Camden Pale Ale (4%) - Camden Town Brewery, London

Holy moly, I'm on a role! It just goes to show what a few beery gifts and some law-enforced quarantine time can do. And lots of hard work and dedication to the cause, of course. 

After a string of tinnies I reached for this bottle, popped the cap with a pftsss here and a jingle jangle there, followed by the glug glug glug of its stunning golden amber insides flowing into my glass, surging with a lovely puffy head. 

On the nose there's a nice subtle waft of tropical and citrus notes, and a swig of the smooth and juicy liquid brings with it some bitter citrus notes balanced out by sweet pine, peppered with herbal grassy notes and a nicely toasted malt backing, all leading to a dry finish. A lot going on as you can see.

Camden in London

As promised on the bottle this pale ale goes about itself in a refined British way that makes it a bit more subtle and a lot more quaffable than some of the zappy American pale ales we're all familiar with. This is one is a beer garden sipper for sure (once they, y'know, re-open). 

Rating ★★★★★★★★☆☆

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Camden Town Brewery

Website here 

Facebook page here

Where to buy

£1.80 at Tesco

Pride & Joy (5.3%) - Vocation Brewery, West Yorkshire, England

My beer collection had been looking worryingly thin for a brief while until my turning of age brought with it a generous regaling of exciting new craft brews. The first one I picked out was this, and it's sure to have the other beers quivering in their cans. 

Kindly leaving the beer unpasteurised and unfiltered - just the way Mother Nature intended - with the noble aim of preserving the best of its flavours, what pours is a hazy pale golden colour with a white cushion of head sitting happily on top. 

Juicy tropical fruits along with some citrus hints erupt out of the can as soon as you pop the tab, sweet pine and mangoes and a handful of tangerine segments imparting an enticing aroma that's enjoyable in its own right but which is too irresistible to hold you off from diving in for too long.

West Yorkshire within England

A good swig brings with it a deep, full-bodied mouthful of tropical fruits along with a lively bitter citrus hit that gets your chops salivating if they weren't already.

A lengthy, toasted malt-backed palate is peppered with fresh herbal and grassy notes rounding off nicely into a crisp, dry finish.

Encompassing everything you could possibly want from an American-style pale ale - being easy-drinking yet jam-packed with New World flavours - I just can't fault this in any way. Enjoy it all year round, all day long, and let it bring the brewery pride, and the drinker much joy.

Rating 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

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The brewery
Website here
Facebook page here

Where to buy
£1.80 from Tesco

Yankee (4.3%) - Rooster's Brewing, North Yorkshire, England

After my first review of 2017, a Yankee pale ale from North Carolina, I bring you an English pale ale called Yankee from North Yorkshire.

In the glass Yankee is a hazy, pale straw colour topped with a lively, bubbly white head that dissipates slowly, like an excitable chicken settling down on a bale of hay for a much needed roost... or a whisked egg white on a bed of yolks... okay, enough chicken analogies; the last one was a bit fowl. 

North Yorkshire within England

It has a gentle but fresh hop aroma with grassy and floral notes, and if you poke your beak about for long enough a faint, sweet whiff of honey adds a nice extra smidgen of depth. 

The floral character is as alive and well in the mouth as it is up the nostrils, along with fruity hints of white grapes and lychees. These delightful, understated hop flavours come together effortlessly, seasoned with some peppery notes, and end with a sweet, toasted biscuit malt finish that lingers around for you to carry on enjoying even once your glass is empty. 

A gentle carbonation leads to a smooth, juicy mouthfeel culminating in a medium-dry finish. Its balanced flavour and sessionable ABV make it highly quaffable, demanding masses of self-restraint, especially if it's to last long enough to take notes on.

All I want in a pale ale is something with character that's easy-drinking, and Yankee exceeded my expectations on both counts. It offers depth, complexity and harmony and yet remains laid-back and understated. Not only could I drink it all day, it left me clucking for more.

Appearance 3.5/5

Aroma 4.5/5

Flavour 4.5/5

Mouthfeel 4.5/5

Overall rating 8.5/10

The brewery:
Rooster's website

Rooster's on Facebook 
Rooster's on Twitter
Rooster's on Instagram

Where to buy:
£2.29 on The Beer Hawk

N’Ice Chouffe (10%) - Brasserie d’Achouffe, Luxembourg Province, Belgium

With the spring months well under way here in Blighty, it seems distateful, nay, downright perverse to post a detailed description of my experience with a Christmas beer. But experiences are to be shared, and share this I will.

The label shows a wintry scene with two of the brewery's trademark gnomes warming up by a camp fire outside in the snow, carrying hops and barley. They seem ready to sling the hops and barley into the fire: arguably not the best use for two key ingredients to the best beverage in the world, but I suppose even Chouffe gnomes will do what they can to stay warm. Then again, they could equally be fighting to rescue the grain and hop plants from the flames. Yes, valiant gnomes, we'll stick with that version of events.

N'Ice Chouffe pours pitch black, allowing some shades of deep ruby red to glow through when up against the light. The brewery's own curvaceous and reflective tulip glass does the beer's appearance full justice, showing off the lively carbonation that rises quickly from the bulbous black body to form the superb, bubbling off-white head that pushes up past the base of the lip.

The glass trapping the aroma magnificently, at first whiff my impression is that it smells unmistakeably Belgian with herbal clove aromas coming through. A rich chocolate and crystal malt backing brings out a toffee tinge alongside some forest fruits.

Things intensify by the camp fire with a super rich flavour of sweet brown "candi" sugar and lots of grassy, herbal notes all coming at you at once. The carbonation helps to cut through the intense sweetness, but for me doesn't go far enough to stop it from being too cloying. Finally, a big alcoholic burn reminds you what happens when a gnome gets his beard too close to a camp fire.

As a seasonal brew, N'Ice Chouffe leaves no doubt that it was conceived as a winter warmer (despite the reference to "ice" in the name). However, with such a burny and intense character it doesn't sit so N'Icely on the palate.

Appearance 4/5

Aroma 3.5/5

Flavour 3/5

Mouthfeel 2/5

Overall rating 6.5/10