Day 106, Beer 106 - Okell's "Doctor Okell's IPA"

Today's Beer

Name – Doctor Okells's IPA

Brewer – Okell's

Classification – India Pale Ale

Strength – 4.5% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Lovely. Just about as 'amber' as amber can get. A noticeable absence of bubbles.

On the nose – Deep malts and vivid fruits.

On the tongue – Fruity (both in a rich way and in a zesty way) and nicely balanced with warm nutty malt. Mysteriously, a little bit lacklustre in feel. Read on...

On the subject – Over the years, by virtue of their colourful Isle-Of-Man heritage and their hugely admired but elusive ales, Okell's have cultivated something close to 'legend' status. Their beers have developed highly unique characters since the brewery was founded back in 1850, and there's an infectious sense of fun about everything they do. This beer is named after the company's illustrious founder.

On the market – Notoriously hard to come by outside of the Isle Of Man. So very notorious, in fact, that I invite anyone knowledgeable enough to leave availability suggestions in the 'comment' section. Frankly, I'm at a loss.

On the whole – 7.5/10

Full Review

I was a bit flummoxed by this.

By virtue of an all too brief trip to the Isle Of Man many moons ago, I already knew this beer. Therefore, I thought I knew a little about what to expect. Much of my expectations were met, and some of them were even surpassed. But one element was not at all as I remembered.

Let me start by highlighting what's so good about this beer.

As a relatively low strength IPA (certainly low against the backdrop of the current fashion for very potent versions) this is a rendition that you could easily enjoy a few jars of in one sitting. This is something to be grateful for, because it's a lovely tasting beer, and one which is equally disinclined to follow the fashion for ultra-hopping an IPA, preferring instead to focus on balance and nuance.

The malts, which can so often by sidelined or effectively shunned in the modern IPA (and indeed in a great many other types of contemporary ale, too) are given some decent time in the spotlight here, and I know many drinkers (who feel their tastes are being largely ignored these days) will surely welcome this.

The so-called 'hopheads' are not without something to droll over here too though, with a scintillating orange-zest principle theme searing through the entire drink, and some sharp floral notes interweaving around several other supporting citrus flavours.

But it's all mercifully tempered, reigned-in, under control. The urge to raise the hop bar ever higher and leap over it simply does not preoccupy this drink. And the rapidly expanding list of IPA interpretations is made all the stronger for it.

However, there is still that surprising quality to this beer which - after I went and opened a second bottled to double check - seems now to have been made a set feature of this product.

Basically, it's all a lot less 'lively' than I recall.

The absence of carbonation was extremely noticeable, both on the eye and in the mouth.

In the far distant land of Dieting, one of the many mantras these days is to go 'low-carb', but until now I wasn't aware that this concept had migrated to the much closer territory of Bottled Beer. But substitute 'carbohydrates' for 'carbonation' and there's little doubt that what we have here is a genuinely 'low-carb' bottled ale.

Certainly, many bottled beers suffer greatly from being too gassy, and that's always something a brewery should seek to avoid. A beer that feels like 'fizzy pop' is always going to struggle to impress.

But I reckon Okell's have perhaps been a little overly-cautious here, and taken things a step too far in the opposite direction.

And this issue is all the more concerning when the ale itself is so very excellent. But there are very few beers on Earth delicious enough to compensate for a sense of feeling 'flat'.

The situation became clear early on, when I had to raise the bottle high up toward the ceiling in order to produce any kind of lasting head for the photographs. It became clearer still when I opened that second bottled and found similar results.

Of course, it's perfectly possible that this is an isolated issue with this particular batch of bottles. And that would actually be fine by me. Slight variations in character are often a sure sign of properly 'hand crafted' produce. I'd be interested to grab some more bottles later in the year to explore this theory.

But until then, all I can say is that this is a very lovely IPA, with tremendous appeal to those who look for balance in preference to total hop dominance, and one which would be even more perfect with just a little bit more 'va va voom.'

And I really do mean just a little bit.

This beer is literally a few bubbles short of perfection.

(As a footnote to this – there is a third bottle of this IPA currently in my possession, which I will surely not be able to resist for too much longer. If I find any differences in the 'gas' department, I will update this post.) 


