“A smooth, malt-forward brown ale with notes of toffee, toast, and soft chocolate. Gently bitter and well balanced. Deep flavour, calm in character… A beer that moves to the rhythm of the coast.”

Glassware: English pint.

Appearance: Dark brown pour with a skerrick of light cutting through on the edges. It constructs a finger of dark tan head which rapidly forms a collar. Zero lace work on the glass.

Aroma: Giving off very conventional and basic brown ale qualities. Nice chocolate malt base…not really offering a sturdy structure but enough to support delicate roasted coffee, earthy notes, burnt toast, caramels, a hint of toffee, mocha, dried wood, black pepper and soft yeast esters that provide subtle banoffee characters.

Flavour: Much like the aroma it boots off with classic chocolate malt – coffee, toast, earth and woody spice. It really dries out as it approaches the mid…a mild bitterness moves in which accentuates the roasty/toasty flavours. Hits a slightly metallic note late in the piece then it all makes a rendezvous in the finish which draws out nicely.

Mouthfeel: Holds a decent consistency. Thin-ish texture but nicely carbed. The 5.6% ABV helps add a bit more bottom end.

Overall: We’ve been quite critical of this brewery in the past. Some years have passed since the last time we gave them a crack and it appears that they’ve lifted their game a bit. Not a bad interpretation of a trad brown ale at all.