It's the season to enjoy some dark beers, right?

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Soldato
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Well, now the weather has turned and we're in for the long haul lockdown (see you on the other side? :( ) it's certainly time to ditch those poncy IPAs, craft lagers etc. I think… ? We need something with some heft, that goes well with a big beef stew or pie :o

What darker beers are you guys enjoying? We recently polished off a batch of Fourpure's Oatmeal stout and on recent excursions we've thoroughly enjoyed the Ilkley Brewery stout and Joshua Jane, and Helmsley Brewery's Classic Yorkshire Bitter.

I had to have a word with my local off-licence who has a tremendous selection of craft beers, but no stouts, porters or traditional bitters!

What are you guys drinking?
 
Of the dark styles Belgian dubbels / quads are my favorite.

Westmalle Dubbel is a very good example of the style and can be found in Waitrose. For something a bit more special check out Trappist Rochefort 10/8/6, St Bernardus Abt 12 or Westvleteren 12 / 8 (the former regularly being voted the best beer in the world. They can be found in a lot of bottleshops.
 
I like a good dark ale, though I don't tend to stray too far into porter or stout as I don't like coffee as a stand-alone flavour. However...

Not had it for a while but I thought Purple Moose "Dark Side of the Moose" was excellent:

https://purplemoose.co.uk/products/case-of-12-darkside

I had a pint of Isaac Poad Piccadilly Porter last winter at a pub in Yorkshire (The Fauconberg - ace place) and it was superb. Sat in an arm chair in the snug, cold/raining outside, cracking pint and quietly reading the paper. The coffee didn't stand out too much for me when I tried a nip, so went with a pint and very much enjoyed it.

https://isaacpoadbrewing.co.uk/shop/beer/piccadilly-porter-case-12/

And last one for now - something to seek out on hand pull in December - Theakston's Christmas Ale. Tried it in the brewery tap in Masham and it was a joy to drink. Absolutely superb.

https://www.theakstons.co.uk/our-ales/monthly-guest-ales/christmas-ale/

I would have recommended Adnams Gun Hill but they stopped brewing it at a few years back. Didn't get you wrecked like Broadside at 6.x%!
 
My local alehouse always has a tap reserved for stouts/porters and will usually have an imperial stout as well. You see a dark ale on cask as well now and again which is always worth a few pints.
Last night they had Hocus Pocus from Loddon which is a very nice dark and malty old ale. The imperial is The Wastleland from Elusive at a rather boozy 11.5%. I couldn't finish it as I wasn't getting much from it other than overpowering alcohol. Shame as I like most of what Elusive have done and each beer has a gaming twist.
 
Many moons ago my local decided to have a winter beers festival. They had quite a lot of Robinson Old Tom left over that got sold off at £2 a pint, since it's about 8% all the regulars were getting hammered right left and centre.

The trouble with the winter beer festival is they copied the format of their spring beer festival and had the beers out in the yard. It was a harsh winter and we ended up having to microwave our beer, not to make it warm, just to make it less cold.

I'm far from an expert on stouts porters etc. but don't mind a bit of the aformented Old Tom. Also quite enjoy Mcewans Champion and Guinness Foreign Extra. If you've not encountered Guiness Foreign Extra it's superstrong Guinness. It's actually based on the Guinness that was brewed under license in Nigeria, brewed much stronger for local tastes (they serve it v.cold apparently).
 
For me it's whatever I can get hold of at the local Tesco or the local off license - which isn't much. If we're talking stouts, porters, dubbels etc, I can only get hold of Guinness [Original, Draught or Foreign Extra], and Shepherd Neame's Double Stout, which is excellent. That's about it. Most of the local stuff is IPA, English ales/bitters or the standard 'mainstream' beer you'd expect in any off license.

Guiness Foreign Extra is a long-term favourite though, can't go wrong with it [Irish rather than Nigerian variant].

There is an another local off license which specialises in craft beers but it's more expensive, and the stuff from Tesco is quite adequate.
 
Time to ditch the poncy IPA's and enter the world of poncy impy stouts :)

You're in London. Just buy anything from The Kernel brewery (Bermondsey) and you won't go far wrong. Tesco have some decent stouts on the shelves now, as do Morrisons. Norse Star by Northern Monk/Lervig is top of the pops for me.
 
This beer. Its a winter one so you only get it until Xmas if you are lucky. I Love this beer, its on draught normally in Adnams pubs & in certain 'spoons this time of year but I doubt it this year. I stayed in Southwold for a week about 2 years ago & some weekends in late 2018 & early 2019 to work on a property, Adnams has 4 pubs in the town, & this was my beer of choice when I'd finished for the day, I so you can imagine my delight when I just discovered they now have granted my wish & are selling it in 12 bottle cases! :D

https://www.adnams.co.uk/beer/shop-by-taste_1/ale/adnams-old-ale-bottles.htm#
 
J0hnb0y said:
Time to ditch the poncy IPA's and enter the world of poncy impy stouts :)

You're in London. Just buy anything from The Kernel brewery (Bermondsey) and you won't go far wrong. Tesco have some decent stouts on the shelves now, as do Morrisons. Norse Star by Northern Monk/Lervig is top of the pops for me.
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The Kernel Brewery pretty much define the 2010s for me. Hipsterism and an old school look with a modern flavour, and they were one of the first to make waves on the craft beer market in London.

Their 1856 Stout is incredible.
 
Converge said:
Where do you get yours from? I’ve had no success with the Brewdog site. I had some explode on me over summer. Think I’d left them in the cupboard too long :(
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there were on a clear-out package from Brew Dog direct i'm afraid - all short life cans but they got cleared out pretty quickly. Sounds worrying about them exploding though, never had that happen!
 
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