Angel Amber Ale (4.3%) - Wylam Brewery, Northumberland, England

On a trip up to the rich, green and wooded landscape of Northumberland, I happened upon a coffee shop in the middle of nowhere that emerged out of obscurity like a mirage. I was relieved to find it because I was in severe need of a coffee, but was even more relieved when a refrigerator presented itself to me within, several different local beers perched atop its shelves. Thankfully, this was no mirage.

Having to choose between them, I went for Angel Amber Ale from Wylam Brewery, partly due to the iconic Angel of the North pictured on the label that the beer itself was brewed to celebrate in 2008. If it had stood the test of time since then, then it had to be worth a try.

Northumberland within England

The beer pours an amber colour as promised on the label, producing a fairly small head that fizzles out.

The combination of four different malts and Cascade hops revealed on the label sounded like they would give way to an interesting mix of sweet, citrusy and herbal characteristics, leaving me not quite knowing what to expect. The aroma turned out to be very pleasant, presenting sweet toffee and chocolate notes from the malts, the hops bringing out very floral and aromatic characteristics with nutmeggy and herbal notes. Sultanas and glazed cherries could be detected in there too, evoking the gorgeous scent of a fruitcake. 

Everything comes at you at once when you take a swig, all the flavours working very well together. Every part of your tongue gets to enjoy the various characteristics in this beer, sweet toffee offset by bitter treacle and fruity woodland berries along with spicy herbal notes, all in all producing something extremely rich and wholesome. The Cascade hops liven it up to no end bringing out all its best characteristics, like a well-seasoned steak.

A long, dry finish leaves you with hints of fruitcake and a nice light black tea flavour that linger on once you've swallowed.

This beer impressed me. An interesting combination of malts an hops has produced something that's quite familiar yet unique, traditional but spiced up. This, as it mentions on the label, is "proper beer". Whyaye man!

Appearance 3/5

Aroma 4.5/5

Flavour 5/5

Mouthfeel 4/5

Beer Belly's rating 8/10

Brewery details

Website: www.wylambrewery.co.uk

Twitter: @wylambrewery

Late Red (4.5%) - Shepherd Neame Brewery, Kent, England

We're about to leave the autumn months behind so I had to grab this one while it was still on the shelves. Late Red from "Britain's oldest brewer", Shepherd Neame in Faversham, Kent, is a seasonal autumn ale available from September to November. Full of auburn and copper colours on the label, it pictures hops dangling in the late autumn sunset, hinting at what flavours might lie inside.

The clear, characteristically Shepherd Neame-shaped bottle allows a good view of the wonderfully deep amber-ruby liquid inside, although we all know what that could mean: light strike.

It looks just as good in the glass, although the fizzy, off-white head doesn't amount to much and quickly fizzles into nothing.

Nosing about for some aroma, I pick up on berries, something roasted and a hint of toffee along with some hoppy citrus and a slightly herbal aroma from the Cascade and local East Kent Goldings hops, although the aromas are faint and hard to pin down.

Kent within England

Once I dive in the flavours become clearer, with a bittersweet mouthful of sweet toasted malts swishing around with herbal, floral and peppery flavours finishing with a dry and bitter aftertaste. Although complex in nature, I can't help feeling the flavours are a bit too diluted and accompanied by an unpleasant taste of soap (and that's not my fault - I gave the glass a good rinsing).

Late Red started off promising but the more it warmed up, the less I got on with it. Instead of bringing out the character, which is what a warmer temperature should do, it made me wonder if among those crisp autumn leaves a few had been blown out of a gutter.

The crisp, toasted, floral nature of Late Red makes it impressively fitting for this time of year, but if I pick one up again it will have to be chilled enough to mask some of the less welcome flavours.

   

Beer Belly's rating:

Appearance 3/5

Aroma 3/5

Flavour 2/5

Mouthfeel 2/5

Total 5/10