Review: Adnam's Broadside

Name: Broadside (Bottled Strong Best Bitter)
Brewery: Adnams, Southwold
ABV: 6.3%
Style: Strong Best Bitter
Season: Autumn/Winter

Availability: Available in most good supermarkets.

Try if you like: Strong ales, Thwaites Old Dan, Fullers Golden Pride, golden & dark rum.

The coming of December and the festive time really does call for a drop of this mighty Frigate of an ale: with a wonderfully punchy strength of 6.3%, Broadside delivers a punch of both alcohol and flavour. It is a sip perfect for this time of year with its wonderful blend of chocolate malts and fresh Pale Ale malts to create a fruity, rich and full bodied bomber of a beer. You could easily be fooled into thinking Christmas Puddings have been spiked with this stuff for centuries as cascades of presevered fruit-cake notes and treacly plumbs are followed up by the hint of bitterness in every mouthful. It finishes Demerara-sweet and with a real rush to the head from the punchy ABV (hence the Broadside choice, perhaps!). This is an absolute beauty of a strong, comforting bear-hug of a ruby beer. With a bottle of this around, who needs chestnuts on an open fire? Open fire with a Broadside! 

http://adnams.co.uk/beer/our-beers/adnams-broadside/

Review: Old Hooky

Name: Old Hooky
Brewery: Hook Norton, Oxfordshire
ABV: 4.6%
Style: Amber Ale
Season: Autumnal

Availability: Most major supermarkets.

Old Hooky is a beer I'd heard some good things about (lots of 'Top Ales of GB' lists make a nod to Old Hooky) and so I had to get myself a bottle. To summarise, I feel like this beer is inches away from perfection but with a disposition like mine, crashes swiftly away from it at the last minute. It's all about the back of the palate and the finish. Pouring out this Amber ale was like watching maple syrup settle into my glass and the light froth bubbling up promised a slightly carbonated body, which certainly made itself known upon the sip: not too gassy mind, just the right amount to lift it beyond becoming weighty. At first taste, I thought this would be a very rapid addition to my favourites list: a malty front which provides a sweetness along similar lines to darker sugars and there are definite whispered hints of toffee or caramel in the air. Surprisingly, there is a floral note - an earthiness that reminds me of fallen autumn leaves: a real freshness that cuts straight through that demerara element to create a finish on the back of the palette that is, for me, just far too bitter. This final finish spoiled the deIivery for me (anyone who has read my previous reviews on Old Peculiar and Darkside will know I have a penchant for the sweeter side of taste) and I found that, the more I drank, the more this bitterness completely overthrew the pleasure of the sugared malt and all that delicate floral edge was torn apart by clumsy hop bitters. If you prefer your pint slightly more on the bitter side (like a Windsor & Eton Guardsman) then this may really appeal but if, like me, you prefer the morish and malty, you'd best head for something sweeter like the mighty Cornish Doombar or Bath Ales incredible Gem (which I cannot wait to review soon!).