Strong Ales

I think most people know that I like session beers. For me a critical factor of how good a beer is can be determined by how many pints I can drink of any one beer before I pass out, get in a fight, or be sick. Obviously the higher the number, the better for various sociological reasons. Due to seasonal availability, I have been drinking a lot of rather strong beers lately. These are beers that would make any US based drinker proud, often with an ABV above 6.5%.

Two of these beers which I have come across in recent weeks are neither new, glamorous or exciting, but they do happen to taste rather similar. One is Bottle conditioned and brewed by London's leading regional brewer, the other is filtered, pasteurized and mass produced by a Dutch owned Scottish brewery - but production differences aside they are remarkably similar, well to my tastes anyway.

The beers in question are Fuller's 1845 (6.3% abv) and McEwan's Champion (7.3% abv) - both are strong ales which have a distinct burnt/roast sugar taste and are not particularly well balanced.

Saying that, I am going to be positive today and not slag them off too much. One man's trash is another man's treasure. I'll let you guys decide.

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Batemans Victory Ale

Another beer that I picked up from either Morrison's or Tesco - Batemans Victory Ale (6.0 % abv) is a beer brewed to celebrate all things Nelson! And no, we are not talking about Major Nelson from 'I dream of Genie' or Nelson Mandela - we are talking about British Hero Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, who led Great Britain to victory against Napoleon at the Battle of Trafalgar. A man of such legend that it is once claimed that he saw the Spanish Navy off the Sussex coast but insisted on completing his game of crochet (with one arm mind you) before sailing out to claim victory.

Anyhow, the beer is a reflection of the man, a strong aromatic pale ale laced with hop character, A good beer that lives up to its name. Also as a trivial side note the Lord Nelson brewpub in The Rocks, Sydney (named after the great man) also has a beer called Victory Bitter. However their version mostly compared VB, which is somewhat disappointing! Their beer is rather splendid as well.

Website

Duvel

You can hardly call yourself a beer geek if you don't know or have not had Duvel (8.5% abv). For those uninitiated, Duvel is a Belgian Golden Strong Ale and is available just about everywhere in the world, including my local Tesco!

So Duvel joins Leffe as the mega swill of the Belgian world (Stella excluded), but is it any good? Well in a way yes, its very good. I am the first to admit, that I am not really in love with Belgian beers. They are usually too strong for a session, and too funky for my taste buds, and its for this reason why I have a slight apprehension.

The beer itself is very malty and has a persistent head which leaves lacing down the glass after every sip. The initial taste is like a cheap lager, but as you work your way through the glass it develops into a funky apricot flavour with a high alcohol character.I won't go on as I'm not really a big fan, but for those of you who love your Belgians, you can find out more at the website http://www.duvel.be/.

Banks &Taylor Shefford Old Strong

I had the pleasure of drinking Banks and Taylors Shefford Old Strong (5% abv) at the Weatherspoons in afrringdom. Rich and I had been pubcrawling for a while and needed a bathrrom break and the 'spoons was the only thing open in the area. After the effort of relieving ourselves we were rewarded with a pint!

To be honest, I can't even remember drinking this pint because I was pretty smashed and because it was a few weeks ago now! The beer has a rather lame website, which does little to jog my memory, however some old chap/ticker has put together some notes!

Old gold with disappearing head. Some malt, some syrup. Not great condition.
It’s an ok strong ale, not huge flavours. Fine. Nice enough blend of malt and
hop. Hop has some crystallised fruit. Drinkable without being flashy.

Jennings Sneck Lifter Strong Ale

The second beer from my Cumberland Ales pack, Sneck Lifter Strong Ale (5.1% abv) is a deep red ale with roasted barley notes and a nice crisp bitter finish, a definite winter warmer. My colleagues from the north tell me that in local northern dialect a sneck is a door latch, and a sneck lifter is a bloke who used to steal money from under the door latch to buy beer? I don't know, sounds all a bit odd. There is a little bit about this sort of thing on the website as well. I wont be a toff and go into all the ticker speak, but I did find this beauty on rate beer!

Appearance: dark mahogany color. Medium, beige, lasting and dense head. Aroma: intensive fresh toasty unmalted-wheat smell and of others toast grains. This aroma remembers me the fresh “toast flour”. Caramel, cacao, sugar and light smoke aromatic reminiscences. Flavor: lightly sweet start with nice toast-wheat taste and the reminiscences of “toast flour”. Fresh roast-coffee, cacao, caramel, wood, candy figs and plums, toast-breed and light smoke notes. Light dry and lasting final, mainly from the toast. Palate: medium body and light carbonation. Remark: nice toast-unmalted-wheat and light smoke taste. Advisable beer with own-character

I bet this guy is a tosser! I for one could not taste wood, candy, figs or plums in this beer. I suspect that the poor bloke who reviewed this beer with such detail may not be familiar with the intricacies of DMS which is common in some immature ales and has some of these flavours? Anyway, i say talk less and drink more!