St Peter's Best Bitter

Second bottle of the mixed case GR was given.

• Name: St Peter's Best Bitter, 3.7%, England
  
• Appearance: Copper brown. Alright amount of head.
  
• Aroma: Malt and hops. "Normal" bitter aroma.
  
• Taste: Quite bitter, some malt. Bitter aftertaste.
  
• Bought: Gift, 500 ml, £?.??
  
• Overall score: 3/6
  
• Info: 28/8-2007

Visiting Hook Norton Brewery

Being in the Cotswold area, we dropped by Hook Norton Brewery on the way back to London. As it was Bank Holiday Monday, there were unfortunately no brewery tours, but at least the shop and museum were open.


The variety pack (£10.50), different to the one on their website, contained:

• Twelve Days [4/6]
• Haymaker [3/6]
  
• 303 AD [3/6]
  
• Hooky Bitter [4/6]
  
• Old Hooky [4/6]
  
• Hooky Gold [3/6]
  

They also had two more bottled beers, which I of course also bought to have a complete "set of eight":

• Double Stout [3/6]
  
• Cotswold Lion [3/6]
  

I have tried two of these before, and as I liked both of them, I look forward to tasting the remaining six.

Finally catching up with PC

After having a pint of Adnams Broadside and a pint of Everards Sunchaser in The Gun (a very nice pub) with work-related people, I finally managed to catch up with PC over a few drinks at home.

Starting off with a nice bottle of Chimay Bleue and finishing off with a big bottle of Meantime London Porter, the highlight was what we had in-between; the Westvleteren Abt (12).

The only reason I bought an extra bottle last year was so I could share it with PC. He really likes Belgian beers and he is also partly responsible for my near-obsession with beers. Having waited over a year to share the bottle with him and having stored the bottle in a cupboard; I was worried it might have gone off. The aroma and taste was as nice - or nicer - than I remember it from last August. PC really enjoyed it, and he now also rates it as one of the best beers he has ever tasted. At $16 for a 330 ml bottle it is quite expensive, but I think it is definitely worth splashing out on special occasions.

Meantime London Porter

Big bottle so good thing I had PC to share it with.

• Name: Meantime London Porter, 6.5%, England
  
• Appearance: Very dark brown, almost black. Lots of off-white head.
  
• Aroma: Malt and coffee. Bit of dark fruit. Peppery? Hint of chocolate.
  
• Taste: Malt and slightly smoked. Wood. Bitterness.
  
• Bought: Sainsbury's, 750 ml, £?.??
  
• Overall score: 3/6
  
• Info: 22/8-2007

Cantillon Vigneronne

Called "Cantillon Gueuze Vigneronne" in the 500-book.

• Name: Cantillon Vigneronne, 5.0%, Belgium
  
• Appearance: Cap&Cork. Cloudy light orange. Just a little bit of head.
  
• Aroma: Sour, lemony. Some fruit.
  
• Taste: Quite sour, lemony. Awful aftertaste.
  
• Bought: Beers of Europe, 750 ml, £5.69
  
• Overall score: 1/6
  
• Info: 21/8-2007, 181/500, 22/100
  

St Peter's Cream Stout

GR received a 12-bottle St Peter's mixed case after helping out an ex-colleague, and kindly gave some of them to me. First up was this one, which was slightly disappointing:

• Name: St Peter's Cream Stout, 6.5%, England
  
• Appearance: Very dark brown, almost black. Not much head at all.
  
• Aroma: Burnt and roasted, chocolate and coffee.
  
• Taste: Quite sour. Burnt, smokey. Coffee and chocolate again.
  
• Bought: Gift, 500 ml, £?.??
  
• Overall score: 2/6
  
• Info: 19/8-2007

Moussy Classic

Bought by GR on holiday in Oman. He thought it was produced locally, but turns out it is actually brewed in Switzerland, which is kind of ironic after the previous beer I had which turned out to be from England, not Switzerland.

• Name: Moussy Classic, 0.0%, Switzerland
  
• Appearance: Light golden. Not much head but fizzy.
  
• Aroma: Very little. Little bit of malt.
  
• Taste: Little bit of malt, not much else.
  
• Bought: Gift, 330 ml, $?.??
  
• Overall score: 2/6
  
• Info: 14/8-2007

(Shepherd Neame) Hürlimann Export Bier

I bought this from Beers of Europe because it was listed under "Switzerland". Quite disappointing that it turns out to be brewed by Shepherd Neame here in the UK...

• Name: (Shepherd Neame) Hürlimann Export Bier, 4.8%, England
  
• Appearance: Light golden. Very little head. Quite fizzy.
  
• Aroma: Not much. Bit of malt and hops, I guess.
  
• Taste: Some malt and hops. Quite boring.
  
• Bought: Beers of Europe, 330 ml, £0.79
  
• Overall score: 2/6
  
• Info: 7/8-2007

Grimbergen Optimo Bruno

• Name: Grimbergen Optimo Bruno, 10%, Belgium
  
• Appearance: Dark brownish red. Good amount of light brown head. Lots when warmer.
  
• Aroma: Malt and dark fruit. Bit of caramel and red wine(!).
  
• Taste: Quite strong, warming. Dark fruits, vinous. Slightly bitter.
  
• Bought: Beers of Europe, 330 ml, £2.09
  
• Overall score: 3/6
  
• Info: 3/8-2007

Cairngorm Nessie's Monster Mash

This beer is called "Tomintoul Nessie's Monster Mash" in the 500-book, for reasons mentioned earlier.

• Name: Cairngorm Nessie's Monster Mash, 4.4%, Scotland
• Appearance: Dark redish brown. Little bit of off-white head.
• Aroma: Malt and dark fruit. Maybe some coffee.
• Taste: Nice malt and a bit burnt/smokey. Coffee?
• Bought: Beers of Europe, 500 ml, £1.89
• Overall score: 3/6
• Info: 1/8-2007, 180/500