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

(750 ml corked bottle, champagne style. Bought in Denmark.). A Christmas beer in August, why not? Amber colour, large fizzy head that doesn’t last very long. Pleasant and complex aroma of oak, caramel, dried fruits and spices. I find the flavour less complex, maybe because of the beer’s fizzyness. Still it is reasonably malty and easily drinkable, fairly sweet. Aftertaste is OK but not impressive.

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

750 ml champagne style corked bottle, bought in Denmark. Pleasant fruity and yeasty aroma. Clear golden colour, good head. A light bodied (despite 6.5% ABV) blonde ale, aimed to please - and it does. Flavour is fruity sweet but not cloying, just a faint hint of spices. Easy drinking, some other raters seem to have expected a strong and dark Belgian to hit them in the head - forget that, this is a delicate French blonde to be savoured for what it is. I like it!

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

Rerate, cask conditioned at the Robin Hood & Little John, a large Greene King pub in Cherry Hinton, Cambridge. The Old Speck’ was in perfect nick, even better than the bottled version which I think is fairly decent for a pasteurized beer. Nut brown colour, low head. Aroma and flavour of nuts, toffee and caramel with a nice but not overdone hoppiness throughout. A solid pint from this ever-expanding regional (now national) brewery, much better than the cask Abbot Ale that I had afterwards. Original rating: (500 ml bottle). Beautiful brown / dark golden colour, moderate to low head. Moderate malty aroma, malty flavour with a good bitterness. A decent ale I always come back too, as it's now available in Norway.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

(330 ml capped bottle, bought at Borough Market, London.) Pours with a collossal head, beer is clear reddish brown but with an enormous amount of lumpy yeast floaties which are not dissolved in the beer when pouring, thus making the beer in the glass look rather unappetizing - you may actually feel the lumps when drinking. I normally prefer to pour the yeast in with most bottle conditioned beers (enhances the flavour IMO), even when the brewers tell me not to - but in this case it is definitely not to be recommended! Aroma is initially surprisingly mild and one-dimensional malty sweet, improves as the beer warms up - vinous notes with some toffee and oak appear. Flavour is caramelly, oaky and spicy, with a nice alcoholic warmth. Decent enough, if disregarding the lumps.

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

Cask conditioned at The Old Thameside Inn, Southwark, London, Christmas 2004. Dark brown colour, moderate head. Malty and sherry-like aroma. Flavour is nutty, caramel, treacle. Decent. Finish is a bit watery.

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

330 ml bottle. Chestnut colour, large head. Vinous aroma, claret, caramel, spices. Malty aroma where the sweetness is well balanced with decent hops. Elements of caramel, liquorice, dark chocolates and some spices. Nice warming mouthfeel. Definitely a beer I’ll buy again when I can find it.

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

(250 ml bottle). Dark but clear red-brown colour, large fluffy head. Aroma of heather honey, caramel and plums. Flavour is malty sweet, some caramel, very little hops, watery-dusty (does that make sense?) finish. OKish, but not remarkable.

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

Cask conditioned at the Prince of Wales, Wimbledon, London, Christmas 2004. This winter seasonal is very different from the ordinary Directors bitter. Mahogany brown colour, low head. Aroma has malts, dark fruits, sherry and oak. Sweetish flavour, notes of sherry, dried fruits and Christmas cake. Reminds me of a Scottish "heavy" with Christmas elements added. Low bitterness. At 5.5% ABV, alcohol is evident but not overwhelmingly so. Interesting.

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

Rerate, cask at the Station Hotel, Ipswich: Some of the same English malt vinegar aroma as Courage Best, but the flavour is fuller and richer with more pronounced hops. Original rating, 4.1: (Cask conditioned). One of my favourite English Bitters. Perhaps not so very special, but always drinkable.

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

Cask conditioned at the Prince of Wales, Wimbledon, London, Christmas 2004. Copper coloured. Nutty, pleasant, hints of Christmas spices. Very nice Christmas ale with a moderate ABV.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Yep, 'neutral' is the word here. OKish pils for the summer heat in Greece, not worth buying anywhere else. Very pale colour, weak aroma and flavour.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

(660 ml bottle). Standard golden colour lager. Initial good thick head that doesn't last very long. Standard lager aroma and flavour, reminds me of Amstel. Not very exciting.

