Old Empire IPA (5.7%) - Marston's Brewery, Staffordshire, England

After a spree of brews this year that have been either Californian or Spanish, I felt it was about time I reconnected with my beery roots - and it doesn't get much more traditional than an English IPA brewed in Burton-Upon-Trent, where once a quarter of all British beer was produced and the local water is known to enhance the flavour of the hops.

Wanting to see the full 500ml in the glass with its magnificent creamy head (and being without a pint glass, believe it or not) I went for a weizen glass that showed off every inch of the the golden amber liquid bubbling away inside. 

Anything with the letters IPA on it nowadays brings the expectation of being smacked round the nose by a hop overload that may or may not make your eyes water, but this traditional style IPA goes back to its 19th-century origins, producing the delicate but distinctive, earthy, herbal and sweet floral aromas created by Fuggles and Goldings hops - though Marston's have added a touch of American Cascade for an extra citrus freshness and, I suspect, a nod to the 21st century. 

Staffordshire within England

One swig of this beauty brings a rush of fruity woodland berries, spicy pepper and a touch of grapefruit bitterness, balanced perfectly with bready, toasted biscuit malts and the slightest hint of treacle. 

Thick and smooth with a crisp, dry finish, I enjoyed this brew at room temperature to make the most of its rich and full-bodied character, along with the gorgeous warming sensation from the 5.7% ABV.

A rebrand in 2016 saw the label (along with the rest of Marston's range) undergo a transformation from a much more understated design to the more contemporary look we see here, in a bid to attract younger drinkers in the face of new drinking trends. While it can't be denied that its appearance has been rejuvenated, I do wonder whether this will lead to misunderstandings about the nature of the IPA in the bottle, which the craft-drinking youth of today might not be so well-versed in.

After spending a long time being swept up by the lairier New World IPA's that have come to dominate the style, this was a delicious reminder that there's a whole other side to the IPA family that deserves to be visited every now and again. And again, and again, and again...

Rating ★★★★★★★★✰✩

🍻Cheers us on Facebook🍻

The brewery
Website here
Facebook page here

Where to buy
£1.65 from Morrisons

Palpita (5.8%) - Cervezas Yakka, Murcia, Spain

In a country where the mention of beer normally calls to mind the mass-produced lager of that region, a quiet rebellion is taking place. As beer guzzlers nationwide develop a growing curiosity for brews with depth and flavour, craft brewers drawing their inspiration from further afield are springing up and catering for ever-inquisitive palates.

Palpita, a name which refers to the beat of a heart, pours an inviting, slightly hazy golden straw colour with an active carbonation that sees bubbles rising quickly to the surface.

Murcia within Spain

While the aroma was subtle on the nose at first, as my brew neared room temperature those classic blonde ale aromas of sweet bready malts and subtle light fruits came to the fore.

The flavour certainly didn't hold back though, gushing forth with a sweet, bready malt backing underpinning spicy clove, fruity hints and a touch of hop bitterness, creating a pleasantly intense and complex character that got my ticker fluttering like a Murcian flag in the breeze.

Full-bodied, thick and juicy, this is a brew that's easy to get your chops around, rounded off with a crisp, medium-dry toasted finish and a pleasing lingering warmth from the 5.8% ABV to warm the cockles of your heart. 

This Belgian-inspired Murcian blonde ale is modest yet packed with character, and can be enjoyed as a chilled, refreshing quencher or savoured as a slow-sipper to your palpitating heart's content. 

Appearance 4/5

Aroma 3/5

Flavour 4/5

Mouthfeel 4/5

Overall 7.5/10

🍻Cheers us on Facebook🍻

Palpita on TV:

Palpita online:
Website here
Facebook page here

Where to buy:
1,70€ on Cervezas Diferentes

La Goudale (7.2%) - Brasserie de Gayant, Nord-Pas-De-Calais Region, France

I nabbed this beer (along with a trolley-load of others) from a French supermarket on the way to Belgium a few months ago, and after trying a few from this part of the world it's become clear that there's one prevalent style to have emerged from France and that's the farmhouse ale, or "keeping beer". Farmhouse-style being free-style in nature, though, means it's not necessarily predictable as we're about to find out.

