Hambleton Nightmare (Bottle)

Brewed by Hambleton
Style: Porter
Ripon, England

(bottle) Black with rapidly fading tan head. Burnt coffee aroma. Flavor of roast coffee, some soy. Some mustiness - may have been an old bottle.

Bottle. split with NachlamSie. Pours dark brown/ruby with a medium tan head. Aroma is distinctly British malts, in nice fashion, with perhaps just a touch of fuggles. Flavor is smooth yet rich caramel, chocolate and a bit of the flat maltiness found in some mild ales. Good example of a British style porter.

bottle split with Muenster. Pours a fairly sturdy blackish color with a decent tan had that fades away rather quickly. The aroma is pretty decent. It’s unmistakably English with a bit of soy sauce, roasted caramel, chewy toffee, and almonds. The body is reassuredly robust. More good chewy toffee, a bit of tobacco, and a satisfying roasted coffee presence. This is a pretty good representation of a true English porter.

500ml. Cool label--you don’t see too many that are trying to look different and are actually kinda cool. Grainy, opaque ebony. Thin off-white filmy bubbles for a head, very little lace if any. Big dark-fruity nose with plenty of chocolate. Forward attack; medium body, active carb, assertive flavors. Nice roasty mid-palate, with the chocolate again and some hints of dark fruit dabbling around. Clingy, roasty, bitter finish. This is without a doubt one of those bedrock beers that you’re always glad to see around--quaffable but interesting enough to sip, fairly refreshing but filling and satisfying, too. Too bad we don’t see it around here more often (i.e., on draft).

(Bottle 50 cl) Pours a clear, reddish mahogany with a creamy, beige head leaving laces. Aroma is almost pure chocolate. Medium body with distinct, hard roasted malty accents and then also flavours of bitter, dark chocolate. The malt does leave some bitterness. 030107

Bottle. Light brown creamy low but lasting head. Very dark red brown clear body. Lovely sweet and powerful cocoa aroma. Sweet and well rouned cocoa flavor with a touch of coffee. No bitterness. A bit thin though, I guess a higher alcohol percentage would have done the trick.

Bottled. Pours a clear dark brown with red highlights and a fluffy, lacy tan had. Big aroma of molasses and chocolate. Medium body. Sweet taste with nuts, chocolate and light coffee. Way to the Folgers end of the coffee spectrum and far away from the Starbucks end. Clean pine and coffee-dry finish.

Bottle: Poured with a huge cascading wall of white foam over a nice dark beer. Big sweet molasses aroma. Lightly bittered this has dark chocolate, a tinge of black coffee, bit of licorice. Good chewy porter.