First up was Ascot Ales Alligator Ale, a golden ale brewed with single-varietal (US cascade) hops. I was expecting something light and refreshing, but this 4.6% ABV ended up punching well above its expected weight. It poured a slightly cloudy (although that may have been my fault, I might not have been as careful with the sediment as I should have been, distracted as I was by watching the World Cup draw) dark gold colour, with a very thin head. The first sip delivered a big hit of rich malt, which took on a chocolatey character as the beer warmed up. The hop finish was sneaky: it crept up and slugged my taste buds when I wasn’t looking, but hung around for ages afterwards in the lingering, dry finish. There was a hint of citrus sourness in there as well; a mix of bitter orange and acid drops. Very little in the way of sweetness, but with plenty of character and flavour, I definitely enjoyed my first Alligator encounter.

Second round: Dark Star Imperial Stout. I had a strong suspicion that I’d get on with this one very well indeed, Imperial Stout being pretty much my all-time favourite beer style, and I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. This 2008 vintage, 10.5% ABV roast-malt monster poured a lovely opaque black, with no head whatsoever. The first sip released a cascade of big, big flavours: rich, dark chocolate, sour cherries, port wine were the first three I scribbled down as tears of pure joy leaked from the corners of my eyes. After that I noted treacle, liquorice and then a definite vanilla, toasted almond, marzipan-esque semi-sweetness began to creep through. The sweeter flavours became more pronounced as I sipped my way down the glass, but at no point did they take over or become cloying; that bitter-sour note was ever-present, keeping the whole thing in quite wonderful balance. Delicious. Absolutely delicious. I’d happily drink a bottle of Dark Star Imperial Stout any day of the week.

And so to round three: Harvey’s Imperial Extra Double Stout. Not just Imperial. Not even just Imperial Extra. No, this one’s Imperial Extra Double Stout… so I was expecting something that was going to be nothing less than absolutely incredible. Bottled in 2003, this beer had already been maturing for six years when I cracked it open on Friday evening. I have no idea what it tasted like when it was young, but aged for 60 months or so, it was… well… I started off with ‘smells like christmas cake’ (when it was still in the bottle) and moved on to ‘looks like used engine oil’, this second observation provided by Jo, after the pour. And it tasted like… rubber. And burnt coffee. And red wine vinegar. And… okay, you know how the phrase ‘a bit of a Marmite beer’ is usually used metaphorically? in the case of Harvey’s IEDS it’s quite literal, too. Individually, there’s not a flavour there that should have endeared me to Harvey’s ober-stout, but slam them all together and you get something that really works. In an oddly savoury, distinctly medicinal, weirdly masochistic way, it all just works. I managed to finish the bottle, anyhow (which surprised me almost as much as it did Jo) and, although I wouldn’t rush back to it, I’d still give it another go. I think. Tell you what, offer me another one and we’ll see what happens…

Huge, huge thanks to Beer Viking crew member Simon B for sending me this eclectic, interesting and extremely generous selection. Some genuinely remarkable (and surprising) flavours, there. I’m very happy indeed that I took part in the first round of the Beer Swap project, and I’ll be glad to volunteer for the next one.

Earlier this week, I finally got the long-awaited and much-chased email from Collect+ confirming that my Beer Swap package had arrived at the local store for collection. My Beer Swap buddy was Simon B, a loyal crew member on the good ship BeerViking.com and – judging by the selection of beers he chose to send my way – a man who definitely knows his brews.

The package from Simon contained the following:

      

Alligator Ale from Ascot Ales. A single-varietal (US Cascade) hop golden ale made in small batches of 4 barrels at a time.

Imperial Stout from Dark Star, 2008 vintage. A 10.5% ABV uber-stout in the Baltic export tradition. (I owe Simon a pint for sending me this one, definitely.)

Imperial Extra Double Stout from Harveys, 2003 vintage. 9% ABV and sanctioned by A. Le Coa and Tartu Brewery in Estonia. (If the last one earned Simon a pint, then for this one I probably owe him a hogshead…)

Now, anyone involved in the Beer Swap project will have spotted that I’ve only mentioned three bottles there, rather than the four that Beer Swap participants were asked to send. Simon did send a fourth – a bottle of Dark Star Sunburst – but alas, it didn’t survive the journey intact. So, whilst I’m truly impressed with Simon’s generosity and dedication to the Beer Swap cause, I can’t say the same for the efficiency of service or customer care demonstrated by Collect+. They were, frankly, a bit crap. Not only did they take ten days to ship the parcel from Marple (just South of Manchester) to Prestwich (just North of Manchester) – which is a journey of “19.2 mi – about 35 mins” according to Google Maps – but they also managed to break the bottle of Sunburst, despite the copious amount of newspaper packing that Simon had included in the box and the ‘Fragile’ tape he’d used to seal it up with.

So when I picked up the parcel I was greeted with one end of a box reduced to a mass of soggy cardboard and the pungent (yet still oddly enticing) whiff of stale beer, handed to me by an apologetic shopkeeper who assured me that this what it had looked like when he received it:

I mentioned the damaged parcel to Collect+ (pointing out that the broken bottle had been removed, so I couldn’t see whether it had been crushed in transit or had just cracked under its own pressure) and asked them to refund Simon his sending fee. They flatly refused. Instead, they apologised for the damage, but in the same email quoted chunks of their terms & conditions stating that they don’t carry liquids or glass except by prior arrangement.

Which, of course, they’re perfectly entitled to do. Fair’s fair, terms and conditions are agreed to in advance and all that. But to me, that sort of approach (“oh, sorry… not our problem though”) still smacks of an opportunity lost on their part; an opportunity to impress a first-time customer with their dedication to providing an above-and-beyond standard of service. Their loss: I won’t be using them again in future. Terms and conditions aside, Collect+ still managed to break a beer bottle that was perfectly well-packaged in a box clearly marked ‘fragile’, which suggests their drivers or depot staff are nowhere near as careful with other people’s property as they should be.

Anyhow, today is actually the last day for posting a Beer Swap write-up, according to the original schedule. Thanks to Collect+’s amazing ability to turn a 35 minute journey into a 10-day delay, I’m going to be cutting it fine if I’m going to make the deadline… Sunday seems like a much more likely prospect than this evening, but I’ll do my best. Depends on how much recorded TV we end up watching. Or rather, if I’m honest about it, how engrossed I get in Football Manager 2010… :)