quite delicious.

The mouthful is less carbonated than you might expect. A fleeting toffee dash is swiftly overtaken by citrus hops. They are prevalent and bitter, but again Hobson's have managed to brew beautiful dimensions into the length of it. Its properly bitter, so perhaps not for everyones taste, but I loved it.

The aftertaste is a tad dry, which stops a Bunker Grade 8 for me, but this is another top product from one of the most impressive breweries of my year.

7/10 - Fresh and for a sub-5% ale, a remarkably involving taste. Great stuff.

- The Broadside

5am Saint (Brewdog) 5%abv

It pours like a Tawny port, whiskey edges and a butter caramel head. The smell is so powerful, an overdose of dry hops and grassy smells, mixed with hidden cherry and summer fruit notes.

The taste gives a nano second of sweetness before unleashing a monster of full bodied bitterness. Hints of fruity but bitter cranberries are followed by a slightly sour tanginess, reminiscent of unripe fruit. Its got more hops in the finish than most IPAs dream of leaving a bitter lingering finish.

8/10 Unripe fruit, bitter, tangy and hopped to hell. To try and put this in a box would be impossible, it defines itself. Definitely one to try, you’ll never forget it.

Thanks to Brewdog for providing, i suggest you read their blog

UBU (Purity)

Pours a brownish amber clour, beautifully clear, a delicate smell of sweet grass hops.

Gentle sweet malt, slightly bitter, the middle leaves almost a nutty tangy. The finish is smooth, delicate bittering with a fresh taste.

7/10 A very drinkable, and very modern session bitter. Lovely Cascade hops.

You can by there ales at most good Sainsburys or Tescos or via Ocado here