I don't think I've drunk enough beer to understand that.

above quote from the Lost Continent
I've been reading Discworld books for at least 12 years, maybe longer, though the series itself is actually 30 this year. Ales by Mail have collaborated with local brewer Brentwood to brew a range of Discworld themed beers.

There are three in the range filling the common bitter/ blonde ale pathway but also an oatmeal stout and a honey beer. I picked these up at various times and here are my thoughts:

The core range of three

I love the labels on all of them, very much in the Discworld style with amusing blurbs. They'd certainly make an attractive gift for any Discworld lover, especially being brown glass the beer has longer staying power (less risk of skunking from light exposure).

Bledlow's Silence, 5.5% ABV. Dark amber with minimal cream head. Slight mango aroma, some pleasing bitterness/ low carbonation again though.

Hix's Darkside Ppours flat as a pancake, faintest of heads, dark ruby brown. Rich dried fruits, sweet sultanas, some solvent, molasses, carbonation could make this drinkable but drainpoor I’m afraid. Too near a dubbel in flavour too; so wouldn't be my favourite kind of beer even with carbonation.

Bugarup blonde, is 4% and pours Burnished gold with little in the way of head. Light apricot on the nose, low carbonation, slight bitterness, mild fruitiness. Ok but hop light.

Honey Ale comes in at 4.6%. This is more like it, a bigger 500ml bottle that pours hazy amber blonde with light fluffy white head. Dry dusty herbal goldings nose. Fairly sweet, medium body, low carbonation, digestive biscuit malt, floral dry honey notes and long finish. Good sessionable drop.

Modo's Midden 4.5% Light amber with fluffy off white head and some yeasty dregs. Pithy nose which unfortunately fails to come through in flavour. Good carbonation, slightly sharp citrus. So so and too similar to the Bugarup really.

I'm a little disappointed with these beers. They could have been so much more but instead they all fell short of expectations, with the exception of the honey ale perhaps which is done rather well.

Brooklyn Local

Today its the turn of a few bottles bought a year ago and secreted in my old landlord's larder - that's one way to prevent premature drinking!

Brooklyn Brewery's "big bottles" are bottle conditioned 750ml and as such are designed to pair well with food. Today its the two Brooklyn Local beers up for review. Both are "big" in more ways than one, weighing in at 9%ABV each.

Local 1 is a strong golden Belgian ale (think Tripel) Golden coloured, with plenty of carbonation and cork popped. Fruity yeast esters on nose, banana, lively carbonation, sweet, strong malt and boozy finish with a touch of pepper. It works particularly well with St Vernier cheese from Waitrose, but any soft rinded cheese will do just as well.

Local 2 is a dark dubbel-style ale, again made with the Brooklyn Belgian yeast and refermented with champagne yeast. It makes use of wild-flower honey to give a richer texture and flavour. Another lively bottle, the cork shot across the room! The beer stayed put though. Opaque ruby with plum on the nose. Rich fruit, milk chocolate and robust malt body in this one.Works rather well with Keen's mature cheddar, but not quite so well with taleggio despite washed rind cheese being recommended as a match.

As with the Goose Island vintage range, these are decent beers, but you can get the Belgian classics for much cheaper in the UK. I'd not buy either again but happily drink them if offered.

Follow Brooklyn Brewery on twitter

Black Isle Small Batch

I recently ordered a pick n' mix case from Black Isle Brewery in North-East Scotland. I drank a few of their beers at the weekend (review here). In addition to their core range they release special "one-off" brews, three of which I managed to get hold of.

Export Scotch Small batch is a souped up version of their regular export scotch (reviewed at the weekend) Its pretty challenging but enjoyable all the more for it. Dark brown.Dry and spicy, hint of rum, hedgerow fruits, treacle, liquorice. At first quite dry and fruity, wood, sultanas, tobacco, leather, smoke, molasses and kola in the long finish. That 7.9% ABV is very well hidden so beware! Quite sticky but also prickly carbonation. Would happily drink this again.

Red Hot Chili Bock was brewed by Tim Anderson (2010 Masterchef winner, yes he gets around a lot!) for a food and beer pairing dinner.Fluffy tan head on a ruby tinged black beer. Sweet aroma with golden syrup, a bit of smoke and black pepper. Sweet malt followed by an oily chilli with milk chocolate, a hint of coffee and mustard with an escalating chili warmth in the finish. A bit overcarbonated and thin in body, surprising for a 7%-er. I reckon that this could be tweaked to make a great beer.

Black Isle Black Islay is the brewery's stout aged in Bruichladdah casks. Bruichladdah being the dram that made me realise I enjoy Islay whiskys after all I've been pretty keen to try this one. Coming in at a whopping 8.3% and in a  750ml bottle this is definitely one for sharing! Except I neglected to listen to my own advice and have polished off the best part of a bottle in short shrift as its so enjoyable! Dark ruby brown bordering on black with big fluffy cola head and iodine/seaweed/briney/fruity aroma. Very smooth, vanilla, moderate carbonation, smoke. Long complex finish, a bit more vanilla, dried fruit, that seaweed. If you get your hands on any Black Isle beer I'd recommend this one. Its made me want to try the base stout too!

I also had one final "core range" bottle (it didn't fit into my rainbow) Heather Honey beer. Pale honey amber coloured with brief fluffy white head. Slightly dusty sweet honey and butterscotch nose. Light palate with gentle floral notes, vanilla and a sweet shortcake finish. Like a kolsch/helles in some ways, refreshing and probably a match for chicken or white fish.