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

Cock o'the Walk (Williams Brothers)

Snaps open, not BC, but perfect fizz, it pours an amazing Crimson red. No big hops in the nose just its gentle grassy freshness.

The malt bursts onto the tongue, initially dry, but building in sweetness as it goes on. The middle is fruity, not overly sweet like a pudding, but rich and slightly sour, almost like rhubarb. It continues to build to a tangy finish, lingering on the tongue with slight sour hints, very limited bittering or hop profile, as you would expect for the style.

6/10 No shortage of depth, a vortex of malt flavours.

You can buy this beer here
Thanks goes out to Williams Brothers for providing this to review.

7 Giraffes (Williams Bros)

This beer is made using 7 malt varieties, hops from around the world, with elderflower and lemon zest added. That's a lot of flavors going on, does it work?

Pours deep golden with a simply fantastic foamy head and light carbonation. The smell is devine, caramel, a lovely whiskey sweetness, mixed in with noticeable fresh wet grass. The very definition of balance.

After such a smell the palete craves the first sip. Wow. Amazing malt blasts through, sweetness, dry bitterness, that whiskey edge again, superb diversity of flavour. The final malt gift is a hint of smokiness before a delightfully smooth passage to the hop finish. Gentle bittering builds on the tongue until fading to leave a sharper lemon zing and a noticeable hint of elderflower intertwined with some more tropical hop fruitiness.

9/10 Outstanding. Amazing diversity of malt flavours, with a deliciously fresh finish, all in perfect balance.

You can buy this beer here, and at the amazing price of £16.30 for 12 I strongly recomend you do!
Thanks goes out to Williams Brothers for providing this to review.

Ceilidh (Williams Bros) 4.7%Abv

A craft lager matured for 90 days.

Pours crystal clear light gold, almost unnervingly like commercial fizz lager. Lovely biscuity aroma, an almost oaky depth.

The malts only trace is light sweetness, building to an almost toffee warmth. The beer snaps to a finish, crisp hops, light citrus, and a finale of lingering bicuity malt.

8/10 A cracking lager, mature flavours, very drinkable. The world would be a better place if this was the drink of the masses.

Thanks goes out to Williams Brothers for providing this to review.

Joker IPA (Williams Brothers)

Pours with a smooth well practiced fizz, perfect head and carbonation. A golden amber with a deliciously citrusy aroma, lemon grassy freshness in a bottle.

The malt is superb, well bodied in it's depth, balanced with a great initial sweetness. A clean clear middle is followed by a hop finale of bitter hops, a second wave of more fruity malt and a delightfully subtle lingering hop bittering leaving you craving more with each sip.

8/10 A superb celebration of Malt and Hops. Similar in style to some great US pale ales, with a tad more hops.

You can buy Joker IPA here, and at the amazing price of £16.30 for 12 I strongly recomend you do!
Thanks goes out to Williams Brothers for providing this to review.

Thanks Brewdog!

We are big fans of Brewdog and their mega micro brewery here at the bunker, their epic beers have earned some great reviews.

We also love a bold IPA, so are naturally very excited by Brewdog's IPA is Dead. Thankfully this isn't some kind of Orwellian vision of a beerless future, just Brewdog's unique showcase of killer hops of the world.

Nelson Sauvin - A New Zealand epic with gooseberry notes
Sorachi Ace - Unique lemony aroma, developed in Japan
Citra - A new high alpha American hop
Bramling X - An English hop with distinctive aroma

Thanks to Brewdog for providing these to review.

Riptide (Brewdog) 8%Abv

Pours as black peat, with an exceptional head of coffee foam. Smells of ripe summer fruits, mixed berries and blackcurrants.

The initial taste is dominated by an exceptionally powerful and unexpected lingering sweetness. It's only on the second sip one can delve deeper into this dark delight. It's a whirlwind of coffee, hints of chocolate, but finishing with an asserted ripe fruity sweetness that leaves a taste buds twanging like a banjo string.

