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Tsarina Esra Imperial Porter – ABV 10.1%

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Cara and Munich malts combine with Premiant and Sladek hops to give a dark chocolate and charred wood aroma, with coffee notes and a velvety red wine mouthfeel.

Look: Tsarina Esra pours dark black with a thin head and lots of beige lacing.

Aroma: The smell is malt and woodsmoke and some caramel hints.

Taste: We get sweet plums, roasted malts and lots of bitterness the hops in the finish.

Food Pairing: Try pairing it with the Irish classic of Boiled Bacon and Cabbage. OK, so its not an Irish Stout – but we aren’t going let a small detail like that get in the way of a delicious food pairing.

Verdict: Another brilliantly balanced beer De Molen.

Big Fat 5 DIPA – ABV 8%

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Het Uiltje’s award-winning Double IPA brewed for the 5th anniversary of Beer Temple in Amsterdam is a celebration of of pine, grapefruit and malts.

Look: The beer pours golden with a good level of carbonation, thin white head and lots of lacing.

Aroma: Pine, passionfruit and mango and on the palate with bitterness of pine needles against a malty base that really balances things out.

Verdict: Het Uiltje are gaining a reputation as one of the best craft breweries in the Netherlands; expect to hear lots more the boys in Haarlem over the next few years. They get a big fat high five us.

Seafaring Imperial Stout – ABV 8%

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Amazing levels of fruitiness and carbonation an Imperial Stout – even notes of zesty orange can be found floating on the dark chocolate and malt base.

Look: The beer pours with a good sized light brown head and plenty of carbonation with a slowly receding head.

Aroma:  Plenty of chocolate and forest fruits, and an addition of oranges and sticky dates on the palate.

Taste: There’s a level of fruitiness you don’t usually get with an Imperial Stout – more forest fruits and dark creamy chocolate, too.

Verdict: With the intense flavours and high carbonation it almost reminds us of a dark Belgian beer. In a good way.

Food pairing: We wouldn’t normally think about fish and chips with an Imperial Stout. However on this occasion the fruity flavours are a good contrast to the creaminess of the fish, and that carbonation will cut right through any greasiness the batter.

Old Norway Orcadian Barley Wine – ABV 8%

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Sweet maltiness plus dried apricots and dates – this is surprisingly light for a Barley Wine, with a great crisp and fresh finish for easy drinking.

Look: Old Norway has a big golden pour with a long lasting white head and lots of lacing.

Aroma: Raisins, dried apricots and dates with the freshness of pine needles.

Taste: On the palate you get lots more of that dried fruit melded with the alcohol.

Verdict: It’s a little lighter in alcohol and intensity than you’d usually expect a Barleywine and is easy drinking as a result. You might just forget it’s an 8% ABV beer.

Food pairing: Stilton and Barleywine is a classic pairing. When the sweet maltiness of the beer meets the intense saltiness of the cheese; wonderful things start happening on your palate.

Orkney Porter – ABV 9%

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Boozy vanilla and a hint of smoke, plus a long finish of caramel, bitter chocolate and sweet nuttiness Goldings hops plus Chocolate and Barley malts.

Look: Rich mahogany brown on the pour with a nice beige head with lots of lacing and carbonation.

Aroma: Roasted malt plus stone and red fruits.

Taste: There is loads of fruity booziness against the malts which lend it an almost Chianti-like red wine quality.

Food pairing: This beer works well with fattier meats. Try it with a charcoal grilled burger, and let its fruity vinous qualities cut through the grease to cleanse your palate.

Verdict: At 9% ABV this Orkney Porter is more boozy alcohol than its Imperial Stout stablemate and still dangerously quaffable.

BA Orkney Porter Arran Bere Whisky Cask Edition – ABV 11.5%

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Roasted malts dotted with sherry sweetness and a strong ABV – this BA porter is like Arbor’s Goo Goo G’Joob with a fruity twist. It’s that good.

Look: Swannay’s BA Orkney Porter has a good level of carbonation with a light brown head that quickly vanishes – just as you’d expect for beer with double digit ABV.

Aroma: A fruity porter and booziness the whisky barrels in absolutely perfect balance, with the overall effect being sherry trifle against a backbone of roasted malt.

Taste: On the palate you get even more of that Whisky coming through – but it’s boozy rather than peaty, so we think you’ll enjoy it even if Scotch isn’t usually your thing. T

Food Pairing: This beer works really well with red meats. Try it with a nice fillet steak, cooked however you like it.

8 Mansions DIPA – ABV 9%

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Tropical fruit salad on a bed of pine needles with a crisp and bitter bite – these mansions are fit for a king.

Look: 8 Mansions pours a cloudy golden amber with a small white head.

Aroma: It smells like a bag of fruit salad chews, and to taste there is tropical fruit with fresh pine needles against a nice smooth malt body.

Taste: Superbly fruity with a nice bitterness to boot, this beer ticks all the boxes for a DIPA and is a real pleasure to drink.

Food Pairing: Salty foods tend to pair best with DIPAs. Try this one with a good quality hot dog, topped with sauerkraut and mustard.

Verdict: Verdant were top of a lot of lists of best breweries in 2016, and if this collaboration with Howling Hops is anything to go by, they’ll be right up there in 2017 as well.

Fighting Ale Imperial Stout – ABV 11.5%

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Jet black and characterful, the resinous hops and carbonation  Howling Hops’ impy stout give this an amazingly smooth finish for a hard-hitting 11 percenter.

Look: Fighting Ale pours like the blackest of nights with a mid-brown head that quickly dissipates leaving lots of lacing on the glass.

Aroma: A blast of resinous hops in perfect balance with roasted malts and dark chocolate.

Taste: It is well-bodied with a good level of carbonation giving it a lovely mouthfeel and helping the hops shine against the solid roasted malt body.

Verdict: Where did they hide the alcohol? This is supremely easy drinking for an 11.5% ABV beer and we love it.

Gozer Imperial Oatmeal Stout – ABV 9.8%

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Kaapse’s flagship beer; big on red fruits, fresh espresso and roasted malts. We tasted this in Rotterdam, and couldn’t resist having a few cases shipped over.

Look: The beer pours black in the glass with barely any head

Aroma: Roasted malt with fruity fresh roast coffee beans.

Taste: Dark chocolate with a sweet fruitiness that gives the beer a lovely Belgian-style twist.

Verdict: . ‘Gozer’ means bloke or lad in Dutch – and this gozer is a top bloke.

White Russian Imperial Stout – ABV 9%

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A distinctly different variant of Partizan’s excellent Stout, amped up to 9% and with honey, cocoa nibs and coffee, for a creamy mouthfeel and warm, boozy buzz.

Look: Just like the regular version, it pours black-brown with a frothy tan-brown head.

Aroma: The new variant of the Stout has sweet lactose sugars, chocolate and espresso – exactly like a White Russian cocktail.

Taste: Sweetness the honey alongside roasted chocolate malt and coffee – plus a bit of extra warmth the higher ABV.

Verdict: It’s only when you sip the White Russian that the beer truly reveals itself as a full-on Dessert Stout. It’s sweet, creamy and delicious.