(Stop Press  - Update - Okell's have since responded to this post, and have provided me with some very crucial information regarding this gassy mystery. Check out to my subsequent article here - where I reveal the truth.)

Day 105, Beer 105 - Worthington's "Celebration Shield"

Today's Beer

Name - Celebration Shield

Brewer - Worthington

Classification - Commemorative strong ale

Strength - 8% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye - Rich, toffee amber. Eye-catching bubbles. Eye-popping, even.

On the nose - Intoxicating sharp sweetness.

On the tongue - A massively impactful ale on almost every level.

On the subject - A very limited amount of these were brewed to mark the opening of Worthington's new White Shield Brewery in 2010. It's rather like a nuclear blend of Worthington's two other 'Shields' - 'White' and 'Red'.

On the market - Forget about it. Seriously.

On the whole - 7/10

Full Review

Nobody likes a bighead.

Except, of course, in the world of beer.

But even on planet beer, heads can sometimes get too big, and I have to say I've never seen a head quite like the one produced by Worthington's Celebration Shield.

I'm convinced that this was yet another case of a bottle-conditioned beer protesting about being placed (gently) in the fridge for twenty minutes prior to being opened - in other words, a beer refusing to be served at optimum temperature - but whatever the reason, the result was a beer which actually came out of the bottle in bubble-form rather than the more commonplace liquid form.

The results were dramatic, to say the least. I had two glasses, two large spoons and a roll of kitchen towel on the scene long before these pictures were able to be taken. At various times during the attempted pour I felt somewhat like a paramedic. Or a storm chaser. Or a volcanologist.

The upshot of it is that I now officially have yet another reason to fear bottle-conditioned beers, and the way 'fear' usually manifests itself within the consumer's mind is in the form of a non-purchase, which is a sad state of affairs indeed.

As regular readers will know, I was already very wary of bottle-conditioned beers because of the apparent 50/50 risk of getting piles of congealed matter floating around in my drink, which I do not like and will never like, in spite of how breweries like to tell us how perfectly harmless it all is. I mean, nightmares about being chopped in half are ultimately 'harmless', but few people would enjoy having them.

But now I'm also realising that many of these beers can suffer from random temperature-related 'mood swings' which leave me with temporally unpourable beer and a certified guarantee of eventually getting yeast in my glass. The biggest shock here was that Worthington's have one of the best methods of achieving bottle-conditioning, which usually allows you to pour almost almost all of the drink without infecting it with grimy solids. But it now seems even their drinks will only do this if they're in the right 'frame of mind', and frankly that's just not an acceptable situation for me to keep putting myself in.

This is pretty decent beer, too, which only adds to the grief. And when it's also a very rare label like this one is – the sense of disappointment which bottle-conditioning instills is yet more potent.

But, this beer is called Celebration, so maybe they wanted it bursting out all over the place like fizzy wine. It seems fairly logical, if not massively enjoyable.

But let's try to focus on what there is to be jolly about. Because there's actually quite a bit.

It's a huge drink, no question about that. The alcohol content doesn't shy away in the corner by any means, but there are plenty of flavours here too, even though they don't disguise the booze level so much as match it punch for punch.

A strong-feeling strong ale is what this is, and the strength is in the taste as well as in the near-swooning effects of that no-nonsense 8%.

A part of me (the guy that took about 30 percent of the sips) found it all a bit overpowering and longed for something just a little more laid back, whilst the other part of me was getting all dewy-eyed and loved-up over it. And I think that's pretty much how it would be received in the wider drinking world, with the large majority lapping it up (slowly, I would advise) and with the rest fearing not to tread much further than a couple of mouthfuls. But the wider drinking world will never receive it, as it's very limited edition status dictates.

Subtle it is not, and yet it is nuanced - and you really can't say that about many beers in the known universe.

The various themes found in amongst that powerhouse booziness include orange, mango, gooseberry and even liquorice. Overall, there's a sense of aggressive sweetness, which is every bit as daunting as it is delightful.

All in all – especially given the trouble it caused me – I would probably not buy another of these, even though aspects of it were properly excellent. But my decision not to go in search of more is probably just as well, because only in the collectors market or the odd rare boutique would I ever find another one anyway. Well, except for that second bottle they sent me, which I will now cower in fear of whenever I see it.