The hops are the final lingering presence of this beer, a flash of herbal bitterness. A wiser tweeter than me said of a review of Riptide "Riptide review in the style of @thebeerbunker: When you took the back off your Ferguson cassette recorder and it never worked again? That." Quite.

I kind of like the riptide analogy, like being dragged backwards out to sea past a kaleidoscope of sights and sounds to be met by a sweet mermaid who smiles and pushes you back to shore for another sip of stout.

7/10 An epic fruity and kaleidoscopic stout.

Trade Winds (Cairngorm) 4.3%Abv

Pours as clear as stream water, clear gold. The aroma is of a fresh spring meadow, light grass with a beautifully delicate Elderflower clearly present.

Clean sweet malt wafts over the tongue, on the initial sip, little room for dryness. Some biscuit crunch in the middle, fading towards caramel sweetness. The finish is light grassy citrus bittering, and a final gentle linger of elderflower.

8/10 A deliciously fresh golden ale, beautifuly balanced with that elderflower twist.

Hardcore IPA (Brewdog)

Pours into the glass with all the colour of a port casked whiskey. The smell is like a nuclear detonation of hops. Pine resin, strong citrus, like a lime and rum cocktail.

Initial taste is warming malt sweetness, almost like liquor rather than beer. What follows nothing can prepare for, its like a kick in the balls with a jackboot of bittering hops. This is quickly once again engulfed with more warming malt and that potent ABV.

The dry hop finish hits the tongue like a fizzy cola bottle of hops, leaving an explosion of bittersweet flavours, hints of pineapple in the finish.

9/10 An awesome beer, this is 11 on Spinal Tap's amp. This beer is the Sex Pistols, but with a bit more balance and delicate class it could have been The Clash.

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

You might want to read our AB04 review

AB04 (Brewdog)

As much a crime re-enactment as a tasting session. The combined Bunker hierarchy massed to delve into this Brewdog prototype.

Initial impressions - Pours as a galaxy-dark stout with a blood red edge ring, like the telling mark round the plughole when the detectives arrive. This is a Hallowe'en haemoglobin porter. The scent is red wine tannin, laced with dark chocolate and iron.

The powerful sweet opening is swiftly followed by a potent burnt liquorice taste. After that a cooking chocolate bitterness rises, not reminiscent of hops, more of a pouch of tobacco being rolled by the old sailor in the corner who won’t take his one eye off you. The alcohol is mighty and assertive, not many will come your way of an evening without requiring a transfusion.

The finish lingers, like a sociopath re-tracing the fact, a swathe of ripe blackberries drifting mashed into a burnt oven roasted chilli. Powerful fortified wine flavours linger in the memory, no heat as such but stiff persistent echoes of chilli.

8/10 It’s a fortified, complex beer and undoubtedly Brewdog. The frontier has been pushed again with this ale, and bravo for that.

Thanks to Brewdog for providing, i suggest you read their blog and await details of AB:04's release.

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

77 Lager (Brewdog)

Pilsner is a term everyone knows. In Europe it is used these days to denote a light coloured mostly hoppy lager. In the US, it's more frequently used to signify a premium beer, regardless of hop character.

This drink fully confirms that Scotland is in fact in Europe. This is a lager brewed on ale terms, 100% full leaf hops and malt, and the characteristic Brewdog cocksure marketing describes it as "a lager that actually tastes of something, 77 will redefine the (lager) experience forever". Those chaps know how to set expectation.

It pours a deep faintly murky amber, and jives about in the glass with a decent lagery fizz. The nose is hoppy and a little florid.

The taste is divine. The opening note is a malty crunch, and as crisp as a crisp. The body is not too long, but then it ought not to be in a lager. The finish is hoppy and refreshing, with a delicious bitter length to it.

This is a hot weather drink, and a cold weather drink to remind you of hot weather. Its a sociable beer, and a beer to drink at home to reminisce about being sociable.

