Craft Beer Reviews & Tasting Notes
If you’re a fine member of The Beer Vault, you’ll find your reviews and tasting notes below. The Vault Reserve comes first, and you’ll find the Lock Box below that. We cover many of our beers in-depth so that you can learn as you taste, developing your Craft Beer knowledge over time.
The Vault Reserve: Our Reviews and Tasting Notes
(You’ll find the Lockbox below!)
The Vault Reserve: March 2015 Full Lineup
Here’s the full lineup for the March 2015 Vault Reserve box. I hope you, our members, are really excited by the beers this month and can’t wait to try them. I really enjoy everyone sharing with us on social media your opening of the box and the beers, so get in touch! With our Vault Reserve box we always strive to showcase the very best of the of the UK beer scene. We’ll throw imports in there to keep things exciting, and to allow us to genuinely showcase a rounded selection of the very best beers in the world to our members, but ultimately it’s UK beers that really get us going. So it’s with some great excitement I can talk you folks through this month’s selection. Wild Beer Tom Yum Gose – 4.5% – 750ml Tom Yum Gose is an intercontinental amalgamation of flavours, travelling from Europe to Asia to escape the restrictions of the reinheitsgebot, but finally settling down in rural Somerset, England. Wild Beer have taken a beer style revived from 16th century Germany and added to it’s base of coriander and salt, an array of floral, citrus fruity and spicy flavours from Thailand. These work together to create a deliciously crisp and refreshing 4.2% ABV amber wheat beer, with carefully balanced spices, reminiscent of a Tom Yum soup (but definitely best served cold). The base of this beer was initially fermented using local wild yeasts and bacteria from our local environment, creating it’s initial sour notes. Which are complimented by the tart citrus of lime, and followed by the floral aroma of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal. The finish... read more
The February 2015 Vault Reserve Line-up
Wild Beer Co. Wineybeest | 11.0% ABV. | Imperial Stout | Evercreech, England | 750ml bottle | This spectacular beer is Wild Beer Co.’s luxurious and much praised 11.0% ABV. Imperial espresso chocolate vanilla stout Wildebeest aged in Burgundy Pinot Noir barrels for nine months. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Wineybeest. Only two oak barrels of the beer have been produced and only five hundred bottles released. In keeping with our mission to source the best and most exclusive limited release beers for our Vault Reserve members each month, we’ve secured one tenth of those bottles just for you. Wildebeest is an incredibly rich, unctuous and desserty beer, loaded with sweet vanilla beans, Valrhona cocoa nibs and roasted Colombian coffee. To this already multi-layered and sophisticated sipping ale, the extended nine month red wine barrel maturation delivers a vinous and jam-like red berry quality that is akin to the cherry topping on an expensive cheesecake. In other words, it just makes the whole experience even more indulgent. From massive saisons to sours and strong ales, Wild Beer has produced no shortage of very high caliber beers suitable for cellaring. In addition to Wildebeest and Wineybeest they’ve also produced Whiskebeest, which as the name suggests is a whisky cask aged version of Wildebeest. In fact, so prolific and consistent have the Somerset brewery been at cranking out cellarable hit after hit, that you’d be forgiven for not having a cupboard full of Wild Beer goodies. Wineybeest then has pedigree and follows in some very well established and highly regarded footsteps, and it definitely comes through in the beer. Hyperbole and... read more
Lovibonds Dark Reserve No.4
| 10.8% ABV. | Imperial Porter | Henley-on-Thames, England | 750ml bottle | A strong and sophisticated Maker’s Mark barrel aged Imperial porter that pops with notes of vanilla, coconut, tart dark fruit and maple syrup. One of two very interesting rare barrel aged beers in our Vault Reserve box this month, Lovibonds Dark Reserve No.4 is a massive Imperial strength porter aged in Maker’s Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon barrels and packaged in an impressive red wax dipped bottle, aping – possibly intentionally, the iconic red wax sealed Maker’s Mark bottle. Alongside the likes of Thornbridge, Moor Beer and BrewDog, Henley-on-Thames based Lovibonds are one of Britain’s true craft beer pioneers, having opened for business way back in 2005. Brewery founder and brewer Jeff Rosenmeier has since gone on to earn a deserved reputation as producer of some of the very best beers across the brewing spectrum, from winning international awards and kudos for his wine barrel aged sour beer Sour Grapes to building a dedicated drinkership for his generously hopped and expertly executed American IPA, 69. The Dark Reserve series of beers started life as a stronger incarnation of Lovibonds core beer Henley Dark, a traditional style London Porter that was then aged in Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey barrels. The winning creation was bottled and designated Dark Reserve No. 1 and clocked in at pleasingly robust and chocolatey 7.4% ABV. (alcohol by volume.) This latest entry in the series steps up the alcohol to a warming and highly cellarable 10.8%. If you choose to, this is a beer than can be stashed away in your beer cellar for... read moreThe Lock Box: Our Reviews and Tasting Notes
