Dark Star Critical Mass

Brewed by Dark Star
Style: English Strong Ale
Haywards Heath, England

Cask at Akkurat, Stockholm. Very dark ruby - almost black. Aroma of dark chocolate. Full bodied and packed with flavours. Despite it’s rich maltiness it’s surprisingly dry. There’s wood and licorice there as well as whiskey. It’s carefully hopped, but some grassy hops shine through in the salty finish. Superb!

Cask gravity at Planet Thanet BF 2006, Ramsgate. Very dark brown colour with lasting dark beige head. Hoppy coffee aroma. Some liquorice. Intense aromas. Syrupy in mouth with dark treacle flavours. Unctious oily feel in mouth, thick but with only some alcohol burn. This really woke me up. Finish has dryness and more dark treacle. I liked it.

A Mes rate: Gravicask @ Planet Thanet. Black red colour. Chocolate malt aroma with nice alcohol notes and a little coffee. Sadly after what is a very pleasant nose its all down hill from there. Lots of nice stuff in there it just doesnt sit right and the alcohol is just too much. Palate is almost biting probably mainly due to the harsh alcohol. Each time I buy it I say this about it, now it’s finally rated I’ll proabably leave it alone. Turn it off mum I don’t like it.

Cask in Blackfriars. Aroma is Spicey rich malts, bittering hop comign through, small citrus hints. Taste is roasty fruity bitterness, peppery, grassy in the finish, no alc to be seen. Very drinkable indeed. A well made english strong ale indeed. RERATE: Been open a good few days longer now and all the hops have gone. Its turned into a seriously good fruity old ale/barley wine. Very thick and could get right ontop of you, but so drinkable and tasty id love to have it as a monthly special.

Bottle. Very tasty indeed. Spicy Christmasy sort of flavour. Raisiny, cakey, caramel/choc. With a nice dry acidic, salty, orange rindy, bitter finish, a fantastic beer, very tasty.

Rather similar to the Cottage Norman’s Conquest (q.v.) that I tried just before this. A dark, rich and complex ale, with obvious roasted malt character, that drinks far easier than the alcohol content (which in this case was 7%) would suggest. An excellent drop, although go easy if you want to avoid falling over. Handpump, Head of Steam, London NW1, December 2003 RE:RATE at the Wenlock Arms, Dec 2004. The alcohol has been upped to 7.8% and the beer definitely seemed to have more oomph. Increased the score a little

thanks to duff for bringing a bottle of this to czecholand. pretty dark, nice aroma of sherbet lollies and cocoa powder, nice cocoa bitterness with some strawberry jam, whipped cream and light bitterness. chewy texture, a little cough syrup in the finish was the only slight flaw

Bottle Conditioned. Bought at Pig's Ear Festival. No Date. A spanking Winter Warmer. Quality throughout. Roasty dark malts with just enough sweetness. Perfect condition. Lovely explosion of flavours that excite the mouth without ever being assertive or crude or overdone. Stunning!