Anyway, it's definitely worth trying if you somehow manage to stumble upon one, but for pity's sake – check that it's been having a good day before you even think about taking it's lid off!

And even then, make sure you've got a second empty glass, two large spoons and a full roll of paper towel standing at the ready.

I'm not even kidding.

Okay Okells!

Speeding all the way from the Isle Of Man to my ever grateful doorstep are these tantalising bottles from Okells Brewery.

This company - created by a certain Dr Okell - has a pretty mighty heritage, and can trace it's roots back to a revolutionary steam powered brewery, which itself was built some twenty-four years after the brewery's original inception way back in 1850.

"A mighty heritage implies mighty beers," he cackled to himself, tossing his head back wildly like someone who'd just received yet another large case of free beer.

The brews I'll be exploring over the coming weeks are (from left to right) -

'Aile' - (Traditional Porter) 4.8% ABV

'Maclir' - (Light Wheat Beer) 4.4% ABV

'IPA' - (India Pale Ale, as you might have guessed) 4.5% ABV

'1907' (Limited Edition IPA-Style 'TT-Races' Commemorative Beer) 6.1% ABV

Goodness knows how I'm going to stop myself from cracking all of these at once. I'll probably have to chain myself to the wall again...

Only six thousand of the '1907' were ever bottled, and I'm now in possession of three of those. That's practically ten percent!

(...ish!)

Look out for the reviews over the coming weeks to see just how 'mighty' these great looking ales really are.

.

Day 104, Beer 104 - Liverpool Organic's "24 Carat Gold"

Today's Beer

Name - 24 Carat Gold

Brewer - Liverpool Organic

Classification - Golden ale

Strength - 4.3% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye - Archetypal golden ale. 'Nuff sed.

On the nose - A sharp edged fruit bonanza.

On the tongue - About as fresh, immediate and generally glorious as a golden ale can get.

On the subject – 'Liverpool Organic' have the sort of name which pretty much tells its own story. In other words, yes they are are indeed based in 'Liverpool' and yes their beers really are 'organic.' What the name doesn't mention, however, is that their beers are also vegan, and this is largely due to the fact that they don't use the usual fish derived isinglass finings to assist with haze clearance. Nor does the brewery's name reveal that their head brewer is a self-confessed 'complete hophead.' There's no doubt that 24 Carat Gold illustrates this last fact very clearly.

On the market – Shockingly and tragically understocked nationally. Thank your lucky stars for the worldwide web, which allows the brewery to have this groovy new online store.

On the whole - 9/10

Full Review

Generally speaking, every ale-loving individual likes certain varieties of beer a little more than others.

Even those with the most proudly eclectic tastes will admit this to you after a few shandies.

I'll offer myself as an example. Before this website was born (in a lowly stable 'neath a shimmering star) I would nearly always gravitate first to the more amber ales – whether they be session beers, or standard bitters, or premium ales of that particular hue – and would almost never reach for a golden ale in preference. Not even when the weather literally screamed for such a selection.

However, this taste test has made me realise how much my capacity to enjoy ale has evolved since this project began.

In short, during the early days of The Bottled Beer Year, I would have said there was almost no possibility of a golden ale being among the top scorers on my chart. And yet here I am awarding a beer named '24 Carat Gold' a very solid 9 marks out of 10.

But is this really about my own personal evolution, or is this beer just a very special golden ale?

Frankly, I had such a good time drinking this beer, that I couldn't really care less which of these two options is the best explanation – but it's perfectly possible that both are true to some extent.

Either way - this a massively enjoyable drink.

The dazzling complexity of the rich citrus principle theme, the strikingly dry bitterness, the subtle and delicious savoury saltiness, the masterfully pitched biscuit malt base – and that's just how it tastes. The darn thing even looks exemplary.

But, for all those magnificent qualities – I haven't even reached the headline yet.

The best feature of this beer has less to do with the 'what' – and much more to do with the 'how.'

When well executed bottle-conditioning combines with organically sourced ingredients – this beer proves that the results are going to be the freshest, cleanest and most vividly characterful ales that glass can contain.

Every single aspect of this drink benefits from this ultimate double-whammy, even that delicate buttery swathe in the long finish – which creeps deliciously out from the impact craters left by each of those highly charged zesty mouthfuls – is as 'farm fresh' as any butter could be.

