Arbor Slumberjack

Gravity at Cambridge Beer Festival 2009. Stout-like appearance with no head. Roast coffee and berry fruits in the nose. Lovely mouthfeel. Roasted and smoked malts. Very rich, with berries and an earthy taste. Very nice.

Cask conditioned at the brewery tap, the Old Tavern Bristol 24/11/07. Near black with a thin tan head. Aroma of coffee, dark fruit and some sweet malt. The flavour had more chocolate and fruit plus some tobacco. The finish had plenty of dryness and a tarry edge. Excellent.

Cask (gravity dispense), St Albans Beer Festival, September 2007. A rather unusual beer that is quite difficult to categorise. I suppose Porter is as close as anything. Dark oak colour, with lively condition. Distinct coffee notes, with a backdrop of bread malt. Plenty of spicy hop comes through on the palate, with a developing smoky roast malt character. The alcohol is evident but warming rather than burning. The general feel is sweet, but bitter. It all goes together to produce an curious, but well balanced and appealing amalgam. If I have a quibble the smokiness was perhaps a little ashy. But overall a clear winner.

A Mes rate: Gravicask at St. Albans Beer Festival. Dark, dark opaque chestnut with a thin off white film. Good aroma of fruit, alcohol, slight malt and chocolate plus some delicate coffee and slight smokey notes. Almost an 8 to be honest. Flavour is even better. Smoky, earthy, nice and meaty, peat, light fruity notes and a lovely liquorice malt finish. Lovely soft and velvet like mouthfeel. Jolly good.

Cask gravity at St Albans BF 2007. Black with brown edges. Thin pale tan head. Stouty aroma. Quite oily. But hoppy as well. Good integrated alcohol. Bit of rubber. Good, bit minty on end too. Some ashtray. As Chris o said, it had true ersatz, the whole was the better than the sum of the parts. Good start to the Friday session.