Quintet

Brewery: Wiper and True

Supplier: Beer52

Another beer brewed with and exclusively for Beer52 (although I've seen it sold elsewhere), hopefully this is better than their last (Mambo Jambo). This is made with a simple malt base but with a mix of five seasonal hops (hence the name). I served this chilled.

Appearance: Dark, peachy golden in colour, a little hazy. The head is thin and off-white, but it lasts throughout. 

Aroma: Not much in the nose, slightly sweet with hints of resin and chocolate.

Flavour: Slight biscuity malt on the front, followed by a wave of hop resin.

Body: The body is very thick, almost like the consistency of jersey milk. Too thick for this type of beer, so it detracts from the refreshing aspects.

Aftertaste: A spicy hop bitterness at the back, clean and nice.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 5, nice standard flavours, but a little imbalanced with the body

Price Range: Another from the box 8 for £14 - so £1.75 for a 330ml bottle; not a bad price for what it is.

Food Pairings: It would go with quite a cream heavy dessert, which would mask the body, but with something fruity to go well with the hop resin notes. I would suggest something like strawberries and cream, or Eton mess.

Hamer & Sikkel

Brewery: Brouwerij De Molen

Supplier: Beer52

So another offer on the Beer52 box, so I got another 8 from them. This is from a well established Dutch brewery, renamed in 2004 when they acquired a windmill. This is one of their core range, made with a variety of malt, including oats, and uses saaz and chinook for bittering hops. I served this at room temperature.

Appearance: Dark with hints of brown around the edges. The head is tan, but is pretty much non-existent. 

Aroma: Smells like a mixture of roasted malt, yeast, and cinnamon. 

Flavour: Sweet bread and roasted malts, a nice smooth malt flavour.

Body: Loads of mouth feel, nice and smooth, if not a little flat.

Aftertaste: The flavour continues in the aftertaste with a little more roasted malt and a little green hops. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, really smooth and really drinkable, a little low in flavour though.

Price Range: The box had 8 beers for £14 - so £1.75 for a 330ml bottle; a great price for a nice beer.

Food Pairings: This is quite a sweet beer, but would go well with a sweet pastry, something like a Danish.

Classic IPA

Brewery: Seven Bro7hers Brewery

Supplier: Flavourly

The last beer from the Flavourly box, this one from a brewery started by seven brothers in Manchester last year. This is one of their five beers, this being their IPA. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A pale straw colour that is slightly hazy. The head is thin and white. 

Aroma: It smells like a mixture of perfume, and oranges when they are about to go off. 

Flavour: A mild hoppiness, followed by a tart farmhouse note. A slight malt note at the back.

Body: Not too light for a pale, but a nice medium body. The carbonation is fine. 

Aftertaste: Not much left after, just a mild hoppy bitterness and a lingering of slightly old hops.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 4, my descriptions don't make it sound great, but it is quite a nice drinker, crisp and a little tart. However, this isn't hoppy at all, it's more of a pale ale.

Price Range: Last of the box of 8 beers was £12, making it £1.50 for a 330ml bottle; not a bad price, but not great.

Food Pairings: Quite non-descript so it could go with most things. I would say a light pasta, with a sauce without cheese or tomato.

Black IPA

Brewery: Stewart Brewing

Supplier: Flavourly

Another beer from Stewart brewing, this one designed completely by them, but again is not part of their core range - this one is part of their 'Hop Series'. This is obviously their Black IPA, made with Magnum, Galaxy, and Centennial hops. I served this at room temperature.

Appearance: Quite dark, looking like cola when held to the light. The head is a reasonably thick rust tan colour, but dissipates down to nothing quickly. 

Aroma: Smells like a normal IPA, with lots of hoppy grapefruit and some berry notes. 

Flavour: I don't know if it is because of the colour but it tastes like a very unsweet cola with a bit of a woody notes at the front then a hoppy back. 

Body: A medium body, but with way too much rough carbonation.

Aftertaste: The aftertaste is similar to the taste, but with a little hint of roasted malts. Some metallic notes start to develope with drinking. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 4, close to a 5 but the carbonation brings it down. If I had had this blind I might not have been able to tell it was black, just and unusual IPA

Price Range: Part of the box of 8 beers was £12, making it £1.50 for a 330ml bottle; an OK price, but there are better.

Food Pairings: Something meaty but light, maybe like a mushroom stroganoff.

Amber Ale

Brewery: Fourpure Brewing Co

Supplier: Flavourly

Another London based brewery set up in 2013. This is one of their core range, obviously it is an amber ale. It is based on the amber ales that they had in Colorado. This beer is flavoured with Willamette hops, I served this chilled.

Appearance: A browner amber colour with a medium cream coloured head. 

Aroma: Metallic with some hop notes, a very very faint hint of roasted notes. 

Flavour: Lots of berry notes mixed with a load of roasted chocolate notes. 

Body: Medium body but with a bit too much carbonation. 

Aftertaste: There is the berry notes but they sort of turn into that artificial note that you get in children's berry flavoured medicine, a little chalky. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, would have been a 7 if it weren't for the slightly disappointing aftertaste. The flavours aren't the usual.

Price Range: Part of the box of 8 beers was £12, making it £1.50 for a 330ml can; a good price, it's worth getting for something a little bit different.

Food Pairings: The classic combo is berries and chocolate; so I would say a chocolate mouse would go well with it, preferably dark chocolate and not too heavy.

Neck Oil

Brewery: Beavertown Brewery

Supplier: Honest Brew

The last of the Honest Brew box. Part of their core range, this is their sessionable IPA. It is made with a simple base, but with lots of late addition hops with about eight different varieties used. I served this chilled.

Appearance: Hazy, and a pale straw colour. The head is medium and white, it thins but lingers. 

