Brave New World IPA – ABV 7.0%

This is everything we love in a good IPA; lots of pithy grapefruit and pine on the nose, followed by big bittersweetness balanced out with tropical fruit flavour and and that classic pine-resin note, finished off with a long hit of pine bitterness.

Mexicake Imperial Stout – ABV 11%

When it came time to brewing something big and dark, Tempest had just one thing on their mind: cake.

A beer that tasted like a delicious, delectable chocolate cake… how about a Mexican chocolate cake?

Imagine taking a rich, boozy imperial stout, and then infusing it with fresh vanilla beans, high-quality cocoa, Ceylon cinnamon, Chipotle chillies, and Mulato chillies.

Blend it all together, and what you get is a complex and delicious beer with a rich, full mouthfeel, a touch of sweetness the vanilla, ground spice aroma the cinnamon, a touch of fruitiness the Mulato, and a little heat and smoke in the finish the Chipotle.

Red Eye Flight Mocha Porter – ABV 7.4%

Made with Brazilian coffee beans for an espresso-kick aroma, but with silky chocolate and red fruit notes to create a balanced and very drinkable Porter.

Look: The beer pours jet black with a lovely coffee coloured head.

Aroma: Red Eye Flight is made with Brazilian coffee beans and that’s exactly what you get along with a little caramel and cocoa.

Taste: Again full of coffee, but with a velvety chocolate finish and just a hint of forest fruits.

Verdict: Just the right level of bitterness the hops makes this an exceptionally well balanced and drinkable Porter. Never a bad beer Tempest.

Double Shuck Oyster Stout – ABV 11%

Only slight saltiness two hundred fresh Lindisfarne oysters is backed up by amazing depth of flavour including paprika, Tabasco, roasted malt and molasses.

Look: The beer pours jet black in the glass with a small beige head.

Aroma: Rich roasted malt, cocoa and molasses and a breeze of fresh air.

Taste: You get a thick smooth mouthfeel with soft carbonation, huge depth of flavour the roasted malt, some chocolate and then at the end a slight saltiness the oysters (but that’s as far as the fishiness goes).

Food Pairing: The beer is made with Oysters, and is made to be drunk with Oysters. Just make sure you do all your shucking before you start on the drinking.

Verdict: Prepare yourself for a shucking treat; it drinks so smoothly you’ll need to keep reminding yourself of the alcohol content. More genius brewing the team at Tempest.

Marmalade on Rye DIPA – ABV 9%

Bittersweet orange combines beautifully with the spiciness of rye, plus Amarillo and Waimean hops, for a cracking dry-hopped and fruity breakfast beer.

Look: The beer pours a lovely hazy, coppery orange colour with a small white head.

Aroma: Orange zest, tropical fruit and cinnamon spice

Taste: Big flavours of bitter orange marmalade with the spiciness of rye and ginger against a caramel malt body. Totally delicious and a lot stronger than the minimal alcohol warmth portrays.

Food pairing: All this talk of marmalade and we can’t help thinking of hot buttered toast. Prefer a bit more cooking? The bitter orange and spice will also work well with bread and butter pudding.

In the Dark we Live Black IPA – ABV 7.2%

A pitch-black pour moves through a blackberry and dark chocolate aroma to a fig taste and a summery pine finish – this beer isn’t dark at all; it’s a rainbow.

Look: This beer lives up to its name: it pours pitch black in the glass with a thin beige head.dark chocolate

Aroma: Intense pine with some grapefruit and some berries those Mosaic, Columbus and Simcoe hops.

Taste: Full bodied and comple, the taste is malt, coffee and  before the fruit comes through with blackberry and fig plus a big resinous finish the hops.

Food Pairing: Black IPAs are versatile when it comes to pairing with food; try pairing this with a charcoal grilled steak and salty triple cooked chips.

Verdict: A quite brilliant example of a beer in this style. We want to live in the dark, too.