Duck59
Legendary Member
- Joined
- 23 Apr 2015
- Local time
- 1:02 PM
- Messages
- 3,149
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
- Website
- duckholiday.com
Friday night was black beer night. We've been struggling to find any black beers, at least in minikeg or minipin form, lately. We've got a few bottles of porter and stout of various origin, but it took a while to locate a larger container.
Happily, Chiltern Black has done the trick. In truth, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. At 3.9%, I imagined a slightly strong dark mild. In fact, it's much more like a stout and they're not kidding when they call it 'black' - even holding it up to a bright light shows nothing but blackness. The first sensation is of a rich, chocolate kick, more bitter dark chocolate than sweet. You then get some roasted barley taste and a little coffee. The bitterness remains throughout. It went down extremely well and we have already made a mental note to revisit this one. Yet another thumb-to-the-nose towards the "ultras" who sneer at anything less than 5%. Your loss, and more for the rest of us.
To finish proceedings, we tried Lancaster Black, a 4.5% stout. Merely opening a bottle gives something away, as you sniff something smoky. The smokiness isn't overpowering and the beer was more reminiscent of a smoked porter rather than a stout. I'm not overly fussed what they call it, because it is a very enjoyable drink with a good roast bitterness.
Success all round.
Happily, Chiltern Black has done the trick. In truth, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. At 3.9%, I imagined a slightly strong dark mild. In fact, it's much more like a stout and they're not kidding when they call it 'black' - even holding it up to a bright light shows nothing but blackness. The first sensation is of a rich, chocolate kick, more bitter dark chocolate than sweet. You then get some roasted barley taste and a little coffee. The bitterness remains throughout. It went down extremely well and we have already made a mental note to revisit this one. Yet another thumb-to-the-nose towards the "ultras" who sneer at anything less than 5%. Your loss, and more for the rest of us.
To finish proceedings, we tried Lancaster Black, a 4.5% stout. Merely opening a bottle gives something away, as you sniff something smoky. The smokiness isn't overpowering and the beer was more reminiscent of a smoked porter rather than a stout. I'm not overly fussed what they call it, because it is a very enjoyable drink with a good roast bitterness.
Success all round.