March 2015 Lock Box: Full Beer Lineup
Welcome to this month’s Lock Box. I hope you’re extremely excited by the beers you’ve just received and can’t wait to try them. We really enjoy you folks sharing with us on social media your opening of the box and the beers, so get in touch! We’d love to see a photo on Twitter or Facebook, or just leave a comment at the bottom of this post. What’s in the Box? This month we’re showcasing some goliaths of the UK beer scene. First up we have the super-drinkable pale Pacer from Summer Wine. Summer Wine are a brewery based in Holmfirth ran by a couple of young lads who have been building a very solid reputations as one of the most experimental breweries on these shores. The list of beers they produce is fairly epic, and Pacer is among the best of them. Find the full write-up here: Pacer from Summer Wine. From a similar area up in the Peaks we have AxeEdge from Buxton. Named after a rock formation in the area, this beer is recognised as one of the best IPA’s you will find in the world. Sound hyperbolic? Try it and see for yourself. Grapefruit, Peaches, Citrus, a clean and dry finish with a balanced hop bitterness to it. Delicious. We recognise that last month’s box was a little hop heavy, and that’s my fault. I get a little excited about Pales and IPAs… So this month I’ve worked hard to put out a more balanced box with a mix of styles and ABVs that will keep you interested from beer 1 to beer 8. We... read more
Buxton Axe Edge Double IPA – Tasting Notes
6.5% ABV | Double IPA | 330ml | Buxton Brewery | Buxton, Derbyshire Under the motto of “Make Better Beer”, Buxton Brewery owner Geoff Quinn has worked hard to create a diverse slate of beers during his short brewing career. Born from his passion for real ale, Quinn’s brewing career began in his garage in 2009. Although his first foray into brewing was less than spectacular, he continued experimenting and soon learned how to craft quality beers. Buxton Brewery was officially founded later that same year. Quinn found a suitable location in Buxton, took out a £50,000 loan, and started brewing on a larger scale. The company now employs several additional staff, including two full time brewers and brews over 20 regular and seasonal beers. The town of Buxton is surrounded by the Peak District, the UK’s first national park. Known for its ‘special water’, Buxton is a spa town situated in Derbyshire in the English Midlands. Known as Aquae Arnemetiae (‘The Waters of the Goddess of the Spring’ or ‘The Spa of the Goddess’) by the Romans, the area around Buxton has been valued for its special waters for several millennia. The Buxton Brewery takes advantage of these waters to craft all of their fine beers. Buxton Axe Edge (6.5%) IPA (India Pale Ale) is the brewery’s best selling beer. IPAs were originally brewed as pale ales which were meant to withstand the long sea voyage from England to India. Over the years, the IPA has evolved into its own style of beer. IPAs are generally very hoppy and strongly flavored beers which often have fruity and floral overtones.... read more
The February 2015 Lock Box Line-up
There is a distinctly hoppy theme to our Lock Box this February, seven of the eight beers showcase fruity and piney New World hops to their absolute fullest. This month’s box also marks a first for a Lock Box, it’s the first time we’ve picked a foreign beer for inclusion. The beer in question is of an obscure and almost forgotten style of German sour beer from Leipzig called a Gose (pronounced “Gose-uh” as in “rose” plus “uh”), a style of beer traditionally brewed with salt and coriander. This particular Gose by Bayerischer Bahnhof is as true to style as you can get and it hasn’t been easy to get in the U.K. previously so we’re very excited to include it here for you guys to try. Gose are very different in terms of flavour to anything else we’ve featured before and as such are quite different from most beers you’ve likely ever had the opportunity to try before. We’re all about expanding beer drinkers palates at The Beer Vault though, so expect even more left of centre beers in the coming months. You might also notice that we’re trying something new this month. Rather than posting eight separate writes up for our Lock Box beers we’ve brought everything together into an easier to absorb and easier to share single page post. Each month we’ll be focusing on three of the eight beers in more depth, with tasting notes for the remaining five. So without further ado, we present our February 2015 Lock Box beer line up. Crane Boom IPA | 6.2% ABV. | American IPA | Bristol, England... read more
Tiny Rebel F.U.B.A.R.
