Okells Dr Okells Eastern Spice

Brewed by Okells
Style: Bitter
Douglas, Isle of Man

Cask, as Easton Spice (4.5%), end of cask@Kitty’s. Mildly hazy yellowish golden colour with mediumsized fluffy head. Aroma is some spices, herbs as well as caramel malts and some fruityness. Flavour is really spicy, almost tabascoish burning. at first red tabasco, when warming almost habanero hot. The spices pretty much cover everything except a certain bitterness. I like my spices in food, not necessarily in a beer...

Cask (Kitty’s, Helsinki) as "Easton Spice"
Slightly hazy straw, healthy frothy head. Citrussy, gingery, and hoppy aroma, and very decent sweet malt, and raw mashiness too. Big hoppy body, bitter and tangy. 2nd mouthful is clearly peppery and hot, and further sips build on that. Leaves a hot finish in the mouth. Interesting, but doesn’t hook me completely. Solid bitter underneath though.

Cask, The Last Plantagenet, Leicester. Hazy gold with an off-white head. Aromas are spices, especially ginger. Dry with some citrus. Flavours are yeasty with citrus. Not very spicy until a ginger beer "burn" turns up. Interesting but not great.

A Mes rate: Cask at the Sporkspears Head.
Cloudy yellow brown with a McSporks sparkler head. Good earthy malt aroma with some lemony hops and a bit of pepper on top. Definite coriander in the aroma with some orange peel, a bit of cinnamon and other spicy stuff. Lasting ginger aftertaste that really makes it for me. Plenty of character just not amazing.

Cask-conditioned at the Crosse Keys (JDW), City of London 3/4/08. Deep, hazy gold with a decent white head. Aroma of ginger with some peppery hops. The flavour began slightly sweet before some big spicing kicked in - the ginger was fine but the chilli was a bit crude, leaving a tingling sensation on the lips. Ok as a novelty.

Cask at Wetherspoons in Wimbledon, 2nd April 2008. Pale, hazy gold with a firm white head. This is brewed with coriander, ginger and chili and it shows. Coriander and ginger are evident on the nose as well as in the taste and there is a hot undercurrent to the flavour from the chili. The palate is rather soapy though and the spices completely dominate the hops that are present. Like the Beartown beer I had on the same night, I felt this was an interesting novelty but nothing more. I wouldn’t go back to it.

Cask conditioned - handpump - JDW Northampton. A slightly hazy straw coloured beer with an off-white head. The aroma is spicy hops which is replicated in the taste. The beer tastes hot but there’s no real spicy notes (ie the chilis and ginger), the heat is more from the peppery type hops. It’s actually really tasty and enjoyable.

Cask at Pilgrims Progress (JDW), Bedford, in the Wetherspoons Real Ale Festival. Pale gold with a small white head. Spicy hop aroma. Taste is sweet, soapy, with a hint of ginger. A spicy prickle of chilli at the back of the throat. Definitely not my scene. But, oddly, I quite enjoyed it.