Hazelnut Brownie (6.3%) - Batemans Brewery, Lincolnshire, England

I might have something approaching an oversupply of beers from my new Spanish region of Galicia developing, but since Christmas I've had something different put aside for a special occasion. That something different was a unique English ale by Batemans Brewery that my girlfriend had bestowed on me, and that special occasion was Friday.

The label on Hazelnut Brownie, as with the other beers in Batemans' Sovereign range, has undergone a bit of a rebranding with a contemporary typographic look in favour of the more homely, rustic appearance that it used to sport on its beer pumps. Batemans is keen to highlight its long heritage, though, with its big wax stamp and the year it was founded, 1874, proudly displayed on the front. 

Lincolnshire within England

No sooner is the cap cracked off than the beer's lusciously fragrant aroma starts permeating the space around you without even needing to edge your nose closer to it. I shoved my nose down the bottle neck for a bigger hit anyway, sending my brain into a chocolatey frenzy before the stuff had even left the bottle. Once it had been given a swill around my glass, rich, creamy aromas of chocolate and sweet malts were diffusing apace. It was clear at this point that this would be no subtle interpretation of a hazelnut brownie.

It pours a gorgeous dark mahogany, with a generous coffee-coloured head that gathers and dissipates cleanly. If you've noticed that this is the only blog post of mine where that hasn't been captured in a photo then you'd be right: my chocolate-scrambled brain forced me to dive in straight away before I could.

Soon after doing so my cakehole was filled with the most ridiculously uncanny resemblance to a brownie I'd ever sampled from a beer glass. Sweet chocolate was there in abundance along with a touch of cinnamon spice and a distinct hazelnut finish that was too good to believe it could be true until I went back for more.

While it wouldn't hurt for the body to be a bit fuller, it's certainly as rich and decadent in flavour as it could be and manages to impart a creaminess, I assume from the use of lactose, that could have you believe you'd had it served up with custard, warmed up by the 6.3% ABV.

Quirky, dessert inspired beers are nothing new, but what sets Hazelnut Brownie apart from so many others I've tried is that you don't need to use your imagination to convert those dark roasted malts and reinterpret them as chocolate; this one does all the work for you. Whether this sensation has been achieved solely with the creative use of malt, hops, chocolate and cinnamon I can't say for sure, but who cares? It tastes like what you wanted it to when you picked it up off the shop shelf.

Appearance 4/5

Aroma 5/5

Flavour 5/5

Mouthfeel 3/5

Overall 8.5/10

Head here for Batemans' website  

Head here for a review of Batemans' English B Bock

English B Bock (6%) - Batemans Brewery, Lincolnshire, England

On my perusal of the beer aisles in a Sainsbury's one evening I noticed a label I hadn't seen in any other supermarkets. That's because English B Bock, from Batemans Brewery in Wainfleet, Lincolnshire was the winner of the Sainsbury's 2013 Beer Challenge and is therefore exclusively available there. It's the second year in a row that a Batemans beer has won a place in all of Sainsbury's stores, and that's all the persuasion I needed to take one home with me. 

Lincolnshire within England

The label is eye-catching if only for its in-your-face simplicity, depicting a hostile-looking billygoat on a bright red background. If you're wondering what the goat has to do with anything, don't worry, it has nothing to do with the ingredients, but the name. "Bock" is the name given to a particular German beer style which originated in a northern German town called Einbeck, but when Bavarians in the south started brewing it and talking about it in their native Bavarian accents, they would pronounce it Oanbock, giving rise to the name of the beer style "bock", which already happened to be the German word for "goat". So for those purely accidental linguistic reasons you'll more often than not see a picture of a goat on a bottle of bock as a charming visual joke. Who said the Germans didn't have a sense of humour? As for what the first "B" stands for, that's anyone's guess. "Batemans"? "Belligerent goat"?

The description "Bavarian style strong ale" might raise an eyebrow or two among anyone who's spent any time in the area as, if you were sober enough to remember, lager is the refreshment of choice in that part of the world. Still, this is an English twist on the German-inspired theme and Batemans Brewery have done a heck of a job. 

The beer pours a wonderful deep mahogany, although the head was feeble next to the powerful froth typical of the style it's emulating, but as soon as it's left the bottle it's already as pleasant to the nose as it is the eyes. With toffee, rum and raisin and some floral and peppery notes, you can tell it's going to be rich.

Well, it's not just rich, it's extreme. Jam-packed full of six different malts, that billygoat smacks you over the tongue with the malts and tramples them right in. Toffee, licorice, tobacco, wheat, raisins and sultanas all come through, and an alcoholic flavour is present in that it almost tastes as if it's been aged in a whisky barrel. The Bavarian Hallertau hops add some peppery and floral flavours, and there are some punchy sour notes in there too.

The texture is full-bodied with a heavy layer of malts coating the tongue and lingering on and on, and a nice warming sensation comes from the 6% ABV (which, by the way, although strong by UK standards is weak compared with German bocks which range from 6-12%).

It's clear the aim wasn't to replicate the bock style but to pay tribute to it in an English way, and this rich and complex yet very drinkable and quenching beer is a fantastic achievement. Batemans suggest a food pairing of pork pies on the back of the bottle, and I can wholeheartedly agree that would be a damn fine accompaniment. 

Beer Belly's rating:

Appearance 4/5

Aroma 5/5

Flavour 5/5

Mouthfeel 5/5

Total 9.5/10