Recent Tasting Notes
Murray's Brewing "Wild Thing" Imperial Stout (15/20)
Fantastic looking beer (as most Imperials tend to be) with a choc orange creamy head. Thin but effective. Nose shows some chocolate sweetness, hints of licorice and a touch of roast. All quite elegant. Flavours definitely get better as the beer warms up and you could just about drink this at room temperature. Sweet malts very early, then a slightly weird tangy lemon kick, before the palate slips into dark bitter chocolates. Good length. Flavours are relatively tight and I think this beer needs a couple of years in the cellar.
Holgate Christmas Ale (16/20)
Sarsaparilla-like in appearance; no head and and brown/tan in colour. Cola and chocolate malts on the nose with good underlying sweetness and Belgian-like funkiness. Flavours are fantastic. More chocolate and meaty malts and the sweetness underpinning the palate shows very good intensity yet never gets dumb and simple. This brewer has stepped up more than a few gears in the past year.
Greene King Suffolk Vintage Ale (10/20)
I thought this beer was all 'go' after a few sniffs; bright yet dark fruited sweetness, almost sarsaparilla-like. The palate, however, was a huge let-down. This beer was masquerading as a soft drink with light weight cola-like flavours....not beery notes at all. Just give me some hops and malts!
Fantastic looking beer (as most Imperials tend to be) with a choc orange creamy head. Thin but effective. Nose shows some chocolate sweetness, hints of licorice and a touch of roast. All quite elegant. Flavours definitely get better as the beer warms up and you could just about drink this at room temperature. Sweet malts very early, then a slightly weird tangy lemon kick, before the palate slips into dark bitter chocolates. Good length. Flavours are relatively tight and I think this beer needs a couple of years in the cellar.
Holgate Christmas Ale (16/20)
Sarsaparilla-like in appearance; no head and and brown/tan in colour. Cola and chocolate malts on the nose with good underlying sweetness and Belgian-like funkiness. Flavours are fantastic. More chocolate and meaty malts and the sweetness underpinning the palate shows very good intensity yet never gets dumb and simple. This brewer has stepped up more than a few gears in the past year.
Greene King Suffolk Vintage Ale (10/20)
I thought this beer was all 'go' after a few sniffs; bright yet dark fruited sweetness, almost sarsaparilla-like. The palate, however, was a huge let-down. This beer was masquerading as a soft drink with light weight cola-like flavours....not beery notes at all. Just give me some hops and malts!
Labels: Recent Tasting Notes
posted by Stewart Went at
7:29 am
2 Comments:
I thought with the start of the new year, I'd finally say what a great blog you have been running here.
I agree with your comments about the Wild Thing, I think in a year or two it is going to be a cracker. I really like what Shaun is doing at Murray's now he is head brewer.
By
Anonymous, at 10:51 am
ta for that.
Yep agree with Murray's....must have elevated themselves to the top of the tree by now? The base beers (NPA and Pilsner) are very very good and I think the seasonals represent the first of what is hopefully a new breed of Oz beers that can truly cellar well.
By
Stewart Went, at 10:28 pm
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