Extra Stout – ABV 7.4%
Brewed to celebrate the arrival of Buxton’s new brewer Colin Stronge. Extra stout has a full rich body with huge proportions of dark malt that lend this traditional stout masses of tar, smoke and leather.
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White Stout – ABV – 7.2%
Two hundred years ago, before the porter brewers commandeered “stout” to mean stout or strong porter, a stout beer was a strong beer. It did not have to be black. We have re-created the style using modern hops and a full malt body.
Tasting Notes: Maris Otter malt and Columbus hops combine to make a very drinkable strong ale. A fresh, full beginning gives way to a spicy, bittersweet finish. A pale body supports perfumy, spicy hop flavours and aromas. Intense bitterness is balanced by forest fruits and mango.
Black Boar Imperial Oatmeal Stout – ABV 10.2%
One of the best stouts in Ireland if not beyond, the creamy oatmeal and rich roasted malts give off notes of dried fruit, caramel and vanilla.
Look: It begins with inky black pour and a light brown head.
Aroma: Chocolate roasted malt, cocoa and liquorice.
Taste: The mouthfeel is unctuous the oatmeal with the perfect level of carbonation, and the taste is a rich and complex blend of roasted malt, dark chocolate, dried fruit, caramel and vanilla.
Food pairing: Enjoy it with a few squares of good quality dark chocolate.
Verdict: This isn’t a beer that seeks to innovate; it’s just very, very good. And if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Old Greg’s Barley Wine – ABV 9.5%
This is the 2016 vintage of this excellent Barley Wine, bottle aged for 12 months, with dried fruit notes like raisins and a sweet complex booziness.
Look: It pours amber with a white head that quickly vanishes.
Aroma: Lots of dried fruit – prunes, dates and raisins in particular.
Taste: Sweet and rich with an undeniable boozy quality. If you leave it to age you can expect the complexity and richness of those fruit flavours to build and reduce any harshness the alcohol.
Food Pairings: The complex dried fruit flavours work really well with chocolate and nuts. Try it alongside a baked banana oozing with Nutella for a luscious dessert.
Verdict: Boozy, rich, sweet and delicious. We’ve been enjoying our small stash of the 2015 vintage over the past couple of months and this is a beer that will only get better with age.
Imperial Stout – ABV 8.9%
Malts and coffee dominate but there’s a lovely background of freshly ground coffee beans and dark chocolate, plus sweet spiciness the Brambling Cross hops.
Look: Saltaire XS Imperial Stout pours dark brown in the glass, topped with a tan head.
Aroma: Rich roasts with dark chocolate and a hint of forest fruits.
Taste: It’s reminiscent of a hot Italian espresso made with freshly ground beans, rich and fruity – and there’s a subtle spiciness Brambling Cross hops added late in the boil.
Food Pairing: The roasted malts in this beer pair really nicely with chocolate. Try it with a nice thick slice of chocolate cake, and to add some creamy contrast a good dollop of whipped cream.
Verdict: The hops definitely take a backseat with this one; it’s definitely the malts that are driving this forward. And that’s a vehicle we’d be happy to ride in.
Schwarze 90 Imperial Stout – ABV 11.9%
This bottom-fermented imperial stout isn’t billed as a dessert beer but it could be, with its gorgeous creamy chocolate mouthfeel and rich syrupy booziness.
Look: Very dark brown, hazy, with a small beige head and low carbonation.
Aroma: Malt, syrupy sugar and molasses, some coffee and cocoa.
Taste: Super-sweet with chocolate dominance and a creamy velvety mouthfeel. Caramel, toffee and liquorice with some hints of dried fruit towards a crisp, bitter finish.
Verdict: Black (schwarze) velvet in a bottle.
Club of Slaughters Imperial Stout – ABV 8.8%
Vegan-friendly Stout, with a Vegan-unfriendly name.
Wylam describe this beer as an “electro narcosis of peat smoke pitch, dark cocoa and oiled black cardamon, rib rattle into subtle bolt gusts of port wine and espresso pursued by a dark cherry red grape skin tartness”
That may be easy for them to say; but here’s what we think:
Look: Dark black, with a creamy brown head.
Aroma: Roasted malts, with hints of smoky spice.
Taste: Rich and complex, with smoke, coffee, chocolate, cinammon and cardamom.
Verdict: “It’s Stout Jim, but not as we know it”.
08/02 Imperial Stout – ABV 8.6%
Rich stout with coffee and chocolate notes. This stout is based on London’s imperial stout recipes the 1850’s.
Old Fashioned – ABV 11.0%
We’re big fans of the classic ‘Old Fashioned’ – a 19th Century cocktail traditionally made by muddling sugar with bitters, then adding Whiskey and a twist of citrus rind. This is our take, with a Barley Wine as the base beer and the classic zest to serve. It’s been in barrels for 12 months, picking up a well-rounded bourbon profile with some vanilla and caramel sweetness. Bitters optional!
Baltic Porter – ABV 8.4%
For this porter a cold-fermenting lager yeast with a clean, subtle flavour profile was used to allow the stewed and roasted malts to shine (all 10 of them no less). Toffee and caramel to start, leading into lightly spicy, hazelnut coffee and rich dark chocolate.
Brewed in collaboration with YellowBelly Beer.