Brewery: see text
Location: see text
ABV: see text
Source: Courtesy of MyBreweryTap.com

Back in November I posted about receiving a mixed case of beer from the generous folks over at MyBreweryTap.com and it’s really about time I covered what I thought about the individual beers in the box.

Breconshire Cribyn
I decided to start off with one from a brewery I’m quite familiar with, having already covered several of their beers and being, for the most part, impressed – the Breconshire Brewery from Powys in Wales. Cribyn is their 4.5% Best Bitter, brewed with Bramling Cross, Northdown and Challenger hops. It’s a pale straw colour with a light fruity aroma, and a doughy undertone. Taste is very much of zesty hops, a nicely controlled bitterness giving a very refreshing mouthfeel, and some malty notes in the background. Another fine ale from Breconshire and a pleasant start to the case.

Slater’s Ales Top Totty
Slater’s Ales was originally known as the Eccleshall Brewery, and has been based in Stafford, England since 2004. Top Totty is an award winning 4.0% blonde ale, so unsurprisingly is a pale straw colour with a light hoppy aroma. Flavour is of more zesty hops with a citrusy bitterness, and some malt pushing through on the finish, much better than the naff name and label would imply. Mouthfeel is a bit thin but it’s easy drinking and a couple of these would be quite refreshing on a warm summer’s day.

Old Bear Original
The Old Bear Brewery can be found in Keighley, West Yorkshire and have been in operation since 1993, with seven regular beers on offer. As well as making beer they also operate a bottle reclamation service, collecting bottles for re-use from pubs and clubs across West Yorkshire. Old Bear Original is 3.9%, is a dark toffee colour (or brown bear-ish) with a malty aroma of toffee, biscuit and toast. The flavour I must admit to finding a bit odd. There’s some caramel maltiness and some bitter orange/lemon hops, but there was an over-riding acetic quality which I found very off-putting and felt unbalanced the whole flavour. It may have been a bad bottle but I don’t see me seeking out another to find out.

Brewery: Breconshire
Location: Powys, Wales
ABV: 4.5%
Version: 500ml bottle

This is the last of my recent Breconshire tasting session and to be honest was the first really disappointing one. It’s mid amber brown in colour with a faint floral aroma, followed up with a very light flavour to the point of being nondescript. I detected a very slight bitter bite from the hops but with next to no follow on and no aftertaste to speak of I found nothing to get excited about.

Still, one bad one out of five is nothing to be ashamed of and I’d definitley try others from this brewery if I happen across any of them.

Brewery: Breconshire
Location: Powys, Wales
ABV: 5.0%
Version: 500ml bottle

Launched in April 2007 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Brecon Beacons National Park, this beer is also available in cask form as Beacon 50 and is based on an old recipe from the area.

The beer pours a lovely dark brown colour with a bit of head and has a rich malty aroma with a hint of smoke. That maltiness follows through in the taste, with a well controlled sweetness, thinning out to a slight bitterness. I didn’t detect much of the smoke coming through in the flavour, more a sense of toast with a touch of chocolate. The finish also seemed a bit on the thin side for a dark ale but it’s still a pleasurable drop.

Brewery: Breconshire
Location: Powys, Wales
ABV: 4.2%
Version: 500ml bottle

The third of my Breconshire tasting session, there’s another two to come, is a rich golden coloured ale with a fresh floral aroma. The use of only the one hop variety, Progress, gives it a well-tempered bitterness with a hint of citrus. An easy drinking ale with a certain moreish charm.

Brewery: Breconshire
Location: Powys, Wales
ABV: 4.7%
Version: 500ml bottle

Next up from the Breconshire Brewery is a Welsh take on an Irish red ale, and an admirable job they make of it too. The hoppy bitter bite is well tempered by the biscuity malt content, but I thought it wasn’t quite as smooth as the brewery’s description made out. After a short time though, it all settles down to an easy drinking ale with a nicely balanced, slightly dry aftertaste.

Brewery: Breconshire
Location: Powys, Wales
ABV: 5%
Version: 500ml bottle

“Traditional ales brewed in the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park, using water drawn from under the surrounding hills and only the freshest and best of UK grown malt and hops” is how the Breconshire Brewery describes what they do, and this CAMRA gold medal award winning ale is one of several from their range I’ve sampled recently.

This is a very nicely balanced ale, with the malt and hops combined perfectly to give a light chocolate, caramel flavour with a pleasant bitter zing. Highly drinkable and aptly named.