Hambleton Nightmare

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours translucent cola brown with a thick and rather persistent light tan head. Aroma has roast malt, earthy and treacle notes. Flavor has bold earthy, roast malt, nutty and treacle tones with a woody hop underpinning. Smooth, if not viscous, texture lets it gallop down the pipes, leaving a persistent if not strong tingle. No nightmares here, just good beer.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Cask@GBBF2007. Deep amber colour, small brownish head. Aroma is caramel, smoked wood and a bit of roasted malts. Flavour is bigtime dark fruits along with hops, wood and slightly riped grapes.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

500 ml bottle, bought in Scarborough. Dark reddish brown colour, nearly black. Large and creamy tan head. Pleasant vinous aroma, notes of prunes and tobacco, hints of liquorice, chocolate and red wine vinegar. The mouthfeel is rich and creamy. Flavour of roasted malts, coffee and chocolate, a hint of liquorice. Moderate hops in the finish. Good beer!

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 10

Just the best porter commercially available in the UK at the moment. Fantastic dark pour with coffee foam head. real rosted barley notes superbly balanced hop charge. bring it on

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Well..., this is certianly a bit of a kick to the ol' noggin, this one.

No, not from the alcohol -- it clocks in a still relatively modest 5%ABV, that's not the catch here. No, this beer is a kick perhaps not in the head, but certianly to the taste buds.

"Extra Stout Porter" sounds like somehting of a misnomer at first, but really, it fits for this one. Much bigger and ballsy-er in the flavor profile than what you tend to to find in Porters -- from either side of the Atlantic, for the most part. Do Yorkshireman like their Porters a bit on the big n' burley side of things, or is this just an odd one-shot?

Hard to say. But either way, this is a nice roasty-as-roasty-can-get drop of beer, that rewards the brave, and dismisses those deemed unworthy. The lable features a horse (a mare, presumably) rearing up, but could perhaps also be looked at as if it were throwing a few well-placed boxing jabs and uppercuts. If you're not used to this sort of gumption in your porters, this might very well seem like a horseshoe jab upside the head...!

Had this with a thick chunk of Smoked Edam, which of course was overwelmed by the beer..., but did provide a nice counterpoint, to contrast & compare, as it were.

All told, this might well be considered to be the ultimate expression of a Yorkshire Mild cranked up to "11". "Extra Stout Porter", "Not-So-Mild Mild", or whatever else you want to call this, it's no matter: it's still a very nice and very hearty beer, and quite appealing, all told. Recommended.

Music: Paradise Host's "Host"
//TB

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

A faint bit of ruby light seeps through the center of this one. The light khaki head is airy and lasts long enough to get noticed. The aroma is nicely roasty over a bit of chocolate cake. The flavor is a bit of a letdown. While smooth, it comes across a little bland after the fairly rich aroma. Still quite drinkable.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 6

Pours black with an airy, brown head. Smells like rich chocolate cake. The flavor is clean & dry; bittersweet chocolate and piney hops dominate. Full-bodied, but not too heavy to drink a couple, and smooth.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Sampled from bottle. Pours clear, dark-brown with a creamy tan head and nice lacing. Aroma is deep, rich chocolate and flavor is balanced and dominated by chocolate with a hint of spicy hops. Nice and crisp with a bit of bitterness in the finish. Medium-bodied and moderate carbonation. An enjoyable beer experience, but not great enough to justify the $5.49/500ml.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

The flavour certainly carries well, a true porter if I ever had one. Mouthfeel is alittle thin. Posseses no smokiness but a bold roasted taste which is very aggreeable and most suitable for this style. The roastness comes through nicely in its bouquet and certainly adds the neccesary depth for the beers body. When held up to the light you notice a beautiful ruby brown, a sensational colour! The beer didn't overly-impress me Im sorry to say, but is for certain a good porter!

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

ruby dark brown colour, firm creamy head, toasted aroma of black chocolate, licorice, medium-bodied, slightly salty, solid bitterness in a long roasted coffeish finish - a beautiful beer