This really is the perfect summertime, feel-good beer, which is every bit as elegant and refined as it is refreshing and entertaining.

My very first taste of Liverpool Organic's work has been a truly memorable one. So much so that it has given me reason to entirely re-evaluate what I regard as my own preference in terms of beer styles.

That's a pretty big impression for one beer to make.

But then, this really is no ordinary beer.

Day 103, Beer 103 - Vale Brewery's "V.P.A"

Today's Beer

Name – VPA (Vale Pale Ale)

Brewer – Vale

Classification – Golden ale (Call it a 'pale ale' instead if you feel you must!)

Strength – 4.2% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Warm, rich gold. Strikingly low carbonation.

On the nose – All hop guns blazing. Intense citrus. Zesty, tangy and sharp.

On the tongue – An utterly remorseless hop-fuelled tongue-bashing. In a good way.

On the subject – After a growth enforced move a few years back, Vale Brewery is now based in a part of England said to have inspired Tolkien when writing The Lord Of The Rings, which is pretty apt, as this outfit have done nothing but become more epic since their humble beginnings in 1995. Now fairly large by micro-brewery standards, their ales retain a strong 'hand-crafted' sense.

On the market – As with so many great beers, I have to say that availability ought to be greater. However, as with so many great problems, I can happily say that the internet is an easy solution. So just click here.

On the whole – 8/10

Full Review

This beer has only one thing in mind.

It means to thrill your tongue to death.

I can almost picture the scene on that fateful morning on which those masterminds over at Vale Brewery gathered together in their secret underground laboratory to painstakingly concoct a beer so intensely hopped that it would endanger the lives of taste buds across the globe.

Little did they know then what delight their dastardly scheme would eventually trigger.

Very much in keeping with the current clamour for hop dominant ales, this is a citrus packed, ultra sharp marvel of a beer. Those who cheer on this ever more extreme drive toward total hop supremacy (and thereby also cheer on the demise of malt's contribution to the flavour of an ale) will need look no further than 'VPA' for a guaranteed fix of the kind of high they crave.

I have to admit that beers like this one are actually beginning to convince even stubborn old mules like me that hopping the hell out of a brew truly is the way forward – and that's something I thought I'd never find myself writing. After all, I'm only 38 and that's hardly 'old' at all.

One thing that is not subject to personal preference is that this is a very well assembled drink. Those aforementioned masterminds at Vale clearly do know how to put a beer together. The gorgeous principle top notes – grapefruit, gooseberry and Bramley apple – are each vibrant and dynamic when focussed on individually, but when experienced as a whole there really is no other word for it than delicious.

But best of all is the most deftly pitched savoury undercurrent – which essentially hides itself for extended periods until you reach the point when those high end themes become almost too much – at which point it emerges from nowhere to transform the relentless citrus blast into something closer to a fruit pie, by introducing gentle swathes of buttery pastry and biscuit.

It's a pretty magical effect.

Whether they really do have a secret laboratory, and whether that secret laboratory really is underground, I think there's little doubt that there really are masterminds at work over at Vale, and I'm glad I selected this beer to be my first taste of their range.

I'm pretty confident that it won't be my last.

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No need to panic when there's 'Liverpool Organic'!

In a bid to outdo all other Bottled Beer Year contributors, the ethically steadfast Liverpool Organic Brewery have sent along one of the largest shipments of ale this website has yet seen.

And if I'm perfectly honest - that's just fine by me.

Liverpool Organic has taken very little time making a pretty big impression in the craft ale world, and being founded on a motto such as "Quality Over Compromise"  they certainly seem to have the right values in place.

But what's their beer like?

Well, here are the labels I'll be taking a look at over the coming weeks -


'Liverpool Pale Ale' - 4.1% ABV

'Imperial Russian Stout' - 8.1% ABV

'Joseph Williamson' (Bitter) - 4.1% ABV

'Honey Blond' (Pale copper ale with organic honey) - 4.6% ABV

Josephine Butler (Premium ale with organic elderflower) - 4.6% ABV

'Best Bitter' - 4.3% ABV

'Shipwreck IPA' - 6.5% ABV

'Kitty Wilkinson' (Chocolate and vanilla stout) - 4.6% ABV

'William Roscoe' (Premium ale) - 4.5% ABV

'24 Carat Gold' (Golden ale) - 4.3% ABV


Each one is bottle-conditioned and - as the company name might suggest - they are all made with 'organic' ingredients.