Aroma: Lots of hop resin mixed in with peach and white sugar notes. 

Flavour: Mainly cereal notes coupled with a little flour. There aren't many hop notes in, especially for the amount that is in the nose. 

Body: Light, but not that light. It makes it seem more of a substantial drink. 

Aftertaste: The aftertaste is just the same cereal notes. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, it is what it says, a nice sessionable IPA, but that is it.

Price Range: The last from the box 6 beers for £9, so this worked out as £1.50 for a 330ml can; a good price and worth getting for something like a party.

Food Pairings: The refreshing simplicity of this would go with something spicy like mexican food.

Rose Wheat Beer

Brewery: The Ticketybrew Company

Supplier: Flavourly

The third and final beer subscription I'll try, this one is from a company that also does snack boxes. I think that they should just stick to food as the other two do beers better. The snacks were great; but the beer was just an OK selection, and the literature about the beers was very poorly presented.

This is surprisingly a core beer from Ticketybrew. It is a wheat beer made with rose flowers and fresh ginger (although they do not include the latter in the list on ingredients, however I think this is a miss-type as they include malted "what" as an ingredient). I served this chilled.

Appearance: A pale straw colour with only a little murkiness. There is not head on this at all, not even a lingering remain.

Aroma: There is a lot or rose water in the nose as expected, much like in Turkish delight. There is also the fiery notes of ginger in the background, coupled with faints peach hop notes. 

Flavour: Ginger is at the forefront of this, mixed with a little bit of rose water.

Body: Crisp, but it is a little flat and what carbonation there is is rough. 

Aftertaste: The ginger fades and the rose dominates the aftertaste. There is some hint of a funky farmhouse note right in the back as well.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 5, it's probably is closer to a 4, but I love rose water so I'm a little bit of a sucker for this. However, I don't think the base of the beer is that great, and the ginger does not compliment it well.

Price Range: This box of 8 beers was £12 (£8 with £4 delivery), making it £1.50 for a 330ml bottle; a decent price for it, and worth trying for it's uniqueness - but I probably wouldn't get it again.

Food Pairings: I think the floral notes need something salty. I think so simple like sausage and mash would be quite fitting.

Straight Up Amber Ale

Brewery: Honest Brew

Supplier: Honest Brew

A beer brewed by the people who run the beer subscription as Honest Brew. This is their amber ale and the second one they have done I believe; their first was a pale ale, and there next is supposedly going to be a stout. I served this at room temperature.

Appearance: A brownish amber colour with little to no head.

Aroma: Lots of honey malt and a little bit of floral hop notes. 

Flavour: Lots of honey (or maybe more like barley sugar - the sweet) but without the sweetness, there is a little bit of the floral hop notes along with some citrus; it is very much like it smells.

Body: About medium, and with a decent carbonation. 

Aftertaste: Not much in the way of aftertaste, just a slight lingering of the main flavours.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 5, just, it's a nice decent drinker. I would imagine no-one would take offense to it, but it's nothing to get excited about.

Price Range: Another from the box 6 beers for £9, so this worked out as £1.50 for a 330ml bottle; not a bad price, and probably worth it.

Food Pairings: Something simple and not too rich, something like a simple sandwich would go very well.

Urban IPA

Brewery: Tiny Rebel Brewing Co

Supplier: Honest Brew

Another from this small but established welsh brewery. This is also a core IPA of theirs but a more sessionable one, made with and intercontinental range of hops. I served this chilled.

Appearance: An amber gold colour that is ever-so-slightly hazy. The head is thin and slightly off-white in colour, but lingers for some time. 

Aroma: Lots of fresh apple juice mixed in with sweet hop resin notes. 

Flavour: Not a huge amount but what is there is a nice mix of crisp malt and sweet hop resin

Body: Light and refreshing, with the perfect amount of fine carbonation. A little dryness in the back. 

Aftertaste: This is where the the flavours come out strongest, with huge amounts of pine hops and resin coming into play with a nice lingering hoppy bitterness. Very minor hints of iron and green hop notes.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, a nice IPA that is not unique but not common, a really good drinker as well.

Price Range: Another from the box 6 beers for £9, so this worked out as £1.50 for a 330ml bottle; great price for what you get!

Food Pairings: I had this dish the other day and I wish I had this beer with it as it would go great - Satay Prawn Wraps. The strong satay sauce and the subtle seafood flavours would go well with the hop notes, and I don't think the hops are strong enough to drown out the flavours of the dish.

Railway Porter

Brewery: Five Points Brewing Company

Supplier: Honest Brew

As Beer52 was quite a success I thought I would try another beer subscription, this one is from Honest Brew. This was their trial pack and it has an OK selection, but I gather from the literature that they do have supplies from good and unique breweries; plus it came with collectable card like things for each of the beers which was fun!

This is from another a brewery that I have given one of my lowest scoring beer... This is also part of their core range and is a traditional London porter made with traditional british ingredients. I served this at room temp.

Appearance: A thick and impenetrable black colour with a latte coloured head, this head dies down but not too quickly. 

Aroma: Lots of creamy chocolate and roasted notes in the aroma, smells quite smooth. 

Flavour: Initially I got a big bit of soap but I can't rule out that that wasn't in the glass. Then there is an acrid but not unpleasant roasted malt note with a hint of sweetness. 

Body: Quite a thick body with a decent carbonation, the back is quite dry though. 

Aftertaste: Quite a bitter roasted note, a bit too much of them. There is also the faint hint of overly green hops. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 3, better than the last one from this brewery, and nearly a 4, but still not great.

Price Range: The box was £9 for 6 beers, so this worked out as £1.50 for a 330ml bottle; not quite worth it.

Food Pairings: The intense roasted notes would go well with a rich beef and onion pie.