Mild – St Peter’s

Site: http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk

Mild porter, 3.7%

Comments: A dark mild, with low hopping but plenty of chocolate malt to give a solid flavour, with dark coffee beans coming to mind. Limited aroma, but the initial flavour is full of the acrid bitterness you get from chocolate malt, without becoming overpowering. Just enough sweetness to hang on and stop the beer from being too dry in flavour, and lending to a surprisingly rounded, if light, mouth feel. Aftertaste is what you’d expect, with the malt lingering on and a dry finish, but is quite agreeable. If you’re looking for a mild with solid porter flavour, this is certainly a worthy option.

Overall score: 7.0/10

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Old-style Porter – St Peter’s Brewery

Site: http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/

Porter 5.1%

Comments: A classic (if somewhat strong) porter, with primarily malt driven flavours. Very dark brown colour, fine cream-white head but low retention. Initial flavours are mainly from the malt, with a well controlled sweetness, coupled with the alcohol, which is detectable given the lightness of the beer overall. Later flavours are again mainly from the dark malt, with some bitterness and sourness coming in, but no significant hop flavours. This is a very good porter, with a solid if straightforward flavour profile, and a light mouth feel.

Overall score: 7.0/10

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Best Bitter – St Peter’s Brewery

Site: http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/store/product.asp?s=6e5x6m239774&strParents=69&CAT_ID=73&P_ID=121

Bitter, 3.7%

Comments: This is a fairly bitter bitter, with definite malt character. Amber colour, coarse white head and little retention. Aroma is mainly from the crystal malt, with some slightly estery fermentation notes. Initial flavour is mainly driven by the crystal malt, which gives a slightly caramel character to the beer. This is taken over by the bitterness, which is fairly clean, with little aroma hopping noticeable. This fades into the aftertaste, which is quite well balanced, with the classic slightly bitter flavour remaining. Overall this is quite a pleasant bitter, but not particularly revolutionary.

Overall score: 6.0/10

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Grapefruit Fruit Beer – St Peter’s Brewery

Site: http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/

Grapefruit Wheat Beer, 4.7%

Comments: This is a golden wheat beer, with a solid addition of grapefruit. A fine white head and good retention. The initial aroma is dominated by the grapefruit, with little hop detectable. Flavour is based on a simple wheat beer, with a little wheaty aroma and moderate sweetness. Bitterness comes in later and lingers into the aftertaste, giving a refreshing beer overall. I’m not sure how much of the bitterness is due to hop and how much is due to the grapefruit pith, but it’s quite definite, and gives a far more interesting fruit beer than many others. On a warm day, I would very happily return to this.

Overall score: 7/10

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St Peter’s Organic Ale – St Peter’s Brewery

Site: http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/

Pale Ale, 4.5%

Comments: This is a very solid basic pale ale. Clear golden colour with early head, but little retention. Moderate hopping in bittering, with light use of aroma hops. Some malt characters, and definite CO2 on the tongue, but without excessive fizz. This beer has nothing particularly unusual about it, but all aspects are well done, giving a solid session pint.

Overall score: 7/10

Sidenote: This beer comes in a very nice (green glass) oval shaped bottle, based on one produced in the 1770s. I approve.

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