I think this is best bulk bought for a party. This has crunch, bite and character, but doesn't ask the drinker to acquire a taste for it. The finish is long and bitter, but it's a crafted bitterness like the end of a well written tragedy.

8/10 - Delicious. A benchmark for UK pilsners and an export to challenge some of the best in Europe.

- The Broadside

Massive Thanks to Brewdog

A massive thanks goes out to Brewdog for sending the following through for review!

What a selection! Can't wait to get stuck in to reviewing these.

Punk IPA
5am Saint
Hardcore IPA
Isle Arran Paradox
AB:03 from the Abstrakt range
AB:04 as yet unreleased from the Abstrakt range!

I suggest you follow the Brewdog Blog here, their blog is a delight of banter, innovation and punkery

Old Engine Oil (Harviestoun)

This one is delicious.

The label promises "viscous, roasty and chocolatey", in fact this is the only thing I've ever heard described as roasty but it does fit.

It's consistency is perhaps just shy of a true stout, more porter but it matters little. The pour is eager and creates a pleasant latte coloured head which lingers a short while. The nose is a touch of coffee and full roast notes.

The taste is initially sweet with a rub of cherry and the feel is velvet-creamy, tending to bitterness in the mouth. Slight carbonisation only helps matters, and for the taste is just right. This is the third porter Goldilocks will have tried.

The mid section is a waft of chocolate surfboarding on a riptide of malt - but whilst bold and assertive it is not overpoweringly so. Part of the pleasure of this beer for me is the well-heeled subtlety of the mix, and there's nothing here to make the drinker make their gnarly face.

It finishes with a rising quip of hops, but just for the sake of bittering and is a delicious keepsake of the sup. I love it.

9/10 - Best in it's class for me, this slim bottled thick black ale is a treasure - full credit to Harviestoun.

- The Broadside

Schiehallion (Harviestoun)

Amazing aroma of fresh hops, grass and light caramel. Colour is a beautiful sun bleached golden.

The taste is beautifully refreshing and crisp, light citrus is followed by an explosion of hops. 100 delicate flavours flood through, delicious grassy tastes are followed by grapefruit and a light caramel undertone.

Reminded me very much of Sam Adams Boston Lager, nice to see the Scots doing a classic European style so well.

8/10 A best in class Pilsner, packed with fresh hops, beautifully balanced.

Punk IPA (Brewdog)

Brewdog, always in the news, always trying to create the next benzine / propanol / yeast combo and spawn 3,000% ABV ales.

The above is my conception (mis or otherwise) of the Scottish enfants terribles of the contemporary brewing scene. Their products are sold in slim Banksy-style bottles and are pricey, but The Broadside thought he'd have a crack at one as the clock swung round past midnight and the manor fell silent.

It pours like an IPA, a straw-coloured lagoon but with a lumpy, high head which falls uneven over time to a Matterhorn-profile of creamy foam. The bold nose is an assertive barrel of grapefruit laced with pine tacks and stoppered by a bread cork.

The first taste impression is wet and bitter, although it dries with the second and third impressions through to the finish. The bitterness has a go at the mouth throughout the experience, never quite enough to anaesthetise the drinker's tongue but fairly close. Curiously, the hops are all around yet a hop flavour isn't so present - Brewdog have gone all out to make this an individual effort, like a carbine with a pearl handle.

At the back end, the 6% abv is apparent, as is the grapefruit kick. In fact, this is a grapefruit and hop lovers weapon of choice if a quick inebriating hit is required at the start of an evening. If you ever get to the point of pouring a beer for breakfast (don't) then you'd do worse than consider this.

With Punk, Martin and James at Brewdog have thrown their hat into the US style tough-as-nuts IPA ring. As an English gent, I prefer my ales with a touch more balance but I'm sure this drink will find plenty of fans - in the war against bland this is a field commander.

7/10 - perhaps not one for the armchair malt and balance buff, but a fine bitter cannonball across the bows of convention.

- The Broadside