I can't wait to get stuck in.

Stay tuned!

Day 102, Beer 102 - Royal Tunbridge Wells' - "Dipper"

Today's Beer

Name – Dipper

Brewer – Royal Tunbridge Wells

Classification – Bitter

Strength – 3.7% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Lustrous chestnut. (What could be observed from what little of the beer was salvaged... read on!)

On the nose – Vivid spices and rich citrus. Intensely fresh-feeling.

On the tongue – Dry, sharply bitter, and packed with spiced fruit. Lovely.

On the subject – One of the newest (or perhaps 'freshest' suits them better) breweries around, these guys are brewing beer like they've done it for decades. These bottled versions are new (fresh) additions to their output. Seek them out, is all can say can.

On the market – I might have just said 'seek them out' but I didn't say that's going to be easy. Brand awareness is growing, but while you're waiting for your local supermarkets to stock up – try online at Master Of Malt.

On the whole – 8.5/10

Full Review

This was something of an adventure.

The diminutive glass in the picture above will provide something of a clue as to the precise nature of the adventure, but basically the fact is that by the time the adventure had come to an end – only a small amount of beer remained for me to actually drink.

Perhaps someone can explain to me why this ale – which had sat unmolested for around two weeks waiting to be selected for tasting – exploded with extreme violence upon opening. My guess is that the twenty minute visit to the fridge just prior to opening had some bearing on what transpired. I know from bitter experience (no pun intended) that bottle-conditioned beers can behave very badly when exposed to sudden changes in temperature, but from ambient room temperature into a fridge? Is that really too much for yeast to handle? And if so, does that mean we really shouldn't be chilling our bottle-condition beers prior to opening?

That would really be a shame. These ales should not (contrary to urban myth) be consumed at room temperature, but nor should they be served ice cold. Therefore, a quick 'treatment' in a fridge (or a freezer for any non-bottle-conditioned beers) is the ideal scenario. But if this nuclear chain reaction is going to occur – even just every once in a while – then the fun is eventually going to completely eroded by ever increasing cleaning bills.

Anyway, the happy ending in this case was that – miraculously – I did eventually manage to get some quantity of beer into a glass, which meant that I did get a chance to get to know it.

And I'm certainly glad that I did.

Because it turns out that when it's not cascading upward toward the ceiling like some reverse Niagara Falls – Dipper is actually a very well behaved and a very lovely ale.

In fact, it is absolutely delicious.

In terms of flavour, this just has to be one of the most dynamic bitters around. In fact, so dynamic is this beer, that the claim to be a 'bitter' at all is almost guaranteed to stir up some debate. There is a very decent bitterness present, so the classification might as well stand, but there is so much else going on in this drink that you'd understand if the brewery had just hedged their bets and called this an 'ale', because it's appeal reaches far beyond the usual boundaries of bitter.

Richly woody and nutty with soft caramel sweetness and held together by the most gloriously vivid spiced apple principle theme, this is a complex, intensely fresh and hugely immediate drink experience.

The sharpness and clarity of the intricate citrus notes is wonderfully complimented by herb and floral textures which vary in effect from thrilling to slightly hypnotic. It is these flavours and their (gorgeous) dominance of this drink's character which makes you wonder about the bitter status. Some will say the drink is too loaded with rich flavour to be a proper bitter, and I reckon they'd have a something of a case.

But Royal Tunbridge Wells appear to be the kind of brewery which has no qualms about pushing boundaries and going wherever their taste buds take them, and I like this quality in their marvellous creations.

Whatever their formula is – it's clearly a winning one. This beer alone is proof of that.

The rules of craft beer classification are changing, and have been now for some years. Breweries like this are rewriting those rules or tossing them away entirely. The results can often be inspiring and delicious. Not always, but pretty often.

This result certainly is. 

It's a hugely flavoursome and characterful ale which - at just 3.7% ABV - has to be among the most punchy and assertive session strength beers around.

I just wish I'd had a little more of it to enjoy.