Sorachi Ace

Brewery: Barney's Beer

Supplier: Beer52

Founded in his kitchen (as he likes to advertise on his bottles), this brewery in now located in the old Summerhall brewery in Edinburgh. Sorachi Ace is an IPA based on their main product - Volcano IPA - but using just Sorachi Ace hops instead of the usual hops used. I served this chilled

Appearance: Pale straw colour which is slightly opaque, there is a thin white head that stays

Aroma: Definitely citrusy hops with some apricot and some flowery hints of coconut.

Flavour: There is some hints of coconut but not the nice parts, more like that fattiness from it. This settles into a soft flavour, merging with the malts quite nicely. 

Body: Good decent body for a pale ale, with a good amount of soft carbonation. A bit of a clingy mouthfeel. 

Aftertaste: A bit of an artificial coconut taste but OK, not bitter either.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, but only just, quite a nice and soft beer but the coconut from the hops just doesn't taste right. Also, this is more of a pale ale than an IPA as listed.

Price Range: Part of a box of 10 I got for £14 (usually £29), so it works out at £1.40 for a 330ml bottle; an OK price, I probably wouldn't get it again, but I would get others from the brewery for that price.

Food Pairings: I think the soft notes of the citrus and coconut would go well with white fish. The good malt body would make it pair particularly with battered/breaded fish from a fish & chip shop.

Stallion Stout

Brewery: Banks Barbados Brewery

Supplier: Beers of Europe

So I've had this one lying around for a while now, it has a best before date of nearly a year ago. I don't usually fuss about the BB date on stouts but I'm unsure as to how milk stouts age. So this brew is made in the caribbean island of Barbados (or so it says on the bottle), but I think that it is brewed specially for the UK market (as far as I can tell). I served this with a little chill on it.

Appearance: A very thick black with a hint of maroon right at the edges, no head at all though. 

Aroma: Smells very strongly of brown sugar, sherry and dark rum; very strongly.

Flavour: Rum on the front coupled with tart grapes, followed by that distinct sweet brown sugar note. A tad watery on the back.

Body: Too light and probably just a little too fizzy for this type (but perfect for most). 

Aftertaste: Still a little sweetness, and a hint of the rum, mixed with some of the typical roasted notes found in stout.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, let down a little by the body and nothing amazing, but a very nice beer to drink

Price Range: £1.49 for a 275ml bottle,  definitely worth it for this price despite being a small bottle.

Food Pairings: Flambeed bananas, I know it sounds like I'm just pairing it with something stereotypical from the country (and maybe I am subconsciously); but I think the sweetness, along with the brown sugar and rum notes, would go really nicely with it.