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.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 3.8%. Deep golden to amber colour, low head. Nice aroma of toffee, with a touch of citrussy hops. Light bodied. Dry flavour, with a solid dose of unusual hops (Savinsky Goldings and Green Bullet), some citrussy notes and a sharp bitter finish.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 4.3%. Pitch black colour, low head, minimal carbonation. Nice roasty aroma with notes of coffee and chocolate, hints of liquorice. Dry roasty flavour, coffee notes, hints of liquorice, bitter finish.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 4.1%. Amber colour, low head. Nutty and toffee aroma. The flavour has nutty malts, followed by a moderate bitterness from American hops. Fairly dry.

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

Cask conditioned at The Quakerhouse, Darlington. ABV is 4.4%. Copper coloured beer, creamy off-white head. Malty aroma and flavour, hints of toffee and wood, fairly dry. Moderate hops in the finish. Smooth mouthfeel.

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

Cask conditioned at The Quakerhouse, Darlington. ABV is 4.5%. Golden colour, creamy white head. Moderate fruity aroma, hints of tropical fruits. Reasonably hoppy flavour with a medium bitterness, and enough malts to support it.

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

Cask conditioned at The Quakerhouse, Darlington. ABV is 5.0%. Very dark ruby colour, nearly black. Moderate tan head. Roasty aroma, notes of dark chocolate. I expected an "Irish" dry stout, but the flavour is surprisingly sweet and sugary. The mouthfeel is not very rich though. Roasty notes, black sweetened coffee, some chocolate.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 4.6%. Chestnut colour, low head. Malty and nutty aroma. Nutty flavour, a hint of caramel, but very dry for a dunkel. Fairly bitter hops in the finish.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. Deep golden colour, low head. Lovely aroma of fruity hops, notes of tropical fruits / passion fruit. The flavour is also dominated by fruity hops, hints of tropical fruits, could use a little more citrussy freshness, but still good. One of the better beers of the festival.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. Brown colour, low head. Nice malty aroma, hints of toffee and Scotch whisky. Dry flavour, malts and decent hops, a hint of Scotch whisky again. One of the better beers of the festival.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 5.6%. Copper colour, slightly hazy. Low off-white head. Malty aroma with notes of caramel. The flavour is both malty sweet and well hopped, with a dry and very sharp bitter finish. The alcohol is noticeable. I think a cooler temperature and more CO2 would have helped this one.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival 2011. ABV is 4.0%. Golden colour, low head. Moderate aroma of fudge, butterscotch and some fruit. Smooth flavour, some butterscotch and a little citrus. Hoppy finish.

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

Cask conditioned at The Old Yard Tapas Bar, Darlington. Golden colour, low but lasting creamy head. Very moderate aroma, a little fruity hops and pale malts. Soft mouthfeel. Tolerably hoppy flavour, very drinkable.

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

Cask conditioned at The Market Tavern, Durham, as Derwent Whitwell & Marks Pale Ale, but I assume this is the same beer. ABV is the same, 4.4%. Golden colour, moderate white head. Moderate aroma, a whiff of fruit, a hint of sulphur. Smooth flavour, some bitterness in the finish, becomes sharp in the aftertaste.

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

Cask conditioned at The Market Tavern, Durham. ABV is 4.1%. Mahogany coloured beer, nice and creamy beige head. Strong aroma of caramel and chocolate, also fruit liqueur chocolates. Smooth mouthfeel. Nice flavour of chocolate and caramel, some hops in the finish.

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

Cask conditioned at The Shakespeare, Durham. Copper coloured beer, low head. Malty aroma, notes of toffee and nuts. The flavour is fairly well balanced between the malts and hops, nutty notes.

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

Cask conditioned at The Shakespeare, Durham. Deep golden colour, low head. Fruity and floral notes in the aroma. The flavour is slightly fruity and medium bitter.

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

500 ml bottle, bought at Newcastle Intl Airport. ABV is 5.1%. Chestnut colour, big beige head. Aroma of lightly roasted and dry malts, a touch of caramel and spices, hints of cold coffee. The flavour is medium dry with hints of caramel and dark fruits, again lightly roasted malts with a roasty ("coffee") and hoppy bitterness in the finish. Very drinkable.

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

500 ml bottle, bought at Newcastle Intl Airport. ABV is 3.5%. Copper colour, moderate off-white head. Moderate aroma with some malty and nutty notes, hints of caramel and English hops. Light bodied, as expected from a 3.5% beer, but the fairly dry flavour has some nutty malts, a slight acidity, and a distinct and slightly metallic hoppy bitterness in the finish.

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

500 ml bottle, from The Cheese & Wine Shop, Darlington. ABV is 8.3%. Amber colour, large to moderate off-white head. Aroma of "dusty" malts, toffee and caramel, also dark dried fruits and some vinous notes. Smooth mouthfeel. The flavour has malts, caramel and dark dried fruits, also vinous hints with oak. Moderate hops. Easy drinking for its strength. Would buy again.

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

500 ml bottle, kindly shared by gunnar. ABV is 10.4%. Very dark ruby colour, nearly black. Fine tan head. Lovely complex aroma, vinous, smoked, burnt, malty. The flavour is very smoked, peaty, tarry and oaky, sweet and roasty. Not a classical barley wine by any stretch of the mind, more of a "smoked imperial porter" in my book.

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

500 ml bottle, from The Cheese & Wine Shop, Darlington. ABV is 4.5%. Black colour, large to moderate tan head. Aroma of roasted barley and cold coffee, hints of ashes. Dry flavour, roasty notes of coffee and dark chocolate, a hint of ashes again. Moderate bitterness.