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

330 ml bottle. Golden colour, low to none head. Fruity aroma, hints of strawberries. Pale bock qualities, alcoholic warmth. Not bad, but not remarkable either.

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

Pale golden colour, light bodied, an average / run of the mill lager in every sense. Nothing offensive about it, but Peroni Nastro Azzurro is better. It's so average it could be named "Neville Chamberlain" without bringing shame to the name.

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

Pale golden colour, good head. Moderate flowery and citrussy aroma. A clean, fresh tasting lager. Nothing remarkable, but a great beer to wash down a spicy pizza.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 5

(330 ml bottle). Copper coloured, a slight haziness, moderate but relatively thick beige head. Malty sweet aroma, caramel. Flavour is again malty sweet with some caramel - definitely too sweet. One-dimensional. Thin mouthfeel despite the sweetness. The brewers claim they have used "organic grown hops" - maybe those hops were organic to a degree that they were left to rot on their stems, ’cause there sure is no trace that any of them have been used in this beer! Very disappointing.

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. This is now the only cask ale from Felinfoel. Chestnut colour. Malty aroma, hints of sulphur. Flavour is malty sweet, sulphurous and dusty. Very low on hops. Dusty aftertaste.

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

(500 ml bottle.) Beautiful copper colour, nice thick head. Aroma and flavour of cinnamon, vanilla, caramel and toffee. Christmas cake notes in the flavour, some hoppy bitterness. Relatively light bodied despite the "Christmasy" elements, doesn’t taste like 6% ABV. I’m not too fond of the strong sweetish vanilla notes in the aroma, but this is a pleasant enough Christmas seasonal to drink. Wouldn’t care much for this as an all year beer, though - but it isn’t. Cool label! Cheerio, Sophie me’ lass!

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

Cask at The Hogshead, Ipswich. Deep amber to brown colour. Moderate aroma of English malt vinegar and plums. Flavour is dusty malty with notes of malt vinegar and sour fruits. Dusty hops finish.

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

(275 ml corked bottle.) Bottled in 2004 ( I couldn’t wait). Dark copper colour, slightly hazy, large tan head. Intense and beguiling aroma of raspberries and blackberries, spices, oak and vintage port wine or sherry. Flavour is a bit raw in the edges, as expected for a bottle this fresh. There’s plenty of sweet (but not cloying) flavour elements of malts, caramel, raisins, plum pudding, spices and old sherry. Just enough hops to stand up to the sweetness. Warming mouthfeel - I suspect the ABV had already crept well above the stated 9%. This beer really is something special! Now, I wish I had a few more bottles available for cellaring - and the character to keep them for a few years!

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

(Draught) Good stuff - try it with a solid German meal! Rerate: I still think this is an excellent brew, but was too generous with the points the first time. Rerate bottle: Not as good as draught, but still good, even without a meal! - but I maintain that it's the perfect accompaniment with German pork dishes. Great lasting head, cloudy dark brown colour, moderate aroma and flavour of spices and lightly roasted malts. The guys who think it tastes like flat Coke should probably stick to Coke.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 4

This is the worst German Pilsener I've ever tasted. It has an unpleasantly bitter flavour and aftertaste, which becomes metallic in the end.

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

A pilsener as good as pilseners get. Rerate: Had it from can this time, still the benchmark of a good pilsener. Only 4.4% now, but I remember (I think!) that the alcohol content was about 5.2% when I first had it (in Germany) many years ago?!

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

This is a crisp German pilsener with a considerable hoppy bitterness. Been a while since I had it, can't get it in Norway so far. Rerate on tap in Hamburg: Light bodied, but dominated by a distinct hoppy bitterness from start to finish. Typical Northern German pilsener style.

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

330 ml painted lightproof bottle, ABV 9.0%. Large head, surprisingly pale golden colour, slightly cloudy when yeast is poured. Excellent aroma, red fruits, barnyard and yeast, some oak. Flavour is reasonably malty, quite yeasty. Alcoholic warmth, relatively light bodied despite its strength. Aftertaste is a bit too sweet IMO. Overall quality does not quite live up to the beer's gimmicky name and bottle.