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

Cask at the Number Twenty-2, Darlington. Copper colour, low white head. Moderate aroma of malts, toffee and caramel. Malty flavour with some nutty notes, moderate hops in the finish.

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

Cask at the Number Twenty-2, Darlington. Very dark brown colour, creamy beige head. Both aroma and flavour are excellent blends of malts and dark ripe fruits, also hints of caramel and nuts, nice bitter finish.

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

Cask at the Number Twenty-2, Darlington, as Burton Bridge Burton Ale, but I assume this is the same beer. Copper colour, creamy off-white head. Malty aroma and flavour, nutty and biscuity notes. The aroma also has some fruity notes. Tolerably well hopped finish.

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

Cask conditioned at the Number Twenty-2, Darlington. Golden colour, moderate white head. Moderate flowery aroma. Elderflowers? Floral and hoppy flavour.

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

Cask at the Number Twenty-2, Darlington. Black colour, ruby in the highlights, creamy beige head. Nice aroma of mildly roasted malts, mild coffee and chocolate. Smooth mouthfeel. Roasty flavour, medium sweet (or medium dry, if you like), notes of coffee.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 4.0%. Pale golden colour, low head. Nice citrussy aroma. Distinctly bitter hoppy flavour, but has too weak body to support the bitterness. Still props to Durham for daring to brew hoppy ales, while so many other English breweries are "playing safe" with boring beers.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 3.9%. Pale golden colour, low head. The aroma is moderate with some citrus. "Dusty" and unpleasant flavour, a little citrussy hop is not enough to save this beer. Fail.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 6.0%. Brown to copper colour, low head. Malty aroma, some caramel, nuts and dust. Dry flavour, tolerably hopped, but not as much as expected. Some fruit in the finish.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 5.0%. Festival description: "Golden ale, an explosion of hops on the palate resulting in a satisfying zesty aftertaste." My notes: Amber colour, low head. Dry and dusty malts in the aroma. Dry flavour, nothing at all like the description. Not much of an "explosion of hops" here. Makes you wonder if they have put on the right beer ...

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

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 7.2%. Amber colour, moderate head. Fairly nice aroma, some fruit and malts. The flavour has also fruit and malts, but is not too sweet. Decent hops in the finish.

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

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 4.2%. Golden colour, low head. Moderate hops in the aroma. Very well hopped flavour throughout, with a nice bitterness.

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

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 4.5%. Golden colour, low head. Moderate aroma of fruity and herbal hops. Tolerably hopped flavour, but not nearly as fruity as promised.

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

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 4.5%. Golden colour, low head. Moderate aroma and flavour of fruity and piney American hops, in a more subdued English version of an APA. Quite nice.

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

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 5.2%. Golden colour, low head. Moderate aroma of fruity hops, hints of honey. The flavour is medium sweet with moderate hops, some honeyish notes.

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

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 4.0%. Medium dark brown colour, low head. Moderate nutty and slightly roasty aroma, also notes of chocolate. The flavour has also some mild roasty notes, malty with notes of chocolate.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 4.0%. Colour somewhere between pink and orange, low head. Aroma of watered-down cherry soft drinks, a hint of marzipan. Thin mouthfeel. Flavour of a pale bitter with cherry flavouring added, very slight acidity. Definitely not a fruit lambic, but fairly refreshing.

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

Cask at the Number Twenty-2, Darlington. ABV is 4.2%. Copper colour, creamy off-white head. Moderate malty aroma, notes of toffee. Moderate malty and nutty flavour, "dusty" hops in the finish.

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

From the barrel (gravity) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 5.2%. Pale golden colour, just a slight haze. Nice aroma of pears and apples, hints of oak and sulphites. Light bodied, medium dry flavour of pears.

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

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing beer festival 2011. ABV is 3.6%. Black colour, ruby in the highlights, low beige head. Aroma of nutty and slightly roasted malts, hints of coffee. Nutty and dry flavour, notes of weak coffee. Medium bitter espresso aftertaste, hints of ashes.

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

Cask (handpump), as Heart of Wales Inn Stable, at the Darlington Spring Thing beer festival 2011. ABV was 6.8%, according to the festival programme. Cloudy orange colour, low head. Aroma of unfermented wort, fruity and grassy (or rather: hay-like) hops. Poor condition, the flavour seems "unfinished" and "raw". Some caramel, hops and fusel alcohols, quite dry. Not much to brag about.

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

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing beer festival 2011. ABV is 3.7%. Golden colour, low head. Aroma of butterscotch and pale wort. The flavour is smooth with some grainy notes, tolerable New Zealand hops in the finish and aftertaste.

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

Cask (handpump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 4.4%. Very dark brown colour, cloudy, nearly black. Aroma of moderately roasted malts, thin coffee, fruit, chocolate and vanilla. The flavour is very fruity for a stout, moderate roasty notes of coffee and dark bitter chocolate. Quite drinkable.

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

Cask (hand pump), at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 4.6%. Very dark ruby colour, nearly black. Low beige head. Aroma of roasted barley and coffee. Roasty flavour, plenty of roasty and hoppy bitterness in the finish. Hints of English liquorice.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 3.8%. North Riding Hotel has won numerous awards as one of Scarborough’s best pubs, and they have recently taken to brewing their own beer. (I visited once, before they commenced brewing. They still serve additional beers from other breweries, as demand is outstripping their own production.) Golden colour, moderate white head. Moderate aroma, hints of fruity and grassy hops, hints of sulphur. The flavour is quite dry, ending in a very sharp bitterness.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 6.3%. Very dark ruby colour, nearly black. Moderate beige head. Very nice vinous aroma, hints of oak and ripe red fruits. The flavour has a certain fruitiness with vinous notes, but is not very sweet. Moderately bitter finish with woody notes. One of the better beers of the festival.