| 4.4% ABV. | American Pale Ale | Newport, Wales | 330ml bottle | A bright, fresh and juicy American style pale ale brewed by one of the most exciting and awarding winning new breweries in Wales. Tiny Rebel have done more to put Wales on the wider U.K. good beer map than any other brewery in recent years. Their core range of no nonsense American style pales, IPAs and stouts have won many dedicated fans beyond their local catchment areas of Newport and Cardiff. The Newport based brewery is the brainchild former homebrewers Bradley Cummings and Gazz Williams. In 2012 they finally realised their ambition of opening a modern and forward thinking Welsh craft brewery and Tiny Rebel was born. Since then the brewery has gone from strength to strength, racking up some significant silverware in the process. Especially winning is their bright and vibrant American styled pale ale F.U.B.A.R. And, it’s that beer it just so happens that we have chosen to showcase in this month’s Lock Box. Recipient of back to back 2013 (Silver) and 2014 (Gold) Great Welsh Beer Festival awards, F.U.B.A.R. is without a doubt one of the best beers being brewed in Wales today. F.U.B.A.R. is an archetypal modern American pale, blending some of the best characteristics of both East Coast and West Coast pale styles. Representing the East are bitter herb and pine evoking flavours, and just a touch of residual malt sweetness. Representing the West are bright yellow and orange citrus notes and a lovely balancing dryness. The beer actually has a lot in common with the newly styled and very popular... read more
Pressure Drop Stokey Brown
| 5.1% ABV. | American Brown Ale | Hackney, London, England | 330ml bottle | A delightful toffee and nut evoking brown ale that is a shining reminder that brown ales can be absolutely delicious when brewed with care and passion. Brown ales are roughly categorisable into three sub-styles, Southern English Brown Ale, Northern English Brown Ale and American Brown Ale. The esteemed BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) quantifies the three flavours of brown ale as follows: – Southern English Brown Ale: “A luscious, malt-oriented brown ale, with a caramel, dark fruit complexity of malt flavor. May seem somewhat like a smaller version of a sweet stout or a sweet version of a dark mild.” ABV. (alchohol by volume) typically 2.8 – 4.1% – Northern English Brown Ale: “Drier and more hop-oriented that southern English brown ale, with a nutty character rather than caramel.” ABV. typically 4.2 – 5.4% – American Brown Ale: “Can be considered a bigger, maltier, hoppier interpretation of Northern English brown ale or a hoppier, less malty Brown Porter, often including the citrus-accented hop presence that is characteristic of American hop varieties.” ABV. typically 4.3 – 6.2% Pressure Drop Stokey Brown can be best described as an American style Brown Ale. It’s higher ABV. and it’s piney aroma and bitter hoppy bite definitely positions it comfortably alongside the best of the style being brewed in the U.S. today. Hackney based Pressure Drop have modelled many of their core and one-off beers on American style craft beers. It’s a modern approach that is driving much of the craft beer movement in the U.K. From their outstanding... read more
Wiper and True Export Stout – Topaz
| 6.2% ABV. | Export Stout | Bristol, England | 330ml bottle | This rich, roasty and robust stout harks back to the tropical stouts of late 19th century. Loaded with juicy exotic fruit notes courtesy of an Australian hop variety called Topaz. Wiper and True are one of the most buzzed about and exciting craft breweries in the U.K. These Bristol based nomadic gypsy brewers developed their love affair with the art of brewing – as many do these days, while homebrewing small batches in their kitchen. Fascinated as much with traditional beer styles as new and experimental approaches to brewing, Wiper & True produces small batches at their new brewery in the St. Werburghs area of central Bristol, as well as travelling to make bigger batches at larger craft breweries across the South West of England and Wales. Choosing a beer to feature by Wiper & True is no small feat. In addition to an ever evolving line up of vibrant and juicy pale ales, ambers and IPAs, the chaps at W&T are just as likely to release a desserty vanilla milk stout as they are a pucker inducing Gose – a lactic bacteria soured German wheat based beer brewed with slightly salty water and coriander, and it’s pronounced “Gose-uh” in case you were wondering. There is a definite air of excitement and fun about the beers and approach that Wiper and True take to brewing, which isn’t that far removed from the approach of an excited homebrewer. The Wiper and True beer we have decided to give pride of place in our January Lock Box is a single hop... read moreBrowse the Rest
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