La Goudale describes itself on the label as a traditional blonde beer of "high fermentation". What it means by that is that it's brewed in the style of an ale rather than a continental lager (i.e. with top-fermenting yeasts), which brings me to the name of the beer. "Goudale", as it explains on the label, was how the people of 14th century France would describe "good beer". In other words, "goudale" is a corruption of "good ale". And as if looking across the channel towards Blighty for a term to describe decent beer wasn't a big enough compliment, they went one step further to take the English term and make a new word out of it that even we don't have by referring to people who sold the stuff as "goudaliers".

It's a simple yellow-coloured label with the name of the beer printed on it in a kind of calligraphy style font and two small motifs of some hops and barley.

The beer itself is a nice clear, golden-copper colour (not represented in the photographs, I must admit) topped with a smooth, white head with good retention and some superb lacing down the glass once you get round to sipping it down. Bubbling lively from the bottom (of the glass, that is), it almost looks like a slightly darker lager. Since both other French farmhouse ales I've tried have been cloudy with sediment suspended in the glass, I was surprised to see this one pour clear. In this case, they must have decided to filter it.

On the nose it’s very, very gentle. There was something sweet lurking in there with the faintest hint of something herbal, but nothing concrete I could put my finger on. 

In the flavour, though, I wasn't disappointed. The first thing that came to mind once I'd had a sip was that it tasted different from the other ales I'd had from the same style (which isn't that unusual, given that it's a bit of an "anything goes" style, although you normally get similarities across the board).

My second impression came after a few seconds when, out of nowhere, the flavour developed into something else. Starting off fairly nondescript like the aroma, a bit of a malty sweetness going on with a slight herbal influence, you're suddenly faced with a wave of bready malts and honey and some stone fruits, along with some spicy hops and some Belgian-tasting clove flavours too. This then washes down when you swallow, allowing the 7.2% abv to warm your throat on the way down.

This lively wash of flavours makes it hard to pin down exactly what’s going on with the flavour, but what I can be sure of is a total absence of the mustiness I've experienced in other French keeping beers. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

After tasting the beer, with a helping hand from the effects of retro-nasal olfaction, you actually get more from the aroma when you go back to it. This time you can pick out more stone fruits, even some apple in there, and the bready aromas are complemented by some more hoppy, spicy and floral ones.

It’s medium-bodied with moderate carbonation, leaving a smooth mouthfeel overall, not leaving the musty dryness that, again, would normally come with a French keeping beer.

In fact, La Goudale seems so clean on every level that I was left to wonder just how "traditional" it was, as it claims to be on the label.

Saying that, it has a few surprises in store with a flavour that waits until it's washing around comfortably in your mouth before showing what it's capable of. And, even at a respectable 7.2%, it remains very drinkable.

Appearance 4/5

Aroma 3/5

Flavour 3/5

Mouthfeel 3.5/5

Beer Belly's rating: 7/10

Brewery details

Website: www.brasseurs-gayant.com  
Twitter: @brasseursgayant

Boondoggle (5%) - Ringwood Brewery, Hampshire, England

"Down here in the New Forest," it says on the back of the label, "we call carefree, lazy days, 'Boondoggle days'". This beer from Ringwood brewery, situated just outside the New Forest in Hampshire has been conceived as just the excuse you need for a pint on those lazy, summer days (if an excuse is really what you needed). The free-living wild boar pictured chilling out on the bottle's golden-yellow label says it all.

Described as a blonde ale on the label, Boondoggle is probably darker than you'd expect. The colour of the label implies it will be a pilsneresque sparkly gold, but in reality what pours out is the kind of amber you're used to seeing from, well, an amber ale. The head is bright white, a little on the thin side and doesn't take long to disperse into a patchy layer with islands of small bubbles.

When I popped off the cap I was struck by the yeasty, bready aroma but once the first waft was out of the way mainly delicate hoppy, floral and herbal notes remained thanks to the First Gold and Fuggles hops. A combination of the yeast and citrus fruits with hints of marmalade remind me of a lemon drizzle cake; a combination I'm happy to try by all means.

Hampshire within England

Take a swig and you're presented with a thick and chewy liquid, smooth all but for the spicy tingling sensation on the back of the tongue which leaves a mildly dry finish, creating a moreish texture overall. The fruity flavour alternates nicely between sweet malts and bitter citrus, the bitter aftertaste becoming sweet and nutty when you exhale. It's interesting yet easy-going and certainly a fine candidate for a lazy summer session. Act with caution on a particularly warm day though, as the 5% ABV will make its presence felt!

Beer Belly's Rating:

Appearance 4/5

Aroma 3/5

Mouthfeel 4/5

Flavour 4/5

Total 7.5/10 

Have you tried Boondoggle from Ringwood Brewery? What do you think? Leave your comments and rating below!

Fursty Ferret (4.4%) - Badger Brewery, Dorset, England

Fursty Ferret from Badger, originally the product of the Gribble Inn in West Sussex, was the most popular beer at its original brew-pub and has been in the hands of Badger since 1991. The label tells a playful story of "inquisitive ferrets sneaking to the back door to sneekily sample the local brew", depicting the scene on the front of the bottle. Stories aside, the back of the label also includes some helpful information on what flavours to expect, as well as a suggested food pairing of West Country cheddar or indulgent pork pies and mustard. That sounds like a winning combination to me, but I'll reserve judgement until I've tasted what's in the bottle.

Fursty Ferret looks enticing on the shelves as Badger has taken the strange decision to use clear bottles. Allowing light to infiltrate the bottle will almost certainly put the beer at a high risk of developing a skunky odour, but who can resist when the light shining through makes the seductive golden amber liquid sitting behind the label lined with bits of shiny, reflective gold foil look so bright and sparkly? If not the colour, then the tactile bottle embossed with little leaves blowing in the wind will be enough to charm you into putting it in your basket.

The beer looks equally as appetising when you crack off the cap and pour it into your glass. A foamy, bubbly head gradually fades to a thin, patchy layer with a fair amount sticking to the glass on the way down.

You get a clue as to what Fursty's aroma is going to be like as soon as you release the cap, with a waft of it leaking out as soon as it gets the chance. There's nothing subtle about its aroma when you move in closer, with a sweet bread and honey aroma combined with a lightly spiced, mildly bitter citrus nose, along with a faint cooked vegetal smell of cabbage and celery which comes out the more you sniff around for it. Could these be the signs of a lightstruck brew? There's also a slightly spirity, alcoholic smell that reveals itself gradually. I don't find the aroma overly appetising, but its unique qualities pique my curiosity to find out more, and suddenly I feel like an inquisitive ferret peering into a barrel.

Dorset within England

Sometimes the taste of a strong-scented beer can be an anticlimax when it turns out not to be anywhere near as flavourful as you were led to believe, but Fursty Ferret packs as much of a punch in the taste as the smell. The rich maltiness is even more pronounced in the taste, leaving a sweet, bready aftertaste with hints of honey and burnt toffee which linger for a long while afterwards, coming back at you over and over again when you exhale. It attempts some balance with a mild peppery bitterness, but remains powerfully sweet and malty on the whole and hops are hardly anywhere to be found. 

It claims to be FURST quenching, but I don't find it refreshing or balanced enough to be able to achieve that. Its mildly carbonated, smooth, medium body does make it easy to get down, but I can't imagine the overpoweringly sweet flavours doing much to quench my thirst, although it does leave you with a pleasant warming sensation. It's certainly different and interesting, and not a passive beer that leaves you to make all the effort. This will definitely be one for you if you're crazy about malty flavours, and worth a try for the experience, but I wouldn't recommend it as a thirst quencher and think the suggested cheddar and pork pie accompaniment would be more than even the most self-indulgent ferret could handle.

Beer Belly's rating:

Appearance 3/5

Aroma 1/5

Flavour 2/5

Mouthfeel 4/5

Total 5/10

What do you think of Fursty Ferret from Badger Brewery? Agree? Disagree? Leave your comments and rating below!